Greg Iles
La Regola del Buio

John Waters is married to Lily, and together they raise Annelise in a daily life that is not exactly thrilling, but at least quiet, orderly, and ordinary.

Inside, the protagonist, a professional with responsible roles, is deep down not satisfied with the many achievements reached and secretly regrets Mallory, an old flame you never forget, and who leaves indelible marks on your soul.

Then comes the charming Eve, beautiful, insatiable, and for John, it's chaos.

The author of this book plays with the dichotomy between the ordinary (the choice of the name "John" is tellingly very ordinary) and the gratifyingly transgressive ("Eve," not coincidentally), with a class and style that is enviable. Rarely in my long career as an avid reader in search of substantial plots, have I found myself not believing what I read, unable to stop doubting, even after reading and rereading certain passages.

Iles plays with the instincts of all of us, then sublimely describes the perversions within us all, those that upend the protagonist’s life, and which almost everyone, deep down, would like to experience at least once. Then he goes overboard, with the plot and suspense, brushing against the paranormal, and so you, the reader, who won’t be tricked by any magician's tricks, enjoy it because you think: okay, with the occult, everything is justified...

But no... because then you turn the page, and all the occult that wasn’t actually occult finds a rational explanation so logical that you realize the author, once again, has outsmarted you. And then you're not okay with that, and you keep reading because you are a reader like no other, so in the end, you want to be right, and the writer cannot be that good, cannot make a fool of you so easily... and you reach the end without even realizing it.

Iles has talent, but in my opinion, he has not reached the levels of this book again. I chased his other works to be overwhelmed anew, without success (we fall back into the normalcy of good narratives, intriguing and well-written, but without huge claims).

But this book really blew me away, and I recommend it to everyone.