The Angel's Game
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4.4 • 471 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of the international phenomenon The Shadow of the Wind, comes a riveting masterpiece about love, literature, and betrayal. • “[Zafón's] visionary storytelling prowess is a genre unto itself." —USA Today
In this powerful, labyrinthian thriller, David Martín is a pulp fiction writer struggling to stay afloat. Holed up in a haunting abandoned mansion in the heart of Barcelona, he furiously taps out story after story, becoming increasingly desperate and frustrated. Thus, when he is approached by a mysterious publisher offering a book deal that seems almost too good to be real, David leaps at the chance. But as he begins the work, and after a visit to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, he realizes that there is a connection between his book and the shadows that surround his dilapidated home and that the publisher may be hiding a few troubling secrets of his own. Once again, Ruiz Zafón takes us into a dark, gothic Barcelona and creates a breathtaking tale of intrigue, romance, and tragedy.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s dark mystery is a tribute to the magic of books, making the simple act of reading feel like a wonderful and devilish pursuit. In early 20th-century Barcelona, young David Martín finds tremendous success writing pulpy murder mysteries for the local newspaper, but he has higher literary aspirations. So when an enigmatic Parisian publisher approaches him with a lofty and very lucrative proposal—to write a book that will spawn a new religion—he’s instantly hooked. Following David through the heady twists of Zafón’s thrilling story is an ecstatic and bewildering experience, especially as his imagination and paranoia kick into overdrive. A standalone novel that’s part of Zafón’s head-spinning four-book series Cemetery of Forgotten Books, The Angel’s Game is an exciting, intricate tale of vanity, ambition, and crime. We were bewitched by its surreal atmosphere.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Fans of Zaf n'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? Zaf n'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.
Customer Reviews
A Master of Descriptive Language
What I love the most about Zafon, is that he takes you to the places he describes. He leaves you in the story. I often wonder through the plot trying to guess the next twist, but he always turns a different way. This series is great, and one of my favorites!
Junk
One of the very few books I stopped reading. It just kept going on and on page after page of details seemingly aimed at filling more than 300 pages as the primary objective.
Captivating
One of the best books I've ever read in my life! Captivating and all encompassing beautiful sorrow!