The author, hiding behind the pseudonym D.O.A. (Dead on arrival), in France he is recognized as one of the most interesting contemporary authors working in the detective genre, the heir of Jean-Christophe Grange and Jean-Patrick Manchette. For the first time in Russian - his book “The Time of Scorpions”, awarded in 2007 by the “Grand prix de Litterature Policieres” (the most prestigious award in the field of detective literature) as the best action-packed novel. Spies and secret agents, radical Islamists and policemen, sharks of the pen, a beauty who dreams not of diamonds, but of a journalistic career, a banker, representatives of the secret services, real events associated with September 11, 2001 and the presidential elections in France, and fictitious meetings, clashes between armed groups and the political Through the Looking Glass... Stretching through the space of the novel a good dozen plot lines, the author masterfully transfers the action from one continent to another, juggles with characters and events. Almost six hundred pages of the novel are read in one breath.