Continuing with another Bernard Minier novel, I noticed a distinct change in this series. Whereas the first two novels were definitely crime thrillers, this one has morphed into something psychological, but still holds a strong story to keep the reader fully engaged. Christine Steinmeyer is prepared to go out on Christmas Eve when she noticed an unmarked letter in her post box. Opening it, she discovers a letter expressing that the writer intends on killing themselves and that she, the reader, is to blame. Baffled, Christine seeks to learn if she received this letter in error, but no one else seems able to determine the intended recipient. During her Christmas Day radio broadcast, a caller reaches Christine on-air to ask how she could have let someone die. Spooked, Christine is more determined to find out who is behind this and how she can stop the game. Meanwhile, Martin Servaz is on leave from the Toulouse Police, having checked himself into a facility to handle some traumatic events in his recent past. He is haunted by horrible nightmares, though is sure that he will be able to overcome them, given the time to process. He receives a random envelop one day, in which he finds a hotel key card from a high-end establishment. With little to do, Servaz follows the message left for him and makes his way to the hotel, only to learn that the room associated with the card has an ominous past. An artist took her life the year before, but there is no suspicions or foul play. Still, for many who know Servaz, he does not let this go lightly, beginning an exploration into this woman and what might have led to her demise. As Christine continues to probe her own mystery, messages begin appearing at work and by email, attributed to her. She hears things and cannot sleep, sure that someone is following her. The deeper she probes, the less things make sense and those around her have given up on her. When she finds herself in the crosshairs of the police, she knows that she is being toyed with, but cannot finger the culprit. ServazÂ’s off the books investigation soon finds a thread that brings Christine into his own probing. Might there be a correlation between these two cases? Minier branches out with a wonderful novel that takes readers down many a dark corridor and leaves them guessing until the final page, when the closing paragraph is left to resonate. Perfect for those who enjoyed the first two novels and readers who enjoy a dark, psychological thrillers that develop at their own pace.

Those who follow my will know that I find foreign language thrillers to differ greatly from my usual English reading fare. They tend to be much darker and use characters whose angst pushes the story into odd directions. Bernard Minier is one author whose novels meet this criteria, particularly as they take the reader into the struggles of Commandant Martin Servaz. However, in this case, it is processing the horrible reality of what he has come to presumed followed the closing of the previous novel. Servaz is back, though plays a secondary role in this piece, at least in its central focus and drive. He seeks to come to terms with the ly death of a past lover who was kidnapped by a killer he put away years before. While not actively working, his mind seeks a mystery that he can solve which is why the ‘hotel key curiosity’ is right up his alley. The reader plunges into this investigation with him, keeping him occupied enough not to think of the past. That said, he does have a brief encounter with his daughter, who brings stunning news and permits the reader to witness some of the Commandant’s character development. The primary focus of the novel is Christine Steinmeyer, whose fall from glory is documented through a spiral of intensifying acts and revelations , hinting that the mental health struggles from her youth may have resurfaced. Additionally, the reader learns much about this woman’s past and how the death of her older sister may have been a long path full of red flags that no one noticed. As Christine professes her sanity, the reader can only wonder who is pulling the strings of these seemingly inexplicable actions that see her lose the trust of many. With a number of other characters who push the story along, Minier has crafted a strong collection of entities to propel this novel of a differing genre into being success. Minier does well to individualise this story without leaving the series fan feeling cheated or out of sorts. The slow advancement of the overall plot works well, as Minier is never one to get to the point in short order. Peppering the narrative with both operatic and space references, the reader can learn a great deal while trying to solve these parallel mysteries that seem to have a similar thread. By the end, the reader can breathe a sigh of relief, only to be pushed over with new information in the epilogue to stun them and pray that the fourth novel will soon be on hand.

Kudos, Monsieur Minier, for another great piece. I am eager to get my hands on the next in the series when it has been translated!

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60 s Linda Strong3,880 1,675

Christine Steinmeyer received a suicide note on Christmas Eve. It was written by a woman, but Christine is convinced the note was delivered her by mistake. But during her radio show, she receives a call from a man who states she had let this woman die because she did nothing.

And from there, everything gets even worse. Drugs are found in her desk drawers. Someone is getting into her home and leaving CDs of operas for her to find ...they all have to do with suicide. Her co-workers are inventing horrible lies about her. There are threatening emails sent to a woman who is interested in Christine's boyfriend. And the boyfriend doesn't believe her.

Who hates her enough to want to destroy her life? Wants her to take her own life?

Martin Servaz is on leave, spending time in a clinic especially for depressed police. A reference to the first or second book in this series shows that Martin's girlfriend was murdered; the murderer still free.

Someone sends Martin a key to a hotel room ... a room where an artist committed suicide the year before. It seems that someone wants him investigating, although he is still on medical leave.

When his investigation bumps up against what Christine is going through and on the verge of suicide herself, the nightmare becomes a reality.

(Book Blurb) What if the people closest to us are not what they seem? What happens when someone takes control of your life and your relationships? And what is hiding in the darkness? In Bernard Minier's Don't Turn Out the Lights, you wonÂ’t see whoÂ’s coming after you.

This is a terrifying psychological terror. It was so hard putting this book down for any length of time. There are twists and turns I absolutely did not see coming. Not everyone is who you think they are.

I love the character of Martin Servaz. I am definitely going to get the first two books in this series ... I want to know much more about what makes him the way he is. I d Christine, even though she was a little naive in the beginning. I really enjoyed her change of personality. There are several secondary characters that are quite interesting and add so much to this story.

Highly Recommended! Many thanks to Shailyn Tavella, Publicist, Minatour Books. The opinions here are unbiased and entirely my own.
read-in-201619 s Sibel Gandy995 69

Güzel bir psikolojik, gerilimdi ancak Servaz figüran gibi bir ?eydi kitapta. Çok az sahnesi vard?. Ziegler hiç yoktu.13 s Aitziber257 70

El libro se me ha hecho pesado al principio (para mi gusto sobran pag). Mucha descripción, datos que no aportan nada…
La parte de saña con el perro tampoco la he entendido, que necesidad tiene este autor de torturar animales.

La trama en la segunda parte del libro se vuelve más interesante y con mucha acción. Tiene una historia original. Giros y mas giros para un final correcto. 9 s Olivia3,240 91

"Don't Turn Out the Lights" is an intense psychological thriller. Christine, a radio personality, receives a suicide note without a name or address on Christmas Eve. She is supposed to be meeting her fiancé Gerald's parents, so she is forced to do very little and mostly ignores it. On Christmas, while on the radio, a caller accuses her of letting someone die. Although she takes the letter to the police, they believe that she created it herself. As her life turns into a downward spiral, Christine is slowly isolated, frightened, and destroyed by an unknown attacker.

At the same time, Servaz, who is out on sick leave from the police department, begins to receive clues which are tied to the death of an artist named Celia. As he begins to put together the clues of Celia's apparent suicide, he finds links which tie back to Christine's case (of which he was unaware at the time). Servaz and Christine's stories are juxtaposed in the book as we flip back and forth between the two. The policeman to which Christine reports the odd occurrences around her serves as a foil to the competent and sympathetic Servaz, who she meets much later in the book.

What is perhaps the most frightening part of the book is how isolated Christine becomes. She is persecuted by her former friends, colleagues, fiancé, and the police. Everyone seems to believe that she is doing all this herself and writes her off as a crazy without a second look at the illogicality of her doing these things. And from their point of view, the occurrences do seem as though she could be crazy/doing them herself. Why would someone break into your email to send those messages? Why would someone do these terrible things? It would make more sense for her just to be crazy. This is perhaps the scariest part of the book because then this could also happen to you- you think your friends and colleagues would see your side, but would they when faced with these odd events?

The book is masterfully and terrifyingly written, gripping the reader from the beginning and never allowing for a breath. Christine is an interesting character, as she finds strength from within when abandoned by others, undergoing a unique transformation. She also intersperses events from her childhood which add another layer of intrigue/mystery about her sister. This book definitely needs some content warnings for statutory rape, multiple drugged rapes, animal cruelty, suicides, and sexual harassment. It is not for the faint of heart.

Servaz is a fantastic detective and clearly breaks the mold in the book. This is part of a series about him, and we get tastes of this from an ongoing case about his lover Marianne's death. Aside form these few mentions, the book is entirely a stand-alone. I have not read the past books in this series and never felt lost in the story/book. My favorite character was Max, the homeless man who lives across the street from Christine, and who finds himself drawn into the plot. He was such an interesting mix of drug addict and opera-lover, plus he provided support to Christine, and was just a really fascinating character all-around.

Overall, it's an incredible thriller which will keep you locked in your seat and biting your nails all the way until the end. Please note that I received this book from the publisher. All opinions are entirely my own.other-8 s Elaine1,709 1 follower

I was actually not looking forward to Don't Turn Out the Lights, only because it looked long and wordy. I enjoyed the first two books but I didn't love it.

But I was surprised...in a good way!

The third book in the Commandant Martin Servaz series was a surprise because it had less to do with the formidable detective and more to do with the main character, Christine Steinmeyer. She is being stalked and harassed with strange letters, threatening phone calls and mind games determined to send her spiraling into a vortex of self loathing and depression.

Her story intertwines with Commandant Martin Servas with the POVs shifting back and forth as he is recuperating in a rest home from a devastating loss delivered by his arch enemy, Hirtmann, while at the same time he is lured into investigating a strange death that strangely parallels the troubles that are disrupting Christine's life. Neither of them meet until nearly at the end and the fact that the readers knows more than they do ratchets up the tension.

There are multiple characters, some shady, others their motives undetermined, as Christine tries to decipher and follow the clues as to who may be trying to ruin her life. Mr. Minier takes his sweet time in detailing Christine's background (which explains the long prose), but for good reason. He is setting up the double twist of an ending, one which I saw coming and the other, the best part, I have to say, I did not see until I read it.

A multitude of topics is covered in the novel including the themes of stalking (the thriller trend of 2017, I suspect), obsession, depression, suicide, astronauts, space exploration, endurance, love, and my personal favorite, vengeance.

Don't Turn Out the Lights is an unusual mystery in that it takes a turn for the unexpected. The women take the lead, not the men. Christine starts out as a passive, almost docile woman but as the appalling events that you imagine might ruin or destroy her continue to cause her despair and anguish, instead, do the opposite. She turns into someone else, darker, harsher, a survivor, despite the tragic loss of her naivete and innocence and in turn, becomes the hunter, no longer the prey.

Once this happens, the mood and tone of the book shifts dramatically and pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place. In the beginning, I did not Christine. I thought she was going to turn into the tragic heroine, the damsel in distress in need of Commandant Servaz's help, how most of these female characters turn into.

But I was wrong. And damnnnn, was I happy about that!

I can't wait to read the next book!mystery-series7 s Repix2,253 463

Una prosa inteligente pero le sobran muchas páginas y, sobre todo, las torturas y asesinatos de los perros.maltrato-animal7 s Rosa709 6

It's been four years since I read The Circle, and while I've enjoyed this Don't Turn Out the Lights, I didn't it as much as the previous ones.
The plot twist about Commandant Servaz being on leave due to the gift he recieved from Hirtman is interesting but it keeps Martin out of the spotlight and we know the story through Christine, and that sometimes is too much. I found difficult to read the situation with Iggy, Christine's dog. I understand that had to happen because the bad guys were trying to break her, but still it was too much. I know there were far worse things happening, but animal maltreatment is a difficult issue for me Despite that, this is a good book, the story is interesting once you get used to the level of anguish and the narrative pace.books read-in-20195 s Illona71 22

Absolutely brilliant. This was just one twist on another and even though I'm not entirely sure why the 2 DNA samples are important, I do know that Servaz is gonna find Marianne. Hopefully. And kill Hirtmann maybe?

Also, thank goodness Christine is still alive. But did Mila even realise that she did something wrong?!5 s Liene67 14

V?l viens aizraujošs psiholi?isks trilleris. K? rad?ts š?dam lietainam laikam, lai p?c gr?matas izlas?šanas tieš?m b?tu bail izsl?gt gaismu, jo kad pie??rsieties šai gr?matai, kad to pabeigsiet, noteikti, b?s jau iest?jusies tumsa, nav iesp?jams to nolikt mal?.
Kaut k? biju palaidusi gar?m, ka š? ir treš? gr?mata, gr?matu s?rij? par izmekl?t?ju Servazu, bet noteikti nav oblig?ti j?izlasa pirm?s divas, lai var?tu ?erties pie š?s, bet es noteikti izlas?šu ar? t?s.
Gr?mata sav? var? jau pa?em ar pirmaj?m lapaspus?m, jau pats ievads iedveš bailes, kas ir lielisks ievads v?l asins stindzinoš?kam un aizraujoš?kam st?stam.
Autoram ir apbr?nojams talants tik meistar?gi sav?rpt sižetu, kas ne?auj garlaikoties. St?sta pagriezana punktus un sarež??jumus, es vienk?rši nesp?ju uzmin?t, katra jauna noda?a, man bija k? p?rsteigums un ?sto vain?go nemaz nav iesp?jams izskait?ot, nu vismaz man neizdev?s.4 s Sarm?te551 15

Lielisks un baiss gabals. Tik vienk?rši, izr?d?s, ir cilv?ku izn?cin?t, salauzt, izol?t, rad?t baumas, aps?dz?t. Tic?t - netic?t? Un ja nu t? ir paties?ba? Un ja nav? 4 s Rosa220 8

Tercera novela de la serie Servaz y para mí desde luego la mejor, Minier se va superando en casa una. La ambientación es muy buena, el caso engancha desde el principio y se desarrolla sin prisa pero sin pausa y el final redondo, me ha encantado. A por la cuarta!4 s Elaine846 406

The first 300 pages left me breathless and, well, not wanting to put out the light! Unfortunately, there were well over 300 pages after that, and at some point I longed for an editor. I noticed that the vocabulary/writing is somewhat repetitive- this is great for a language student me and I felt that my contemporary French was definitely improved by reading this book. However that's the sort of thing that I imagine would be less enchanting for a native speaker! 2016 french4 s Monica403 25

Vond deze ietsje minder dan zijn voorganger (maar nog steeds heel goed). Mede doordat het eigenlijk meer een psycholigische thriller is en dus anders van opzet dan de vorige 2 delen. Christine speelt de hoofdrol en Servaz is veel minder aanwezig. Toch heb ik genoten van het boek. Leest makkelijk weg ondanks dat het een dikke pil is. 2018 4-stars3 s Kelly272 12

“Bernard Minier - Verduistering”
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Wauw! Eerlijk gezegd vind ik dit boek tot nu toe het beste boek van de serie. Het slaat een lichtjes andere weg in & is écht een psychologische mindfuck! Ik hou van psychologische spelletjes
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