**"One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon
was unequaled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by
his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories." --The
Guardian
**
In this brilliant new translation of Georges Simenon's classic novel, a
young man descends into a brutal world of crime
"And always the dirty snow, the heaps of snow that look rotten, with
black patches and embedded garbage . . . unable to cover the filth."
Nineteen-year-old Frank--thug, thief, son of a brothel owner--gets by
surprisingly well despite living in a city under military occupation,
but a warm house and a full stomach are not enough to make him feel
truly alive in such a climate of deceit and betrayal. During a bleak,
unending winter, he embarks on a string of violent and sordid crimes
that set him on a path from which he can never return. Georges Simenon's
matchless novel is a brutal, compelling portrayal of a world without
pity; a devastating journey through a psychological no man's land.