Frédéric Dard
Description
Frédéric Dard, born Frédéric Charles Antoine Dard, in Bourgoin-Jallieu, Isère, was a French writer and author of the San-Antonio series. He is one of the most famous French crime novels writers of the second half of the 20th century. He was also one of the most prolific, since he wrote more than 300 novels throughout his career. Under the pseudonym of San-Antonio (with the dash, which was originally a mistake), which he chose randomly with his finger on a map of America while he was looking for an English-sounding name for the famous police superintendent who is the main hero of his novels. San-Antonio is both in the case the main hero and the pseudonym of the writer, and books are written in the first person. Frédéric Dard wrote 173 adventures of San-Antonio, of which millions of copies were sold. A San-Antonio is likely to be found in any French household. Detective Superintendent Antoine San-Antonio is a kind of French James Bond without gadget, flanked by two colleagues, the old, sickly but wise inspector César Pinaud and the gargantuesque inspector Alexandre-Benoît Bérurier. He is a member of the French secret service and has to fulfill impossible missions given by "Le Vieux" (the Old Man), later known as "Achilles", the head of the French police. With the help of his colleagues he always succeeds through various adventures.
Books
Bird in a cage
30-year-old Albert returns to Paris after six years away, during which time his mother has passed away, to find himself entangled in a complicated case centered around a woman he met at a restaurant whose husband's body appears in her lounge, but then disappears almost inexplicably.
Crush
"Caleb Rush, a. k. a. Crush, is the toughest, coolest bodyguard/bouncer in Los Angeles, a man who lives strictly by his own moral code, which doesn't exactly hew to the standards of US law. When Amelia Trask, the wild daughter of a scruples-free billionaire tycoon, comes to Crush for help, his quiet life roars into overdrive, and he has to use his wits, brawn, martial-arts training, and knowledge of the Russian mafia to stay alive and clean up the mess that young Amelia has created. Crush is a rollicking, page-turning ride through LA, full of action, suspense, memorable characters, and a sly wit."--Provided by publisher.
The executioner weeps
On a quiet mountain road near Barcelona, a woman steps out in front of a car. When the driver, a well-known artist, stops to come to her aid, he finds she is alive, but without any memory of who she is or where she has come from. The only clue to her identity is the broken violin lying at her side. The artist tries to help her remember her past, and finds himself falling in love, but as secrets from the woman's forgotten life start to come to light, he finds his new romance turning into a nightmare.
The wicked go to hell
A cop receives a mission - to win the confidence of an enemy spy, currently in prison, and so to expose destroy his spy ring. What better way to allay his suspicions than for the policeman to enter the prison himself, posing as a criminal? So, Frank and Hal end up sharing a cell, but who is the spy and who is the cop? And who will win their claustrophobic game of cat and mouse?