Product Description

'ON THE SATURDAY MORNING OF JANUARY 9TH 1993, WHILE JEAN CLAUDE ROMAND WAS KILLING HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN, I WAS WITH MINE IN A PARENT-TEACHER MEETING.'

Who could have imagined Romand as a murderer? He was, after all, a noted doctor at the World Health Organisation, a groundbreaking researcher with connections to international humanitarian figures, a financial wizard entrusted with his in-laws' life savings, and a loving son who called his parents every evening to say goodnight. In truth Romand had no medical degree; no job; he knew no-one of any influence; he had spent his in-laws' money. And when a relative went to break the terrible news of the murder of his wife and children to Romand's parents, they too were dead - murdered by the stranger who had been their son.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #805445 in Books
• Published on: 2001-01-22
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 190 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
"On the morning of Saturday January 9th 1993, while Jean-Claude Romand was killing his wife and children, I was with mine in a parent-teacher meeting..." So begins Carrere's disturbing exploration of the mind of a ruthless killer, a man so entangled in the web of his own deceptions that it became easier to kill than confess. Every detail of Romand's life had been built on an elaborate edifice of fabrication. How could he have lied to so many for so long without anyone suspecting him?

His journey into madness began when Romand failed an exam at medical school. He quietly dropped out of college while friends and family continued to believe his career was advancing in leaps and bounds. To the outside world, he became a highly respected research scientist with the World Health Organisation, an esteemed intellectual and humanitarian who'd even been given a signed bust by Brigitte Bardot in gratitude for his support for her animal rights foundation. Somewhere in all the lying, the real Romand had been irretrievably lost. And when finally his dissimulated world began to crumble around him, the threat to his sense of self drove him to eradicate those closest to him. Not only did he murder his wife and young children, it also transpired that a few days earlier, Romand had also killed his parents.

Emmanuel Carrere's record of his correspondence with Romand charts a horrific journey into the psyche of a killer and questions the nature of human identity human, delusion and evil. With a keen sense of narrative and exacting control of an unravelling life, he draws a window into a darker place next door.--Rebecca Johnson

Evening Standard
'An Absolutley stunning piece of work, totally involving and unforgettable'

Sunday Times
'The story told here is truely beyond the imagination for even the best crime writer.'

Customer Reviews

What an empty life!
Jean-Claude Romand seems to have a well-organized life: he is a successful doctor at the World Health Organization in Geneva with a beautiful house, loving wife, two nice kids and a lover on the side. That is, until he kills his wife and children on a Saturday afternoon in January 2003, murders his parents and their dogs and attempts to kill his lover before he half-heartedly tries to commit suicide (and remove any remaining traces of the crimes). Then it becomes clear that his life was one big lie: he is not a successful doctor but a medicine student that did not finish his education and who for the past 18 years pretended to be successful, but spent his days reading in the car or hiking in the mountains while everybody thinks he is working. He "earns" a living by pretending to make profitable long-term financial deals for family and friends with Swiss banks, while he is in reality using up this money for his daily expenses. And then the moment comes when people start to realize that there is something fishy going on. All in all it is a miracle that this took 18 years...

Emmanuel Carrre reconstructed this real (!) story based on court reports, interviews, meetings and even correspondence with the murderer. This is an intriguing and terrifying glimpse into the soul (if present) of a psychopath.

A book that stays with you
The story itself is shocking, but what haunted me for ages afterwards was the feeling that although the author tried to get under Romand's skin, at the end of the day, Romand himself doesn't know who he is, or truly realise the enormity of his actions. Makes you wonder about little white lies...

A time to die
The eerie unreality of recent, terrible death hangs over this excellent book. It's as if it took people to die to disturb the flow of this man's life. The book is short, shocking and utterly terrifying.