Résumé
1961, Illinois. Alex Poliac buries his wife Alice, and that evening, he and his son flee their home. Not because he is a suspect in Alice's death, but because a serial killer — The Clown — is prowling the state, and Alex knows how he picks his victims. A rough meeting with Laura, a friend of his wife, brings more questions: was Alice hiding something, with her mysterious phone calls and unexplained absences? Was her death really an accident?Now available in print from Cinebook
T1 The Route 66 List
In JFK’s America, halfway between spy thriller and noir novel, the tragic road-movie of a father and his son, revolving around a mysterious list that everyone’s willing to kill for. 1961, Illinois. Alex Poliac buries his wife Alice. That evening, he and his son flee their home. Not because he is a suspect in Alice’s death, but because a serial killer – The Clown – is prowling the state, and Alex knows how he picks his victims. A rough meeting with Laura, a friend of his wife, brings more questions: was Alice hiding something, with her mysterious phone calls and unexplained absences? Was her death really an accident?
T2 The Route 66 List
Alex Poliac and his son are still on the run, having evaded both the FBI and the Clown – the supposed serial killer who’s actually a KGB hatchet man. Because Alex is in fact a Soviet sleeper agent, part of a network run by legendary spy Sasha, a shadowy figure among the US’s most wanted list. He is also the only holder of the Route 66 List, which contains the names of every agent implanted in the States along the celebrated road – the same agents Sasha is now having killed.
T3 The Route 66 List
During the 1961 floods in Kansas, the Clown is searching a house, looking for important documents. When the police arrive, though, a shoot-out ensues that ends in the killer’s apparent death. And yet … By the time the owner of the house returns, along with Alex Poliac, the documents have disappeared, and Alex is convinced his old enemy is still alive. Meanwhile, FBI Agent Laura Kensington is arrested for treason …
T4 The Route 66 List
Four years have passed since Rob Poliac fled the house where two FBI agents died and his father Alex was shot by the Clown – and his real boss, Laura Kensington. He now lives under an assumed name with Carl, an old friend of Alex’s. But when his guardian dies, the young man finds himself the owner of the infamous List 66. Little by little, against his better judgement, he begins to investigate the names on it …
T5 The Route 66 List
Rob’s found his father, alive and moderately well after four years of physical and mental torture. But the happy reunion is cut short when the Clown makes contact with them. Unexpectedly, it’s to offer them a deal: Alex will do one last job for him, then father and son can go, free and with the assurance of never being bothered by the KGB again. Inevitably, no one really believes the offer, and the last round of a deadly game begins …
The Route 66 List, vol 1 is written and drawn by Éric Stalner, with Jean-Jacques Chagnaud as colorist. It's a story about a man who recently lost his wife in a suspicious accident, the man sets out with his son to find answers. This is a book with quite a few components; there's spying, cold war politics, and a serial killer. It's only in the very last pages that the reader gets any sense of how these things are connected. The action... En lire plus