FORGOTTEN BOOKS #131: RED LIGHTS (aka, FEUX ROUGES) By Georges Simenon


Red Lights opens on a Labor Day weekend. A husband and wife from Long Island are driving to Maine to pick up their son and daughter at Walla Walla Summer Camp. But the trip veers sharply into noir when the husband insists on stopping along the way for a drink in a bar. His wife fumes. When the husband stops for the second time for another drink, the wife leaves a note saying she’s taking a bus to Maine. Simenon ratchets up the suspense with an escaped convict from Sing Sing prison changing this couple’s lives forever. This isn’t Maigret material. It’s much darker. If you’re in the mood for walk on the wild side, Red Lights will take you there.

12 thoughts on “FORGOTTEN BOOKS #131: RED LIGHTS (aka, FEUX ROUGES) By Georges Simenon

    1. george Post author

      Simenon knows how to push the suspense buttons in this book, Patti. I haven’t seen the film versions, but I’ll be looking for them now.

      Reply
  1. Jeff Meyerson

    This was from his “American” period, of which I’ve read several books, generally set in the suburbs. I don’t think I’ve read it yet.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      This New York Review of Books edition of RED LIGHTS features an introduction by Anita Brookner, Jeff. At the end of the book, Simenon documents it with: SHADOW ROCK FARM, Lakeville, Connecticut, 14 July 1953. RED LIGHTS is well worth reading.

      Reply
    1. george Post author

      RED LIGHTS is about 90 degrees from a Maigret, Rick. Think pure noir. Simenon wrote about a hundred of these short, hard-boiled novels outside of the Maigret series. Some of them are very good.

      Reply
  2. JF Norris

    Excellent! Simenon is so much better when he isn’t writing about Maigret. I like THE FUGITIVE and THE MAN WHO WATCHED THE TRAINS GO BY too. I enjoyed the movie version of this book as well.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      I’m a big fan of Simenon’s autobiographical novel, PEDIGREE, JF. And, like you, I like the non-Maigret novels better than the Maigrets.

      Reply

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