One thinks of Camus, Gide, and Barthes (in his strange "Incidents") when reading Claude Ollier's much-overlooked "Law and Order." Unlike these, however, this short little novel is classic noveau roman with everything that is implicit in that description: intriguing, challenging, demanding.

Through chapters skipping back and forth in time, the meticulous description of setting reflects the action taking place: a French civil servant in northern Africa learns of extreme brutality occurring against certain native Arabs, perhaps those most calling for independence from French colonial rule. Whether or not this high crime will be covered up or exposed and whether the main character's life is in danger because of his discovery is the crux of this wonderfully inventive novel.