Businessman Georges Gerfaut witnesses a murderand is pursued by the killers. His conventional life knocked off the rails, Gerfaut turns the tables and sets out to track down his pursuers. Along the way, he learns a thing or two about himself. Manchettemasterful stylist, ironist, and social criticlimns the cramped lives of professionals in a neo-conservative world.Jean-Patrick Manchette (19421995) rescued the French crime novel from the grip of stodgy police proceduralsrestoring the noir edge by virtue of his post-1968 leftism. Today, Manchette is a totem to the generation of French mystery writers who came in his wake. Jazz saxophonist, political activist, and screen writer, Manchette was influenced as much by Guy Debord as by Gustave Flaubert.