• "Insignis", a novel winner of the "20Minutes" Prize, is out this Thursday, November 10 in bookstores, published by Les Nouveaux Auteurs.

  • This thriller not only amazed Maxime Chattam, the president of our jury, but also the readers of the 20 Minutes Books platform.

A clear and precise suspense for a plot that will remain opaque.

At least in this article.

Because Charlotte Letourneur, author and winner of the 20 Minutes of the Novel prize wants to preserve the breathtaking effects of her thriller

Insignis

and keep as much mystery as possible around the murders that follow.

This 39-year-old former Breton nurse has barely authorized her future reader to read the back cover of her book published by our partner, Les Nouveaux Auteurs.

Why say so little?

“To prevent the clues scattered over the pages from jumping out at the eyes like so many evidences, or only then on second reading.

»

"This author masters the codes of the thriller," exclaimed Maxime Chattam during the jury's deliberation.

We did not know then that this author, under the pseudonym Charlie Genet, had nevertheless already signed a dozen romances and urban fantasy novels.

But never a thriller yet.

"I didn't dare," she says.

But the presentation of the 20 Minutes of the Novel Prize by Maxime Chattam last year made me want to get started.

She did well.

And she does well to allow her future readers to be surprised.

“I read this book with the vague feeling of being observed, notes our contributing reader Laure, from the blog “la liseusehappy”.

I looked out of the corner of my eyes at my phone's camera,

from my computer… what if I too were the target of a cybercriminal?

How can I protect myself?

How to spot him before his game becomes destructive?

»



This is where Charlotte Letourneur's talent lies.

Make believe what she writes, even if the succession of murders she describes is not stung with verse, everything is sufficiently precise and well informed for us to believe it.

"His novel is read with pleasure and ease", assures our contributor Cathy Borie, herself a novelist.

"We really want to know the end of the story, and even, the more it advances, the more we want to know", assures Marceline Bodier, author, contributor and bookstagramer present in the jury.

"She keeps her story from start to finish, we feel that she has worked," adds Maxime Chattam.

“When I write, I have a film in my head.

But for this story, I felt that I had to be supported by a real policeman, ”explains Charlotte Letourneur.

As a result, Insignis is at the top of credibility,

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"20 Minutes" Prize for the Novel: The author of the thriller "Insignis" answered your questions on Insta Live

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The "20 Minutes" 2022 prize is awarded to "Insignis", a book that "bluffed" Maxime Chattam

Presentation of the prize and dedications in public

Charlotte Letourneur will receive her prize from the hands of Maxime Chattam during a public meeting on November 18 between 4 and 6 p.m. at the Decitre bookstore in Levallois-Perret (Hauts-de-Seine).

Readers of 20 Minutes, amateurs of dark novels, are cordially invited.

The Breton author will also participate in a meeting with authors from her region followed by a signing session on November 26 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Media Library of Plouer-sur-Rance (Côtes d'Armor).

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