New Releases by Marc Behm

Stanley Donen''s Charade, released in 1963, is a deft, light, and witty thriller starring Audrey Hepburn at her most glamorous opposite a seasoned and mature Cary Grant. Hepburn plays Regina "Reggie" Lampert, a woman dissatisfied with her wealthy but secretive husband, whom she''s decided to divorce. At a skiing resort in the French Alps, she meets the dashing Peter Joshua (Cary Grant). Both Reggie and Peter fly back to Paris on the same day. Reggie finds that her husband has been murdered and thrown out of a train and that their elegant apartment has been stripped bare. Distraught, she allows Peter to take her under her wing. Reggie discovers that her husband had $250,000 that is now missing: the only possession of his that is found on the train is an airline bag that seems to contain nothing of value. She is soon chased by three of her late husband''s World War II cronies, Tex, Scobie, and Gideon, who were given the money in gold to give to French Resistance fighters but stole it and hid it. The trio, memorably played by beloved actors James Coburn, George Kennedy, and Ned Glass, are convinced that Reggie has the money and try to get it from her. Peter comes to the rescue, but Reggie soon learns that he is not what he claimed to be. They skirt the trio, who chase them around the stylish backdrop of 1960s Paris, while Reggie keeps in touch with Hamilton Bartholomew (Walter Matthau), who claims to be a representative of the U.S. Embassy. During all this excitement, the couple find themselves falling in love. The film is also memorable for its haunting theme by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer, which was nominated for an Academy Award. Charade is an unforgettable film that masterfully mixes suspense, comedy, dark humor, and romance. In it Grant and Hepburn display a chemistry that shows them at their best. Few motion pictures have provided such a deft and delightful mix of suspense, wit, romance, and style. Over sixty years after its release, Charade remains a continuing source of enjoyment for movie fans everywhere.

"Insanely evocative and extremely satisfying." — The Times (UK) Joe Egan has spent his life on the run. When he was a child, he thought he saw the angel of death. Now every time someone close to him dies, a mysterious blonde woman appears and he''s forced to retreat, abandoning jobs and relationships in a never-ending flight across a hallucinatory version of the United States. Is the woman real, a figment of his imagination, or a supernatural apparition — perhaps even the devil incarnate? The Guardian praised Marc Behm as "a terrific novelist," adding that "Afraid to Death is a fascinating mirror image to The Eye of the Beholder." Behn''s previous novel, also available from Dover Publications, spins a gripping tale of obsession and suspense in which a private investigator trails an enigmatic young woman. But this time the protagonist, a dissolute gambler, is being chased by a female character whose reoccurrences excite both fear and attraction.

"One of the most remarkable combinations of a private-eye novel and psychological suspense story, with an entirely new slant, that has ever been published." — The New York Times Book Review "A pivotal work in the history of mystery fiction." — The Guardian At the center of this genre-bending tale of sex, death, and parental love is a private investigator known as The Eye, who has been seeking his missing daughter for many years. In the course of his search, he encounters a mysterious femme fatale who routinely attracts, robs, and murders wealthy men. The Eye knows perfectly well that this woman is not his long-lost daughter, yet he''s compelled to follow her, destroying the evidence of her murders, covering her tracks, and taking an active — though silent — role in her crimes. This offbeat mystery''s portrait of a pair of despondent loners presents a haunting tale of obsession.

Vince, c''est le genre de type qui s''accroche au pinceau une fois l''échelle retirée, comme il l''admet sur le ton de la plaisanterie. Ce n''est pas un gagnant. Alors qu''il se promène dans un parc en faisant rebondir une balle de tennis découverte par hasard, il est témoin d''un meurtre et se trouve immédiatement arrêté à la place de l''assassin. Rebaptisé "le sniper de parkside street", il voit son épouse lui demander le divorce. La journée commence mal, mais c''est loin d''être fini... Après démolitions en tous genres, Jérémy Behm s''attaque avec bonheur à la novélisation d''un scénario de son grand-père Marc.

Un detective fracasado y solitario, obsesionado con una hija a la que busca desde hace años, es contratado por unos padres preocupados para que investigue a la pareja de su hijo. Ante la sorpresa del detective, la joven mujer se revela como una auténtica viuda negra capaz de matar a su marido con una insospechada frialdad. Sin embargo, el investigador no sólo no la delatará, sino que se desvinculará de sus clientes y se dedicará a seguirla obsesivamente e incluso a protegerla en ocasiones, puesto que en ella ve personificada de una manera irracional la figura de su hija. A lo largo de todo Estados Unidos, de más de diez años y de diversos asesinatos perpetrados, seguiremos a estos personajes inolvidables en una hipnótica espiral en la que Marc Behm sumerge al lector, haciéndole también partícipe de la fascinación de ese detective, cuyo nombre no aparece en toda la novela, y al que sólo conocemos, de una manera nada inocente, con el nombre de "el Ojo".

Ayant appris que Marc Behm, qu''il adore et dont il a publié une partie de l''œuvre en Espagne, avait écrit plusieurs nouvelles, mais pas suffisamment pour constituer un recueil, Paco Ignacio Taibo II s''est offert avec enthousiasme pour compléter ledit recueil. Ce que Marc Behm a volontiers accepté. Voici donc des nouvelles qui sont le fruit de deux des voix les plus originales et les plus "anarchistes" du polar. Marc Behm y retrouve quelques-unes de ses héroïnes, Paco y ressuscite le héros de Chandler, Philip Marlowe. Une rencontre insolite, poétique et "décoiffante", à l''image des deux auteurs.

Cora, Brand et Tony étaient vraiment des malfrats pas comme les autres. Ils avaient décidé un hold-up plutôt hardi, au 49e étage d''une Tour et, pour le réussir, se métamorphosèrent en loups, en chauves-souris, en courants d''air. En guise de protection, ils avaient... leurs dents. Elles leur servaient aussi à s''abreuver d''un certain liquide rouge qui n''était pas du vin. Vous me suivez ?

A l''aéroport, Lucy achète Moby Dick et une bouteille de scotch. De quoi tuer le temps avant de prendre livraison d''un " client ". Lucy collecte les âmes pour Lucifer. A la morgue, le Dr Hegel remercie " le piqueur ", un serial killer qui a déjà poignardé onze victimes avec un pic à glace, de lui envoyer sur la table de dissection de superbes jeunes femmes. Au cimetière, Véronique Hegel converse avec sa mère, enterrée depuis des années. Quant à Walter Gösta, il se planque. Son délai terrestre a expiré, mais il refuse d''honorer son contrat. Lucy est à sa recherche. Le sens de tout ça ? " Ne cherche pas à savoir. De toute façon, qu''est-ce que signifient la vie, la mort, toutes ces foutaises ? " Un serial killer, un ange de l''enfer, un médecin nécrophile, un cadavre en fuite, des damnés qui croient échapper à leur destins en s''aspergeant d''eau bénite... Ce sont quelques-uns des personnages de ce thriller de Marc Behm, l''auteur inclassable et génial de la Reine de la nuit, Mortelle Randonnée, Trouille et à Côté de la plaque. " La grâce behmienne est indicible " Bertrand Audusse, Le Monde

"International [Israeli?] agent Mike Merrick is sent under cover to Cairo for a rendezvous with German scientist Professor Schlieben. After striking up a romance with Schlieben''s daughter, Helga, Mike learns that the professor is nearing completion of a nuclear-powered moon rocket which could be used as a weapon. Though the professor''s operational center is closely guarded by the Egyptian army, Mike gains entry into Schlieben''s private quarters and destroys the plans and blueprints for the rocket. Later he encounters the Holy Islam Freedom Fighters, who want to destroy the rocket but trust no one. Eluding a trap, Mike kidnaps Helga as a means of forcing the professor to leave Egypt. After they have escaped to Rome by submarine, however, Mike and Helga are captured by the Egyptians. Mike is placed in a trunk and rushed to an airport for shipment back to Cairo, but his Italian counterparts give chase and capture the Egyptians. When they open the trunk, however, they find one of Mike''s guards. Mike has boarded the plane in which Helga is being held prisoner, and once in flight he overpowers the Egyptian pilot and returns Helga to her grateful father"--AFI catalog, 1961-1970.