A bit of a page turner, the teenage heroine Louise at first seemingly hard done by may turn out to be the greedy villain. The good thing about Dard thrillers is that they are short, easy to read and gripping. ( )

Un piccolo noir francese, leggibile, ma certo non indimenticabile. Una coppia di americani, temporaneamente residente in Francia, assume come domestica la giovane diciassettenne, che narra in prima persona e che è la causa delle loro sciagure. ( )

3.5 stars

Crush was a pleasant read for a sick day: short, with an interesting look at teenage sexual obsession and an unexpected twist at the end. There was no depth to the characters, however, which prevented it from measuring up to such French noir gems as Pascal Garnier's Moon in a Dead Eye. I also found the colloquial British translation, in which men were "blokes" who were "on the dole" and Louise called her mother "Mum" instead of "Maman," to be incredibly distracting and pedestrian, with none of the French sultriness touted on the cover.

I did admire the dual meaning of the English title, the credit for which must be given to either the translator or the publisher (who may, in this case, effectively be one and the same because Daniel Seton is Pushkin Press's commissioning editor), as its French title, Les scélérats, is more closely translated as "the wretches" or "the miscreants." Dard, who was apparently known for his wordplay, would be proud.

This review was based on a free ARC provided by the publisher. ( )