Jean-Patrick Manchette was a French crime novelist credited with reinventing and reinvigorating the genre. He wrote 10 short novels in the ‘70s and early ‘80s, and is widely recognized as the foremost French crime fiction author of the 1970s - 1980s. His stories are violent, existentialist explorations of the human condition and French society. Manchette was politically to the left and his writing reflects this through his analysis of social positions and culture. His books are reminiscent of the nouvelle vague crime films of Jean-Pierre Melville, employing a similarly cool, existential style on a typically American genre (film noir for Melville and pulp novels for Manchette).

Books by Jean-Patrick Manchette

West Coast Blues

by Jean-Patrick Manchette and Jacques Tardi

The Prone Gunman

by Jean-Patrick Manchette - Fiction, Mystery, Noir

Martin Terrier is a hired killer who wants out of the game --- so he can settle down and marry his childhood sweetheart. After all, that’s why he took up this profession! But the Organization won't let him go: They have other plans. Once again, the gunman must assume the prone shooting position. A tour de force, this violent tale shatters as many illusions about life and politics as bodies.