Heatwave: An Evening Standard 'Best New Book' of 2021

Product Information

The CWA Dagger shortlists will be announced on 13th May at CrimeFest . The awards ceremony will be held at the Leonardo City hotel in London on 29th June, coinciding with National Crime Reading Month. The 2022 Diamond Dagger, awarded to an author whose crime-writing career has been marked by sustained excellence, has already been announced as going to C J Sansom.

Heatwave | Book by Victor Jestin | Official Publisher Page Heatwave | Book by Victor Jestin | Official Publisher Page

Victor Jestin portrays with cruel exactitude the throes of an adolescent trapped in a secret too heavy to bear.”— L’Obs Oscar è morto perché l’ho guardato morire senza muovere un dito. È morto strangolato dalle corde di un’altalena, come i bambini nei fatti di cronaca. Oscar non era un bambino. A diciassette anni non si muore così, senza farlo apposta. Ci si stringe il collo per provare qualcosa. Forse stava cercando un nuovo modo di godere. In fondo siamo tutti qui per godere. Comunque sia non mi sono mosso. Da lì è derivato tutto il resto. Victor Jestin succeeds in transporting us with almost nothing, this unique style, this voice—one might almost say these whispers.... A tour de force.” —Le Figaro CultureThis drawn-out wandering of a boy outside the norm has been brought to life by the incredible precision of this young author’s voice.”— Prima This isn’t a conventional crime novel. There’s no doubt as to the crime committed or who is complicit. In fact, it’s stated up front in this captivating first paragraph: “Oscar is dead because I watched him die and did nothing. He was strangled by the ropes of a swing, like one of those children you read about in the newspapers.” Instead, it explores the main character’s behaviour and reaction to Oscar’s death. There’s no resolution, no comfort here and the reader will be left to make their own conclusion.

Heatwave: The most deliciously dark beach read of the summer

At 25, Victor Jestin has written a Sagan-like novel. A Francoise Sagan of today under high heat, in the full sense of the word.”— Le Parisien Dimanche The much-anticipated John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger highlights the best debut novels. Among the rising stars of 2022 is Hallett with her debut The Appeal (Viper Books) which was a Sunday Times Crime Book of the Year. Poi fa qualcosa di altrettanto irrimediabile, ma anche più assurdo: sotterra in spiaggia il corpo di Oscar sotto la sabbia di una duna.Non intervenire, restare immobile a guardare – tanto più che Oscar dava l’impressione di averci ripensato, di volersi liberare dalle corde dell’altalena – è come ammazzare? Ultimately, Heatwave is an intriguing thriller which examines good versus evil and humanity’s underlying barbarism when faced with unfamiliar situations. It also comments on societal pressure to conform and, on the other side of the spectrum, questions the artificial nature of people’s behaviour, their superficiality and their ability to ignore the issues they don’t want to deal with. The book was written in French (titled La Chaleur) and, of course, we read the translated version. That may have caused a couple of editing errors but, in general, I thought it was very well-written—especially considering the author wrote when he was just 23 years of age. Others must have agreed, as it won several awards, including the Prix Femina des Lycéens 2019 and the Prix de la vocation 2019. It was nominated for several other awards.

Heatwave eBook by Victor Jestin | Official Publisher Page Heatwave eBook by Victor Jestin | Official Publisher Page

Victor Jestin's debut novella centers around the question why Léo didn't stop Oscar, and why he didn't report what he saw and hid the corpse instead. It's all about the complexity of human nature and the atmosphere that is determined by the different associations with heat. I really enjoyed how the author insists on the enigmatic nature of the case he describes, how he doesn't take the easy route, how he brings the place to life and contrasts teenage impulses. Changeling’ by Bryony Pearce in Criminal Pursuits: Crime Through Time edited by Samantha Lee Howe (Telos Publishing) For his first novel, Victor Jestin displays a stunning literary talent. It’s short, pitiless, polished, perfectly realized’ Livres Hebdo The next day is the hottest in seventeen years. Disoriented by the oppressive heat, and distracted by his desire for a girl named Luce, Leonard spends the ensuing hours trying not to unravel.Jestin’s charged and chilling debut turns on a stifling vacation that descends from purgatory into a nightmarish inferno’ Publishers Weekly Leonard is an outsider, a seventeen-year-old uncomfortable in his own skin who is forced to endure a family camping holiday in the South of France. Tired of awkwardly creeping out of beach parties after only a couple of beers, he chooses to spend the final Friday night of the trip in bed. However, when he cannot sleep due to the sound of wild carousing outside his tent, he gets up and goes for a walk. Victor Jestin’s debut novel Heatwave has an intriguing premise that unfortunately turns out to be only that as what follows isn’t particularly interesting or memorable.