This unsettling novel inspired Pedro Almodovar's acclaimed film "The Skin I Live In."

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Mygale [MIG-uh-lee] n.: a genus of large tropical spiders . . .

A highly successful plastic surgeon pursues and captures the man who raped his daughter. He is determined to exact an atrocious vengeance, and an ambiguous, even sadomasochistic relationship develops between self-appointed executioner and victim.

Swift and spare, suspenseful and thought-provoking, Mygale puts the gothic spirit back in the noir canon while introducing unique twists on notions of desire, identity, loss and restitution.

Thierry Jonquet (1954 - 2009) is an exponent of the hardboiled style of French noir that is inflected by post–May 1968 politics and social critique. His crime novels and children's books have garnered many literary prizes.

Translated by: Donald Nicholson-Smith