Angel's Game

The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Hardcover: 544 pages
Publisher: Doubleday; First Edition, First Printing edition (June 16, 2009)
ISBN-10: 0385528701

 

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Fans of Zafón's The Shadow of the Wind and new readers alike will be delighted with this gothic semiprequel. In 1920s Barcelona, David Martin is born into poverty, but, aided by patron and friend Pedro Vidal, he rises to become a crime reporter and then a beloved pulp novelist. David's creative pace is frenetic; holed up in his dream house—a decrepit mansion with a sinister history—he produces two great novels, one for Vidal to claim as his own, and one for himself. But Vidal's book is celebrated while David's is buried, and when Vidal marries David's great love, David accepts a commission to write a story that leads him into danger. As he explores the past and his mysterious publisher, David becomes a suspect in a string of murders, and his race to uncover the truth is a delicious puzzle: is he beset by demons or a demon himself? Zafón's novel is detailed and vivid, and David's narration is charming and funny, but suspect. Villain or victim, he is the hero of and the guide to this dark labyrinth that, by masterful design, remains thrilling and bewildering.

The first thing I need to say about this book and Shadow of the Wind is... this is one excellent writer!! 

I loved Shadow of the Wind, which always scares me when I get a second book of an authors, wondering if it will live up to the first book I read.  In this case, although not as enchanted with the story itself,  he didn't let me down.  He managed to capture me and keep me thru the whole 544 pages!  Geez.  What's with me and the big books lately?

This book definitely fits the description for an RIP read!  There are cemeteries, a broken down gothic type house, murders??, a love story, and then there's... "the boss" (insert very creepy music).  Zafon really came up with a good villain for this story!

Another thing you will be doing for the last half of the book is wondering what is real and what is not!  Not to mention the constant bristling of your neck hairs each time the boss enters the picture.

If you read and liked Shadow of the Wind my guess is that you will like this book also!  Although the stories are quite different he managed to keep an element the same in each book, The Cemetery of Forgotten Books. (I won't say more of the place but I'd love to go there one day!)  And of course both books have to do with "books" and authors so it's a big draw in that respect also.

I think this is an author you might want to look into.  So far with two books out and translated he's two for two on any high rating system.  He seems to have his formula down pat, and I look forward to whatever he writes next!