Red Queen
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4.1 • 11 Ratings
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- $21.99
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- $21.99
Publisher Description
Now an Amazon Prime Original series, Red Queen is the first in Juan Gómez-Jurado's internationally bestselling thriller series, translated by Nick Caistor. Winner of the Cognac Prize 2022 with more than two million copies sold in Spain alone.
This audiobook includes an exclusive interview with the author.
'Red Queen is one of the most extravagantly entertaining novels I’ve ever read. It's an electrifying serial-killer thriller, fiendishly clever puzzle mystery, and sensitive portrait of a fascinating young woman. I loved every word.' - A.J. Finn, bestselling author of The Woman in the Window
'Best thriller books of 2023' - Sunday Times
'A Spanish spin on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo . . . stylish and stylised . . . A female Sherlock Holmes' - The Times
You've never met anyone like her . . .
Antonia Scott is special. Very special. She is not a policewoman or a lawyer. She has never wielded a weapon or carried a badge, and yet, she has solved dozens of crimes.
But it's been awhile since Antonia left her attic in Madrid. The things she has lost are much more important to her than the things awaiting her outside.
She also doesn't receive visitors. That's why she really, really doesn't like it when she hears unknown footsteps coming up the stairs.
Whoever it is, Antonia is sure that they are coming to look for her.
And she likes that even less.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A reclusive forensic genius and a disgraced cop must work together to solve a bizarre case in this fast-paced thriller set in Spain. Antonia Scott reconstructs crime scenes with unerring accuracy, but a personal tragedy has turned her into a shut-in. But detective Jon Gutiérrez is determined to convince Antonia to help him investigate a baffling kidnapping-murder to save his career—and, hopefully, save the next victim before time runs out. Spanish author Juan Gómez-Jurado has created a memorable hero in the prickly but tender Antonia Scott, and veteran narrator Scott Brick gives weight and meaning to every word as the mystery builds to a climax. Anyone who enjoyed The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo will love this fantastic and gritty series.
Customer Reviews
Gripping Read
Fantastic book, loved the two main characters!
You may call it nonsense if you like*
The author is a Spanish journalist turned novelist and one of the three most successful contemporary Spanish writers. (In case you were wondering, the others are Javier Sierra and Carlos Ruiz Zafón. No. Me either.) This, the first of a trilogy, sold more than 2 million copies in Spain.
Antonia Scott, who is English but has Spanish heritage, has the highest IQ ever recorded, which she uses to clean up crimes other investigators can’t reach. When we meet her, she is living an insular existence in Madrid, refusing to do her thang after her last job resulted in collateral damage to her Spanish philologist husband, who has been in a coma for over a year. Her mysterious handler named Mentor recruits/blackmails disgraced gay Bilbao detective Jon Gutiérrez to get her out in the field again following the kidnap and murder of the son of the world’s richest man (a Spaniard, naturally). The murder is suitably bizarre: he’s bled dry then placed in an artful pose in the family home. Our gal gets spooked — flashbacks or something — and takes her bat and ball and goes home. To the hospital, in fact, to be with hubby. Surprise, surprise, the daughter of another uber-wealthy Spanish dude, who now runs the company he founded, (shades of the Ortega family that owns Zara) gets kidnapped. Jon boy saddles the clever chick up again. Yada, Yada. The end.
For me, the Lewis Carroll reference on the title was soon overpowered by the Millennium trilogy vibe. (Lisbeth Salander. Dragon tattoos. Remember?) The pacing was good due to the short chapters. I found the narrative melodramatic, the narrator even more so. But, hey, who would have thought I’d know anything about purveyors of women’s apparel?
*From Through The Looking Glass, Chapter 2, shortly prior to the running quote used in Chapter 1 of this book.