BOOKS: DE CEL

After finishing the New York Trilogy by Paul Auster (you have to get yourself adapted to his writing style but once you get the hang of it, it is fascinating: especially the last story "The Locked Room"), I picked up a Dutch thriller: "Cel" by Charles den Tex. Normally I do not read thrillers, but this one got very good reviews and the author won three times the "Gouden Strop" (the Golden Noose) for the best Dutch thriller of the year, including "Cel". According to his website he lives in The Hague - the city of suspense (well, not really).

Michael Bellicher is witness to a mysterious fatal car accident. After being interrogated he is arrested to his own surprise. It is not clear why, but the police is convinced that it is Michael who they should be after. Michael has no clue what it is all about. Everything he says turns out to be against his own interest. He is being transferred to a small police station in a rural area with two ruthless police officers, a bizarre charge, inescapable evidence and even a lawyer who does not believe him. Mistaken identity ?

By the way: that reminds me of another book on mistaken identity: "Talk Talk" (2006) by T.C. Boyle. Great book, I enjoyed every minute of it. If "Cel" only has half of that quality I am already satisfied.

http://www.crime.nl/auteurs/tex.html