Jean-Patrick Manchette byl francouzský autor detektivních románů, který tento žánr zreformoval a oživil. Jeho drsná, existenciální díla se ponořila do hlubin lidské přirozenosti a francouzské společnosti, často s politickým podtextem odrážejícím jeho levicové přesvědčení. Jeho styl, inspirovaný filmovým noir, byl chladný a pronikavý, což z něj činí klíčovou postavu francouzské literární scény 70. a 80. let.
Late one night in Paris, travelling salesman Gerfaut stops to help an injured motorist to hospital. Three days later, while Gerfaut is on holiday with his family, he is attacked by two men. Quickly realising the duo's murderous intent, but perplexed as to their motives, Gerfaut goes on the run, communicating with his family by telegram.
Aimee is a beautiful young widow - she's also a killer. Driven by a deep- rooted desire for revenge, she sets about uncovering the secrets of the inhabitants of the sleepy rural town of Bleville, before ruthlessly murdering them. Faced with corruption of a kind she had scarcely imagined, she discovers a moral core under her murderous instincts.
Deadly professional assassin Martin Terrier returns to Paris after his latest job determined to get out of the game. Ten years ago he made a promise to return to his childhood sweetheart in the south of France. But circumstances put Martin's attempted retirement on hold: a key target is flying in to Paris, and there is only one man fit for the task of eliminating him. As Martin flees southwards, desperate to return to the crushing mediocrity of life in a backwater town, he finds his former employers will stop at nothing to regain his services for one last job. Bursting with Gallic irony and visceral brutality, The Gunman (originally published in English as The Prone Gunman) is a shocking and sardonic masterpiece from the late, great master of the French crime novel, J-P Manchette.