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.