BOOK REVIEW: The Truth About the Harry Québert Affair by Joel Dicker ★★★☆☆

WARNING. SOME SPOILERS AND SWEARING.

I watched the adaption before reading the book and I must say; the adaption was infinitely better. The show brought the characters to life and was shot seamless from past to present. And yeah, maybe I ruined the book experience by watching the show, but I have no regrets because the book was something else.

Originally published in French title, La Vérité sur l'affaire Harry Québert. In August 1975, Nola Kellergan went missing in a small town of Summerset, New Hampshire. In 2008 in the height of Obama’s election, Nola’s remains are discovered at Goose Cove, in the back garden of a house that belongs to famous writer Harry Québert and the alleged affair between the two. It’s up to his protégé Marcus Goldman to prove his innocence by answering three questions: Who killed Nola? What really happened in Somerset 1975? And how do you write a book to save someone's life?

Now, I’ve read some reviews were people have slammed this book because of its poor translation from French to English. But from what I’ve read, it seems OK to me and that’s only because I don’t know French. Maybe some dialogues could have been improved (the number of times Harry says ‘Marcus’ when he’s talking to the guy annoyed me). And the fact that this book is 615 pages LONG – SOO LONG. And probably the last chapter – the big reveal was intensely good. The rest leading up to it had its good fair share of twists and turns with a big reveal of ‘whodunit’ and that one big twist right at the end concerning Harry’s best seller. I did like the mini writing tips Harry tells Marcus at the start of each chapter.

But there were a couple parts of the book that are so unbelievable that it would not happen in real life. (Yes, I know it’s called fiction but you have to have some logical realism). First, when does the police ever let a civilian lead an investigation? Is it even allowed in the USA? And if there is some truth then it’s the first time, I’ve heard of it, because she surely doesn't happen in Britain.

Second, in the first chapter Marcus brags on about how difficult it is for him to leave his apartment because he’s bombarded by fans asking about his next book. Is New York a small city that you can recognize everyone? You probably get this mob gathering with A-list actors but how many famous writers would you recognize on your daily walk? Plus, it seems quite far-fetched that a twenty-six-year-old, with a debut novel, suddenly finds fame and success overnight. Did he consort with his fairy godmother or bargained with the devil?

This last point (which didn’t hit me till after reading) about Marcus inability to say a few words about the bombshell he discovered about Harry’s affair with Nola (he finds some pictures in a box on a bookshelf). Sure, brag about your success and cry about your writer’s block. It’s as if he roadblocked his feelings – he doesn’t express his anger, disgust or disbelief. It’s just ‘Meh – oh well, I must prove Harry’s innocence because he taught me all about writing.’ The people of Summerset loath Harry after finding Nola’ remains and the affair, but Marcus wonders why the people are hating on him and that one anonymous person who sends threatening messages Marcus at Goose Cove (the car and the house eventually go up in flames ). Well, a thirty-something year old ‘loves’ a fifteen-years-old with no regret? Of course, people are going to be pissed.

These characters are unlikeable and flawed, in a good way because who wants to read a novel where all the characters are always perfect? But there is a line where this book made some of these characters utterly abhorrent. Maybe Dicker wanted us to hate them – if that’s so then he did a bloody good job. But if he wanted us to love them, then he failed.

Take Marcus Goldman. What an arrogant, egotistical piece of shit. I mean for real, I don’t believe for a minute he wanted to be a writer because he found joy in storytelling. No, he’s like a wannabe musician who’s in it for fame, sex and money and never for the art of music. Just in that first chapter alone, he boasts about his expensive West Village apartments, his Land Rovers and trophy Hollywood celeb girlfriend.

I just hated his attitude, as though Marcus (or Dicker) thinks that a writers’ success is measured by getting large advances and selling lots of copies with no relevance to literary quality. And what was this famous book that made Marcus instantly famous even about? There was no mention of it. Plus, Marcus is a selfish prick because he only contacts Harry when he suffers from writer’s block for his second novel (and probably broke after living in luxury for two years) and only dissed him a few months ago when he was high on his fame and partying hard.

OK, but despite his many – MANY flaws, you understand why he’s an arrogant arsehole. Since high school, he was smart enough not to delve into too much competition (joining a sports team were the rest of the kids look like weaklings so he’d stand out), thus making himself look magnificent.

And Harry Québert was no better. I just can’t deal with him saying he was in love with Nola when he saw her on the beach dancing in the rain. News flash – this isn’t love, it’s more like infatuation, or lust. Plus, she’s nearly half his age. Really Harry? No other woman on this planet was good enough? Oh wait, I realise Nola (and Jenny) were put on earth to praise and fawn over him. A good looking, bigshot writer from New York rolls into Summerset and the girls go gaga over him. Harry and Nola three-month affair was just of her making him sandwiches, taking care of him and massaging his ego as he works on his novel. And even after thirty-three years, Harry whines wallows in self-pity about his one true love. WOW – I mean for the life of me! It just makes Harry look creepy.

Nola slightly got on my nerves – but I do keep forgetting she is a fifteen-year-old girl, not quite an adult nor a child but with psychotic breaks. And her overuse of ‘darling’ made me cringe. Apart from that, she wasn’t this two-dimensional character, but with a lot of twists. Just when you think you have her figured out BAM something out of the blue comes out of the pages and hits you. Yet, she was just as crazy about Harry that she at one point framed the chief of police, posed nude for a painting and attempted suicide all for her love. The girl needed psychological help and neither her father David or Harry actually helped.

Some of the minor-ish characters were better, but that’s only because they weren’t the main ones. There were some cliché characters like Marcus’s Jewish mother who bangs on about getting her son married, a money-obsessed lawyer representing Harry and the immoral aggressive publisher who wants Marcus to write a book about Harry Québert Affair.

Mr Stein, the richest man in Summerset and his deformed driver Luther Caleb were probably the redeeming characters and their part leading to Nola’s disappearance that got me through this book. Stein and Caleb have their own side story, far better which ties into the main story. It just shows that past mistakes do not stay hidden. Caleb was, in fact, the true artist, who wasn’t in it for the fame or money like Marcus or Harry, but for his love of expression.

Jenny Quinn, former prom queen, only fancied Harry because he was easy on the eyes, thought he was loaded and wanted to escape from her mundane life as a waitress in her families’ burger joint. Her husband, police officer Travis Dawn was pathetic, again no other woman on the planet will do as he pines over Jenny. Yet it’s sad because he knows deep down Jenny only settled with him because she could never have Harry.

The twist about Chief Pratt was unexpected. Are we going to ignore the fact that he sexually assaulted Nola? Yeah, she went down on him in order to blackmail him but he later took her to the woods and forced her to do it again. And he only confessed to this disgusting act when he knew the police were onto him.

Tamara, the dominating patronising wife and Robert ‘Bobbo’ Quinn, the submissive husband who thinks its OK to drug his wife so he read her journal locked in her office. And what was the need of Dicker having extracts of Tamara and her psychiatrist talking? It had nothing to do with the main plot.

I’m on the fence with this one. It wasn’t a bad book but its delivery was not all that great. If I hadn’t watched the adaption first, I would have loathed and most likely DNF this book. I didn’t like the message about a writer’s success is measured in wealth and copies or Harry’s affair with Nola. Dicker isn’t a terrible writer – he just had awful, unlikable and unrelatable characters. That said, I’d probably read the sequel The Baltimore Boys in the near future, which I hope is better.


Rating: 3/5
Publishers: MacLehose Press
First Published: September 19th 2012
Publication date: August 23rd 2018
Genre: Crime/Mystery