Syndrome E by Franck Thilliez

A man in France watches an old film he purchased from an estate and goes blind.  Hospitalized, he contacts a former girlfriend who is a police inspector, Lucie Henebelle.  Lucie is on leave at the moment so takes on an investigation of the film.  It's an older film from 1955, and it is disquieting with shocking images.  However, she doesn't see what could have caused her friend's blindness until she has the film analyzed and finds it contains subliminal images that are so horrific that anyone viewing them retains the images forever.

At the same time, a mass grave with five male victims is discovered.  Each of the victims has had their brain removed as well as their eyes.  Steps have been taken to insure the victims can't be identified.  Inspector Franck Sharko is given the case and he learns that his case and Lucie's seem to be connected.

Working together, the pair soon learn that they are involved with a vast conspiracy.  They discover another mass killing in Egypt, of girls that were treated the same as the French male victims.  There is a connection to Canada, and from there to the United States.  As they investigate further, the conspiracy is so overwhelming that it would be unbelievable if they didn't have the evidence to prove its existence.  They must move quickly to expose it before they are also targeted and killed.

Franck Thilliez has written a thriller that will keep the reader turning pages.  The detectives are interesting, especially Sharko, and the plot is one that shows a world the reader suspects could be real even though it is horrible to contemplate.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.