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★ “Rufin offers razor-sharp insights into cultural clashes in the former French colony as economical prose drives the intricate plot to a powerful ending. Readers will be reminded of Georges Simenon, only better.”

— Publishers Weekly, Jan 4 2022

Rufin, a prizewinning novelist, appears to draw on his own diplomatic past in depicting the dislocation and isolation Aurel feels... The translation by Alison Anderson captures the diplomat’s quirky character and gallant affect, as well as a welcome sense of surprise.

— The New York Times, Dec 23 2021

“Set in Bosnia in 1995, at the height of the country’s civil war, this taut thriller is distinguished by its literary polish and moral heft.”

— Publishers Weekly, Jul 14 2017

“This mix of well-crafted characters, psychological suspense, and the harsh realities of life in wartime results in a nail-biting, challenging literary thriller.”

— Kirkus Reviews, Nov 22 2016

After the carnage of World War I is finally over, Jacques Morlac, a decorated war hero, is arrested and held in an abandoned barracks in a small town in France, while just outside, his battered and scarred dog barks day and night for its master.

— The Historical Novels Review, Nov 1 2015

Recommendations of recent books from the staffs of a rotating list of Bay Area independent bookstores. This week’s list is from Books Inc., Castro: The Red Collar, by Jean Christophe Rufin: Shortly after World War I, war hero Jacques Morlac is the only prisoner in a French...

— Sep 17 2015

“A modern parable about loyalty to others, fidelity to one’s convictions, and the self-effacement needed to bear the consequences of living by one’s beliefs.” “With the crushing heat over the town, the dog’s howling was unbearable. The animal had been there for...

— Aug 1 2015

It’s the summer of 1919 in a small town in France, and a mangy dog sits outside a makeshift military prison, wailing “methodically, more or less once every three seconds, making a deep sound that was enough to drive you mad.” His master, war hero Jacques Morlac, is...

— Jul 26 2015

This novella, its author recalls, is based on a story told to him by a photographer, Benoit Gysembergh, whilst he was reporting on the “Arab Spring” in 2011. It’s a war story told to Gysembergh by his grandfather about his own experience after the First World War. Almost...

— Jul 25 2015

— Jul 23 2015

— Jul 15 2015

Some books can be read in a sitting but have a profound effect. Jean-Christophe Rufin, a co-founder of Medicins Sans Frontieres is also a prize-winning novelist. The Red Collar, his ninth novel, is a simple but powerful novel based on a true story about the love and loyalty of...

— Jul 13 2015

A dog with no collar has been howling for two days outside the jail in a little French village. Jacques Morlac, though considered a hero of the Great War, has been imprisoned for an offense that mysteriously involves the dog, a crime that happened during the Bastille Day parade...

— Jul 7 2015

The Red Collar by Jean-Christophe Rufin review: dignified and compassionate Rufin creates convincing individuals with pitch-perfect dialogue Relentless heat incapacitates a small French town. It is the summer of 1919, and life is not quite back to normal. Adding to...

— Jul 4 2015

For such a small book this one contains a great deal about many large subjects. Faith, honor, loyalty, courage, misguided idealism, disillusionment, love and betrayal all contribute to this delicate handling of human hopes and fears. A war-weary French major is called to...

— Jul 1 2015

— Jun 29 2015

A heroic veteran of World War I faces trial for a mysterious offense. The structure of Rufin’s (The Dream Maker, 2013, etc.) novel of war and ideology is a meticulous and precise one, slowly bringing together a number of characters, each with his or her own ideals and...

— Apr 28 2015

Jean-Christophe Rufin's novel brings to vivid life the exemplary career of a little known medieval paragon: Jacques Coeur, banker, visionary and crafter of the glory that was France.

— Dec 3 2013

Here, at last, is a bona fide hero for readers of Les Echos! Heroes of finance and commerce who inspire us as much as an enlightened prince or an explorer are rare in the history of France, but Jacques Coeur (c. 1400-1456), revisited by novelist Jean-Christophe Rufin, is not...

— Jul 9 2013