Opération Copperhead, c'est une histoire aussi vraie que rocambolesque du contrespionnage britannique pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. À partir d'un fait réel, Jean Harambat crée de toutes pièces une histoire d'une inventivité folle et réalise un pastiche désopilant et fantaisiste de trois protagonistes : les comédiens David Niven, Peter Ustinov et Clifton James.
Il s'agit, selon une idée de Winston Churchill, de recruter et de former un sosie (Meyrick Edward Clifton James) pour jouer le rôle du général Montgomery - le général des forces alliées, alors surveillé par les nazis - et ainsi induire en erreur l'ennemi quant au lieu réel du Débarquement. Dans le même temps, alors que la capitale anglaise subit le Blitz, la vie se déploie dans les cabarets où officie une vénéneuse - et néanmoins charmante - jeune femme, Vera.
Cette histoire burlesque où rien n'est entièrement vrai ni entièrement faux est aussi un hommage au cinéma, notamment à la « comédie sophistiquée » des années 1930 et 1940, avec un dynamisme, un sens de l'à-propos et un flot de dialogues (Lubitsch en était le maître) !
What exactly is a harem for? For the pleasure of a sovereign, of course. But he would be foolish to limit it to this sole purpose. They say that if you can satisfy a man, he'll give you all the treasures of the earth. Including the spoils of war. Sultan Murati's harem is a far more powerful weapon than the British and German armies, both of which are seeking his alliance. The flower of all flowers, the weapon of all weapons, Jade, the Sultan's new favorite, is entrusted with the Sultan's scheme to launch an assault on an English diplomat. A model of British calm and impregnability, like all men, Lord Nelson has his Achilles' heel: his wife...
50 years later, Jade's granddaughter, Kim, is trying to trace the footsteps of her fascinating ancestor in a modern Istanbul, where the harems have all but disappeared. But not the brothels, as Kim discovers at her own expense. But Kim's not just trying to find her roots. Legend has it that Jade, and Jade alone, knew where the Black Sultan hid his treasure, a treasure that no one has ever managed to unearth...
Two women, in two different times, and for two very different reasons, choose to be initiated into the harem. One is the harem of the Black Sultan in 20th century Istanbul, dominated by the captivating Jade. The other is the only remaining one of its kind, an echo of a bygone era, hidden away in the middle of the Turkish desert, far from prying eyes. Both women must carry out certain rites of passage before they can truly attain the heart of the harem. Both women are doing it for Jade. Plots and manipulation abound within those dark and sensual spaces behind the walls of the harem...
In present day Turkey, Kim Nelson continues her quest to recover the long-lost treasure of the Black Sultan to which only her captivating ancestor, Jade, the Sultan's favorite, had the key. Meanwhile, we're flung back in time to the sumptuous era of the Ottoman Empire, where Jade has been kidnapped by a certain Lord Nelson in his efforts to retrieve his wife from the depths of the Sultan's harem. It's not long before the captive falls in love with the captor, and the pair experience an unprecedented passion. Nelson's name sinks into the djinn's skin, and, for the first time, the djinn's heart begins to beat...
It's stinking hot, and the crowd is beginning to lose interest in the last few gladiators still fighting for survival in the arena. Only the Emperor Claudius is still riveted, determined to stick it out until the death rattle of the last fighter announces the end of the day's frivolities. Life is just as ferocious outside the arena. Everyone wants the power; everyone is willing to kill to get it... For Agrippina, Claudius' second wife, her dear husband has served his purpose. Now that he has acknowledged her son, Nero, as his heir, it's high time he disappeared. But Agrippina has time against her: there's talk of Claudius wanting to renounce her in favor of the woman he loves, Lolia Paulina. Needless to say, it doesn't end well for poor Lolia...
This first volume of the ongoing Spellbound series initiates us into Dufaux and Munuera's Medeival-style fantasy land, a land brimming with witchcraft, demons, enchantments and foul-play.
The whole of Middleland has been thrown into turmoil by the sudden and brutal murder of the king. The unfortunate victim's dying wish was that his daughter, Blanche, should take the throne, rather than her weak-spirited brother. Thus Blanche finds herself catapulted into a position of power that she never expected, or even wished for. The grief-stricken young woman is forced to renounce her lover, and on top of that, the enemy's army is assembled at the country's border, poising to strike. Blanche looks like she's off to a promising start as queen of the land, but unfortunately she's no match for the various plots to topple her... at least, not yet...
Lord Nelson, Lady Nelson and Jade continue to enjoy their ménage à trois as they travel to Africa. Their boat is savagely attacked by the natives as they go up river, deeper into the heart of this vibrant but mysterious continent. But is this just an act of pure brutality? Or is there another reason, perhaps one connected to that black pearl that Jade wears in her ear, a pearl that exactly matches that of their goddess? This is the beginning of a second cycle of the grippingly exotic adventures of Jade, the mistress of the eminent Lord and Lady Nelson.
The young Britannicus is dead. Poisoned, just like his father, the Emperor Claudius. The will that could have put an end the Nero's ever-growing ambitions has been reduced to ashes. Nero remains alone on Rome's throne. Well, almost alone. Somewhere in the shadows lurks his mother, Agrippina, and she's willing to do whatever it takes to get a bite of that rotten fruit we call 'power.
Their reign is coming to an end. They had the power, they dominated the town, the whole world. Order prevailed. Their order. But then a certain pair of siblings came along -- the Raptors. United by blood, decked out in skin-tight leather, slipping through the night, sowing disorder. The head of the town is worried, and not without reason. The immortal race to which he belongs is starting to discover what it means to die...
This is the first episode of a whole new cycle that chronologically takes place between the Ottoman and African cycles. This time we're swept off to colonial India. Jade, accompanied by Lord and Lady Nelson, arrives at the Palace of Eschinapur, having been summoned by the Rani, mother of the Maharajah. The Rani wishes for Jade to initiate the future bride of the young Maharajah, the daughter of the rebel Radjah Sing, to the art of love. This is in the hopes that the young bride will be able to wield this power to influence her son's politics, which are currently in favor of British rule. But there appears to be a strange presence in the palace. That presence turns out to be a child, who shows herself to no one but... the Djinn...
Nero dreamed of it. Lucius Murena did it: burning Rome. However, to atone for his act, the young patrician tries to save as many human lives as he can. Everyone, whether they be rich or poor, is seeking a way out. While some throw themselves into the river Tiber, others manage to get to the Campus Martius, although not without difficulty. One of the few areas spared from the devouring flames is the Christian neighborhood. More man than god, the emperor is consumed with doubt. While Rome's destruction kindles greed in some, it reveals great kindness in others.
Who are these predators that seem to be infiltrating every aspect of human society? Inspector Lenore wants to take them on, but will she be up to the task? Perhaps not... Unless she allies herself with their worst enemies, back from the beginning of time, hungry for power and for blood...
Kim Nelson, the beautiful English granddaughter of the Sultan of Istanbul's favorite courtesan, gets ever more wrapped up in the mysteries of Africa in her quest to reclaim the black pearl that is the key to her ancestor's long-hidden treasure. Like her grandmother before her, she must go through initiations of fire and flesh to prove her worth, as she gets ever nearer the coveted and powerful jewel. The problem is she's not the only one who's after it...
The shadows of the crucified stretch over the empire, while rumors spread like wildfire throughout all Rome. It looks like Nero, the new emperor, did indeed poison his half-brother, Britannicus. Agrippina, in order to win the favor of her own son, is willing to open her bed to him. But Nero has eyes only for Acte, the beautiful prostitute whom he freed from the clutches of Pallas, the freed slave. Nero asks Acte to give word to Murena that he is pardoned, and that there is nothing stopping him from returning to Rome. But that's not all Murena wants... he also asks of his sovereign to give him Draxus' head... Draxus, who killed his mother... Draxus, who was acting on Agrippina's orders...
There is celebration throughout the realm of Middleland! The people have everything they could possibly need to be happy: Blanche, their queen, is back, the invader is vanquished and there is peace throughout the land. But this idyllic epoch won't last. Power, that indefinable poison, begins little by little to corrupt Blanche's soul. What's more, her feelings for Maldoror, the Lord of the World Below, will soon give way to an indifference he'd never have thought her capable of... Because love is no match for the ever powerful grip of power...
The Africa cycle comes to a close with this ninth volume of the Djinn series. Kim Nelson finally finds the black pearl of Anaktu and Jade fulfills her destiny by uniting with the legendary Gorilla King in order to create a force strong enough to lead the tribes for years to come. Travel, magic, romance and poison all combine in this gripping and sensual adventure.
Nero has just lost his little girl, Claudia Augusta. She was only four months old, and Nero is wracked by grief. As for Murena, having lost Acte, the woman he loved, he decides to leave Gaul and head back to Rome. But how will the ever-volatile Nero react when he finds out that Murena is defying his banishment to return once more to the city of seven hills?
Things get increasingly tense as the sinister serial killer known as the 'Red Triangle' continues his gruesome massacres. Oshi and Norman are on his trail, closely watched, of course, by millions of viewers, but they don't seem to be coming any closer to solving the mystery of his identity. At least, not until the killer reveals himself to Oshi herself, an encounter which she only just manages to escape alive... Meanwhile, Oshi and Norman's relationship becomes more and more ambiguous, but where's the line between reality and pretend?
We're in Rome, three days before the ides of October. The Emperor Cladius is dead, poisoned by his wife, Agrippina, who'd discovered his plans to renounce her so as to marry Lollia Paulina, Murena's mother. Thus Nero, Agrippine's son, becomes emperor. His mother, having bought the favor of the army and the Senate, believes that she'll be able to govern in her son's name. But, at 17-years-old, Nero is no longer a child, which she'll soon learn at her own expense...
Aaah, the countryside! Fresh air, green fields, home-grown vegetables... the dream (or the nightmare) of all city-dwellers. Well, this is the tale of when it became Manu Larcenet's reality. One fine day he and his partner Mariette packed up their urban life and set off for the little village of Ravenelles (population of 89 people, including a pretty baker). When, like Manu, you've lived your whole life in a Parisian suburb, the rural life can be quite the shock to the system...
Here we are again on Planet Earth of the near future, where vampires have reduced humankind to a hunted animal and protected species. Only a rare few still resist. Strange alliances are forming between raptors, humans and vampires with a mutual objective: to resolve the conflicts between life forces and death forces. We hear the groans rise up from the depths. There is a change in the wind. Little by little, fear diminishes, giving way instead to courage and combat. It's carnage. Sons denounce their fathers and betrayal is rife. Get ready for the last act.
Here, at long last, is the thirteenth and final volume of the epic Djinn series. We'll finally discover the circumstances that lead Kim Nelson from India to Africa and back again, back to the cursed child princess of Eschinapur, to fulfill a vow made by the elusive Djinn, Jade. Kim truly comes into her own, assuming her power as a temptress in the name of justice and vengeance... vengeance always cruel, but always sweet...
So it's finally happened: Mariette is pregnant. And so is Manu. He's brushing up on his baby and parenthood knowledge with the help of Dr. Spock, who, Manu finds, is rather evasive regarding the torments of a father-to-be. Still, preparation is the key to success, and Manu's about as prepared as he can be: run-through's of the big day, suitcases ready and packed for the hospital, route planning. Basically, he's totally freaking out. Of course, he ends up missing the birth...
June 1943. Julien Sarlat jumps from the train transporting him to Germany and manages to get back to his small village in the Aveyron, Cambeyrac, where he hides, without the villagers' knowledge, to await the end of the hostilities. In a strange turn of fate, the train that he was on is bombed, and one of the corpses is identified as his. In the eyes of society, he is now dead. Taking advantage of this unexpected situation, he hides away in the attic of his old school teacher, who was arrested by the French Gestapo for suspected communist leanings. From that moment on Julien, from his observatory overlooking the village square, is the spectator of this everyday theater of ordinary people going about their business. Love, hatred, envy, cowardice, passion and heroism: the onlooker sees the most.
