Story By Bob Van Laerhoven
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Bob Van Laerhoven

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Alejandro's Lie
Updated at Oct 8, 2023, 00:06
A gripping political thriller from the Hercule Poirot Prize–winning author of Baudelaire’s Revenge. Terreno, 1983, Latin America. After a dictatorship of ten years, the brutal junta, lead by general Pelarón, seems to waver. Alejandro Juron, guitarist of the famous poet and folk singer Victor Pérez who's been executed by the junta, is released from the infamous prison "The Last Supper." The underground resistance wants Alejandro to participate in its fight again. But Alejandro has changed. Consumed with guilt by the death of his friend Victor, whom he betrayed to his tormentors, Alejandro becomes the unintended center of a web of intrigue that culminates in a catastrophic insurrection, and has to choose between love and escape. A love story, a thriller and an analysis of the mechanisms that govern a dictatorship, Alejandro's Lie is a gripping novel about violence, betrayal, resistance, corruption, guilt and love. Best Political Thriller, 2021 [Best Thriller Book Awards, BestThrillers.com]
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The Shadow Of The Mole
Updated at Mar 9, 2022, 02:11
From the Hercule Poirot Prize–winning author of Baudelaire’s Revenge comes a gripping tale of memory and identity set in the trenches of World War I. 1916, Bois de Bolante, France. The battles in the trenches are raging fiercer than ever. In a deserted mineshaft, French sappeurs discover an unconscious man, and nickname him The Mole. Claiming he has lost his memory, The Mole is convinced that he's dead, and that an Other has taken his place. The military brass considers him a deserter, but front physician and psychiatrist-in-training Michel Denis suspects that his patient's odd behavior is stemming from shellshock, and tries to save him from the firing squad. The mystery deepens when The Mole begins to write a story in écriture automatique that takes place in Vienna, with Dr. Josef Breuer, Freud’s teacher, in the leading role. Traumatized by the recent loss of an arm, Denis becomes obsessed with him, and is prepared to do everything he can to unravel the patient's secret. Set against the staggering backdrop of the First World War, The Shadow Of The Mole is a thrilling tableau of loss, frustration, anger, madness, secrets and budding love. The most urgent question in this extraordinary story is: when, how, and why reality shifts into delusion? "The Flemish writer Bob Van Laerhoven writes in a fascinating and compelling way about a psychiatric investigation during WW1. The book offers superb insight into the horrors of war and the trail of human suffering that results from it" - NBD Biblion
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