The vast majority of humans are decent, lawful souls. After all, were it otherwise, civilization would have never coalesced. Humanity would be characterized by discord, a vortex of murderous chaos out of which nothing of order could possibly cohere. That we experience civilization on a daily basis tells us that most of us form families, follow the rules and put ourselves to productive work in an effort to build rather than destroy. But for as many of us as there are, the othersstill exist, minds so unhinged from the laws of our shared reality that subordination to them is out of the question. Many of even these anomalies are harmless, persisting around the edges of our world, content in themselves, but some bend their wills to desires and deeds so violent, so cruel, that they threaten to destabilize our reality, pulling it down into the darkness that has already consumed them. Of these deeds, surely none are darker than those perpetrated by Marcel Petiot.
Mr. King, whose potent pen gave the world a vivid biography of the Congress of Vienna, here, investigates the life and crimes of Dr. Marcel Petiot (1897-1946) who, during the Nazi occupation of Paris (1940-1944), capitalized on the chaos of a destabilized country to sadistically murder at least 26people. A doctor by education and a politician by trade, Petiot, in a scheme worthy of Nazi depravity, let it be known that, for a fee, he could help Jews, and other beleaguered citizens, flee the German occupation. In exchange for exorbitant sums, Petiot would secure his clients safe passage out of the country and fresh identities in the lands of their choosing. However, despite the hopes of their families, Petiot's victims never left Paris.
Petiot, under the guise of inoculating his escapees against viruses they could encounter in the new world, euthanized his clients and, from a hiding place in his chamber of death, watched them pass from this world. In this way, he is suspected to have claimed as many as 60 victims, among them women and children.
Death In The City of Lightis the meticulous reconstruction of Petiot, his troubled life, his tangled motivations, his intricate and endless lies and his spectacular trial which culminated in his execution. In-between,Mr. King introduces us to Paris, her hedonism during the interwar period and her pain during the Nazi occupation. Drafting in famous philosophers and resistance fighters, the author demonstrates how the desperation of the period brought about many crimes, but none as heinous as those committed by the clever and erratic Petiot who, up until his death, steadfastly claimed that his victims were all German and that the bodies discovered on his properties were planted there by his enemies. Not once did Petiot offer the families of his victims any peace or understanding as his flawed trial entertained a postwar Paris struggling to reclaim her dignity.
Mr. King is a commendable historian and a first-rate storyteller. Death In The City of Lightis a 400-page recount of 60-year-old murders that have little bearing on the troubles of the 21st century. This is surely a recipe for boredom. And yet the author's engaging narrative maintains the reader's interest throughout. The only discordant note struck here arises when Mr. King tries to connect Petiot's crimes to the modern day; this is shaky at best. But such is the compelling nature of the piece that it needs no relevance. It is enough to understand the depths to which some of us can sink and the damage that, in doing so, they do to the rest of us.
Gripping and entertaining both. Hopefully, someday, we will better understand the Petiot's of the world and, in doing so, be able to prevent them from doing so much harm. For while most of us can now recognize that evil is just a placeholder for the incomprehensible deeds of the mad, this knowledge does nothing to mitigate the suffering they can cause when unleashed upon an unsuspecting world. (4/5 Stars)
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