reine

pauline guéna

(éditions denoël, 256 pages, 2024)

For the first time, a hitman is about to kill for love.

Marco is a hitman. He has always followed through on his contracts, nothing more, nothing less. But this time killing Igdir was ordered solely by his own conscience.

Reine was Igdir’s prisoner. She witnessed the murder but, in order to protect Marco, wouldn’t say a word.

Léan is a freelance journalist. Something tells him that this ongoing investigation of a murder is the perfect story to get his career off the ground. He wouldn’t be the first to sell his soul for a good scoop.

In this gripping story, the three main characters cross paths. With the help of Léan, we learn about Marco’s past, with a troubled childhood then a reclusive life. We don’t know much about Reine, either, except that she has been abused all her life. Those two have recognized each other, both embodying the cycle of violence, and fallen in love.

Reine is not only noir fiction—a dive into a dark part of the world, a subtle criticism of society, an exploration of the depth of the human soul—but also a novel of love and friendship.

Pauline Guéna is a novelist and screenwriter. She wrote the screenplay for the French adaption of the TV series In Treatment. Reine is her fifth novel.