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Pierre Chave--assistant stage manager at an amateur theater in Brussels--must assert his influence when two anarchists who advocate violence threaten to take over the group of Parisian anarchists of which Chave is a member

First published in France in 1938, this psychological thriller is eerily timely. Focusing on the activities of a terrorist group, Simenon paints a chilling portrait of revolutionary fervor and fanaticism gone awry. Pierre Chave is an idealistic anarchist exiled from France in the 1930s. Now living in Brussels and working at a theater, he spends his free time communicating with his comrades back in Paris, especially adoring Rob, to whom Chave acts as mentor. But the group has begun to follow charismatic and brutal K., who advocates violence. When Chave hears of their plan to bomb a factory, with Rob assigned to carry out the deed, he risks his peaceful existence and travels to Paris, leaving behind his wife and sick son. His every move is watched by French police, and the tension mounts. When Chave finally locates his former friends, he learns that K. has convinced them that Chave is their enemy. A disillusioned Chave takes action. With characteristic brevity, Simenon skillfully builds tension to the swiftly accomplished climax, carrying the reader with Chave through his Paris adventures and back to Belgium.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

An overextended look at the terrorist underworld of Paris in the Thirties, seen through the eyes of sentimental Pierre Chave--an armchair anarchist, AWOL from the French Army, who's now living a quiet life in Brussels with his wife, young son, and subsistence job. The news, delivered by pompous courier called ``the Baron,'' that young Robert, a prot‚g‚ of Chave's, has been chosen by the Paris cell to bomb a large factory sends Chave hurrying off to France. His panicky, fumbling attempts to deflect Robert from his assignment and from his new-found, hard-line friends serve only to reinforce their conviction that he's a spy for the police, who are everywhere after an anonymous tip-off. Chave, with uncharacteristic boldness, accomplishes his aim, albeit indirectly, and lives to tell the tale. Dull and repetitive in its endless descriptions of seedy, waterfront bars, even seedier rooming houses, and shabby, truculent characters; only Chave's sweet, stubborn persona makes this story, first published in 1938, mildly palatable. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.