ALEX by Pierre Lemaitre

Finished Mon 12/16/13
Alex Prevost
Novel opens as Alex is being stalked. She is captured, taken by van to an abandoned warehouse where she is suspended in a cage. She can't stretch out, rats are placed nearby, and her captor only comes once a day. Police trace the man, he's the father of her latest victim, and he jumps off an expressway as police close in.

Alex has murdered six men and a woman. She had been 'pimped' by her brother and her genitals had been disfigured by acid. That's why she knocks out her victims and then pours sulfuric acid down their throats. Uses numerous false names that are based on characters from classic novels that she's read. In the end, she commits suicide but sets the scene in such a way as to frame her brother for her murder. Drinks whiskey and takes pills. Her brother's fingerprint is on the pill bottle and she puts one of his hairs at the scene.
Thomas Vasseur- her brother. He is her step-brother and is seven years older. Has been raping her and pimping her since she was eleven.

Commandant Camille Verhoeven- five foot lead detective. His wife had been kidnapped and murdered. She was also pregnant. This is his first case since this incident. Maud is his mother who was a famous painter. She is dead and he has inherited her paintings and an old home.

Divisionnaire Le Guen-300 pound, dapper 'ladies man'. Camille's boss. He is soft-spoken and the antithesis of Camille's vitriolic temperament.
Louis- Very rich detective and an impeccable dresser. Buffer between Camille and Le Guen. Extremely intelligent.
Armand-Detective who works with Camille and Louis. Very determined, but incredibly cheap. Never pays for a meal, or anything else, if he can help it.
Vidard-Powerful political figure who is higher on the chain of command than Camille and he dislikes Camille. He is extremely vain and stupid.