The Public Prosecutor - by Jef Geeraerts (Paperback)

About the Book

A violently funny thriller and vitriolic exposé of Opus Dei's influence in judicially corrupt Belgium.

Book Synopsis

"In contrast with Mankell, the warm-hearted psychologist of the individual, we find Geeraerts, a cold-blooded surgeon who lays bare the ills of a society. This thriller, so loyal to the genre that the irony and parody are barely perceptible, is relentless."--Tagesspiegel Berlin

"One of Geeraerts' literary achievements is that such an arrogant and baroque character as Savelkoul ends up attracting your sympathy. A revealing study of a very dark society."--Facts Zurich

"Geeraerts exposes the mechanics of corruption, the abuse of power, political cynicism and the excesses triggered by religious delusion."--ZDF

Albert Savelkoul, the public prosecutor of Antwerp, has power, money, an aristocratic wife, and a high-maintenance mistress. A wonderful life--until Opus Dei takes a less than benevolent interest in it. In the course of this subversive psychological thriller, the shameless, slippery Albert becomes an almost-lovable, desperate victim of a power structure controlled by effete aristocrats, a corrupt judiciary, and ultra-right fanatics of the Catholic church.

Jef Geeraerts, born in 1930 in Antwerp, was much admired by Henry Miller and is Belgium's best-known author after Georges Simenon. He was educated in Jesuit schools and spent time as a colonial administrator and army officer in the Belgian Congo. He gained international acclaim with his Gangrene Cycle, four novels based on his experience in the Congo. Since then he has focused on crime and noir novels, of which The Public Prosecutor is the first to be published in English.

Review Quotes

"In contrast with Mankell, the warm-hearted psychologist of the individual, we find Geeraerts, a cold-blooded surgeon who lays bare the ills of a society. This thriller, so loyal to the genre that the irony and parody are barely perceptible, is relentless." Tagesspiegel Berlin "One of Geeraerts literary achievements is that such a shameless and baroque character as Savelkoul ends up attracting your sympathy. A revealing study of a very dark society." FACT Zurich

About the Author

Jef Geeraerts, an author much admired by Henry Miller, was born in 1930 in Antwerp and is Belgium's best known author after Georges Simenon. He was educated in Jesuit schools, spent time as a colonial administrator and army officer in the Belgian Congo. He gained international acclaim with his Gangrene Cycle, four novels based on his experience in the Congo. Brian Doyle is a well known translator from the Dutch and lives in Belgium.