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Laurent Boulanger is a novelist and scriptwriter. He writes both literary novels and genre fiction. His literary novels include 'The Research', 'Addiction' and 'The Girl From France', winner of the 2014 Paris Book Festival Awards for 'Best E-book' in all categories (all genres, five languages) and the 2014 eBook Award (#1 Gold) for 'Best Multicultural Fiction'.
His genre novels include 'The Intern' (suspense thriller), 'First Kill', 'Second Cut', 'Third Victim' and 'Better Dead Than Never' (crime). First Kill won a Tom Howard Best Mystery Honourable Mention. Second Cut (original published as 'Deadly Deeds' under the pseudonym Kathryn Patterson) won the 2015 Hollywood Book Festival Award for Best Sequel. His crime novel 'Better Dead Than Never' was a finalist (short-listed) at the Crime Writer's Association of Australia (CWWA) 2007 Ned Kelly Awards for Best First Crime Novel, which made it one of the top 4 best crime novels from new authors released in Australia that year. The e-Book version won the 2014 eLit Bronze Award for Best Multicultural Fiction, and the 2014 Readers' Favorite Honorable Mention Award for 'Best Mystery'. It was also nominated for the 2014 Readers' Favorite Awards for 'Best Chick Lit' and 'Best Mystery Sleuth'.
His novel The Suffering (originally published as 'The Girlfriend' under the pseudonym Amy Abelli) won an Honorable Mention at the 2015 San Francisco Book Festival for Best Gay Fiction. The French-language feature film version titled 'La Souffrance' is currently in post-production from a screenplay written and directed by Laurent Boulanger and featuring 2013 Miss Australia Universe Finalist Roxanne Fernandez in the lead role.
His science-fiction short story 'Outpatient' was included in 'Dying For It: Tales of Sex and Death' and published by Thunder Mouth Press (Perseus Book Group, New York).
His short story 'My Father's Last Breath' was originally published in Toasted Cheese Literary Journal, vol. 6 no. 3 in September 2006. It was selected for that month as the Editor's Pick (Billard). Part of the story is used in the novel 'The Girl From France'.
His literary novel 'The Research' was made into the feature film 'Six Lovers' (2012), featuring Cameron Daddo. He wrote the screenplay and directed the film.
He is currently working on a literary novel titled 'The Novelist'.
Laurent has a Ph.D. in Writing and has taught in the postgraduate writing program (M.A. in Writing) at Swinburne University (Australia) since 2004 with a focus on Journalism, Scriptwriting and Script Adaptation. He facilitates writing workshops at SpringDale Neighbourhood Centre in Drysdale, Victoria, Australia on a monthly basis.
Reviewed by Anne-Marie Reynolds for Readers' Favorite
In Better Dead than Never by Laurent Boulanger, we seek to separate truth from lies. Ten years ago, Beh Mohammed Shah was jailed for the rape and murder of Steven Donnelly. Now Patricia Lunn has been asked to investigate a possible miscarriage of justice. An ex-police officer turned private eye, Patricia is told that Shah may have been framed and is asked to determine the truth. Her investigations, together with her business partner, Tyron, put her and all around her in the line of fire - literally. When she gets too close to the truth, she is shot 3 times by a hired assassin. But, who hired the assassin? What does all this have to do with Steven Donnelly's death? And why are the witnesses to his apparent abduction so hostile?
Laurent Boulanger is a serious contender for Janet Evanovich's shoes, although with a little less humor. Better Dead than Never is a story that hooks you from the first page and doesn't let go until the last. It has everything - the gorgeous private eye, her protector and business partner, murder, mayhem and justice. It's clear that a great deal of effort was put into this book - the plot is original and well thought out, the characters match the plot perfectly, and everything flows exactly as it should. It was an easy read but difficult to put down, exactly as any good story should be. I believe the author is working on a sequel to this and I would love the chance to read it.
