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sophill15's review against another edition
4.0
A great second volume in this series – I actually enjoyed this one more than the first. Maybe because I’m now familiar with the characters and the tone.
It’s a great story that ties threads from the first volume into a new mystery involving orientalism, secret brotherhoods and murdered actors.
It’s a great story that ties threads from the first volume into a new mystery involving orientalism, secret brotherhoods and murdered actors.
marvelarry's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
nealalex's review against another edition
4.0
Compared to the first volume, the story is more linear and comprehensible, and the characters more distinguishable and consistent (spoiler alert):
- Hunted for her previous crimes, Adele’s only remaining ally is Simon Flageolet. He wants her to retrieve an Assyrian statuette of the demon Pazuzu, which was part of the loot kept by Joseph. Adele and Simon follow a clue to the house of Jules-Emile Peissonnier, the stage designer of The Last Days of Babylon, where they are overheard by the traitor Albert. Meanwhile, there’s an outbreak of plague in Paris, and a series of disappearances on the Pont Neuf. Adele goes to the theatre to see The Last Days of Babylon, which features a large statue of Pazuzu. The lead actress, Clara Benhardt, dramatically stabs a heretic and is applauded by the audience, who don’t realise she has used a real knife to kill the actor.
- Adele traces the statuette to an antiques shop, but Joseph has got there first and bought it back. Crossing the Pont Neuf, her cab is fire-bombed and falls into the river. But she escapes and, disguised as a beggar, sees a passer-by use a secret entrance to descend into the foundations of the bridge. There, she finds a congregation worshipping Pazuzu, presided over by Albert and a bearded high priest. Albert displays the plague-ridden corpses of Joseph and the antique shop owner, who were sentenced to death for sacrilege. Adele tries to escape through the sewers, but is knocked out, awakening to find herself a captive of Albert.
- On a tip-off, Caponi goes to the flat of the playwright, Antoine Artaud, but finds him stabbed to death. Flageolet is shot after telling Caponi what he knows. Caponi follows monstrous footprints in the snow to the Eiffel Tower, where the cult is preparing to sacrifice Adele by injecting her with plague. Caponi is attacked by a live Pazuzu: he shoots but instead wounds Peissonnier, who is part of the cult. Caponi manages to knock out Pazuzu, who is Clara Benhardt in disguise. Caponi rescues Adele and, in the struggle, Albert is accidentally injected with plague and falls to his death from the tower. The high priest is unmasked as Police Commissioner Dugommier. Clara Benhardt flees pursued by Caponi who mistakenly shoots a dinosaur which had been revived by Menard, Esperandieu and Zborowsky. Benhardt remains at large.
This volume starts to retrieve Adele’s reputation by explaining that she’s a writer who only fell in with criminals when researching their milieu. It has plenty of the lavish Belle Epoque furnishings, décor and wardrobe - for example Peissonnier’s floral smoking jacket and Persian carpet - which are one of the series’ pleasures. It still suffers from the odd superfluous plot item, in particular the dinosaur (!) near the end. Finally, as may be evident, these books are probably not suitable for young children. In fact, in the library of my son’s secondary school, they are reserved for the oldest classes (from about 15 years).
- Hunted for her previous crimes, Adele’s only remaining ally is Simon Flageolet. He wants her to retrieve an Assyrian statuette of the demon Pazuzu, which was part of the loot kept by Joseph. Adele and Simon follow a clue to the house of Jules-Emile Peissonnier, the stage designer of The Last Days of Babylon, where they are overheard by the traitor Albert. Meanwhile, there’s an outbreak of plague in Paris, and a series of disappearances on the Pont Neuf. Adele goes to the theatre to see The Last Days of Babylon, which features a large statue of Pazuzu. The lead actress, Clara Benhardt, dramatically stabs a heretic and is applauded by the audience, who don’t realise she has used a real knife to kill the actor.
- Adele traces the statuette to an antiques shop, but Joseph has got there first and bought it back. Crossing the Pont Neuf, her cab is fire-bombed and falls into the river. But she escapes and, disguised as a beggar, sees a passer-by use a secret entrance to descend into the foundations of the bridge. There, she finds a congregation worshipping Pazuzu, presided over by Albert and a bearded high priest. Albert displays the plague-ridden corpses of Joseph and the antique shop owner, who were sentenced to death for sacrilege. Adele tries to escape through the sewers, but is knocked out, awakening to find herself a captive of Albert.
- On a tip-off, Caponi goes to the flat of the playwright, Antoine Artaud, but finds him stabbed to death. Flageolet is shot after telling Caponi what he knows. Caponi follows monstrous footprints in the snow to the Eiffel Tower, where the cult is preparing to sacrifice Adele by injecting her with plague. Caponi is attacked by a live Pazuzu: he shoots but instead wounds Peissonnier, who is part of the cult. Caponi manages to knock out Pazuzu, who is Clara Benhardt in disguise. Caponi rescues Adele and, in the struggle, Albert is accidentally injected with plague and falls to his death from the tower. The high priest is unmasked as Police Commissioner Dugommier. Clara Benhardt flees pursued by Caponi who mistakenly shoots a dinosaur which had been revived by Menard, Esperandieu and Zborowsky. Benhardt remains at large.
This volume starts to retrieve Adele’s reputation by explaining that she’s a writer who only fell in with criminals when researching their milieu. It has plenty of the lavish Belle Epoque furnishings, décor and wardrobe - for example Peissonnier’s floral smoking jacket and Persian carpet - which are one of the series’ pleasures. It still suffers from the odd superfluous plot item, in particular the dinosaur (!) near the end. Finally, as may be evident, these books are probably not suitable for young children. In fact, in the library of my son’s secondary school, they are reserved for the oldest classes (from about 15 years).
sarah42783's review against another edition
3.0
Je n'ai jamais été une grande amatrice de bandes-dessinées mais j'ai plutôt apprécié celle-ci, surtout pour le personnage d'Adèle Blanc-Sec.
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