V13: a 'marvelous and terrifying' account of the Bataclan terror trials
Emmanuel Carrère's book is 'absolutely gripping'

In September 2021, the largest criminal trial in French history got under way at the Palais de Justice in Paris. In the dock were 20 defendants, accused of helping to plan and organise what became known as "V13": the attacks of Friday (vendredi) 13 November 2015, at the Bataclan theatre and other locations in Paris, which killed 130 and injured hundreds.
Everything about the trial was "unprecedented", said Chris Power in The Guardian: it lasted nine months, involved nearly 400 lawyers and magistrates, and took place in a 650 square metre purpose-built courtroom. The legal brief ran to more than a million pages. Watching it all was the celebrated non-fiction writer Emmanuel Carrère, who was covering the proceedings for the news magazine L'Obs. Now, he has expanded his reports into a superbly crafted – and "absolutely gripping" – book.
Carrère, best known as an introspective memoirist, seems an "unlikely stenographer for France's trial of the century", said Thomas P. Lambert in The Spectator. Yet "V13" is a "remarkably well-behaved piece of reportage". While Carrère is a presence the book – he describes befriending the mother of one of the victims, which conveniently allows his attention to "wander outside the courtroom" – he also knows when to step back and "let the horrors speak for themselves".
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This he does most powerfully in one "nightmarish" section, a lengthy reconstruction of what happened at the Bataclan, stitched from the "fragments of testimony" of those trapped inside. Only one actual assailant stood trial at the Palais de Justice, said Jennifer Szalai in The New York Times. Like the nine other gunmen, Salah Abdeslam was "supposed to blow himself up", but decided not to at the last minute. More than once during "V13", Carrère recalls something the terrorist told police: "Everything you say about us jihadists is like reading the last page of a book. What you should do is read the book from the start." The quote strikes Carrère as profound, but as the trial progresses, he comes to view Abdeslam as an "abysmal void wrapped in lies".
In the end, the victims interest him much more than the perpetrators, said Will Lloyd in The Sunday Times. As he hears about people who were "prepared to sacrifice themselves so that others could live", or who stayed with partners who'd been disabled or disfigured, he is "awed" by their courage and goodness. Ultimately, this "marvellous and terrifying" book concludes that "good is actually more interesting than evil, and a harder philosophical problem to solve".
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
AI workslop is muddying the American workplace
The explainer Using AI may create more work for others
-
Japan poised to get first woman prime minister
Speed Read The ruling Liberal Democratic Party elected former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi
-
The 5 best mob movies of all time
The Week Recommends If you don’t like a good gangster flick, just fuhgeddaboudit
-
The 5 best mob movies of all time
The Week Recommends If you don’t like a good gangster flick, just fuhgeddaboudit
-
Mustardy beans and hazelnuts recipe
The Week Recommends Nod to French classic offers zingy, fresh taste
-
9 haunted hotels where things definitely go bump in the night
The Week Recommends Don’t fear these spirited spots. Embrace them.
-
Susie Dent picks her favourite books
The Week Recommends The lexicographer and etymologist shares works by Jane Goodall, Noel Streatfeild and Madeleine Pelling
-
The 5 best zombie TV shows of all time
The Week Recommends For undead aficionados, the age of abundance has truly arrived
-
6 incredible homes under $1 million
Feature Featuring a home in the National Historic Landmark District of Virginia and a renovated mid-century modern house in Washington
-
The Harder They Come: ‘triumphant’ adaptation of cinema classic
The Week Recommends ‘Uniformly excellent’ cast follow an aspiring musician facing the ‘corruption’ of Kingston, Jamaica
-
House of Guinness: ‘rip-roaring’ Dublin brewing dynasty period drama
The Week Recommends The Irish series mixes the family tangles of ‘Downton’ and ‘Succession’ for a ‘dark’ and ‘quaffable’ watch