Act of Passion (New York Review Books Classics)
“Open any of his major novels: at once, a magic takes effect. From the first paragraph, you are gripped as if by the jaws of a steel trap that will not release its hold until the final full stop of the last page; and, even then, after you have shut the book, you remain stunned. . . . Again and again we return [to Simenon] to draw the courage to contemplate our own misery without flinching.”—Simon Leys“Simenon’sromans dursare utterly unsentimental, frightening in the pitilessness of their gaze, yet wonderfully entertaining.”—John Banville“Like Patricia Highsmith, Simenon grasped the psycho-pathology of the twentieth century at its intractable roots.”—Gary Indiana,New York“Simenon’s novels are acute, compact, remarkably varied, and as lapidary as great pop songs.”—Luc Sante“Irresistible. A writer of total pessimism and total integrity, yet marvelously alive.  . . . You read him at your peril, avoid him at your loss.”-The Sunday Times(London)