Critique of ‘Jean-François Haas, Panthère noire dans un jardin’

Since his first novel, Dans la gueule de la baleine guerre (Paris, Seuil 2007), Jean-François Haas' writing has been inspired by atavistic figures present in the paintings of the great masters. After Brueghel the Elder and Albrecht Dürer, it is Douanier Rousseau, and his naive gardens that welcome the dark beast, Cain's totem animal hidden in everyone's heart. How to guide Cain to love through the brambles of redemption? This is the question asked by the author, while dragging us into a story full of suspense. More than a formal moral reflection, this is a philosophical thriller that keeps the reader on the edge of his seat and gives rise to a strong emotion rooted in our human condition, between the gardens of our childhoods and our deathbed.