Play Book Tag discussion

Cross posted to October HORIZON - Spain


The Prisoner Of Heaven – Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Audiobook performed by Peter Kenny
3***

Book three in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series.

Just before Christmas 1957 a mysterious stranger appears in Barcelona’s Sempere bookshop. He knows much more than he lets on but it’s clear he poses a threat to Fermin Romero del Torres. Fermin is about to be married and the secrets the stranger threatens to reveal will destroy him. Daniel pledges to help but first he must understand the events of 1940s Barcelona during the Franco regime.

Oh, I love Zafón’s writing! The book is very atmospheric; I can feel the chill of a wintery wind, smell the candlewax and dust, practically taste the delicacies offered at 7 Portes restaurant (a dining establishment I have, in fact, visited in real life), or feel the pain of blows inflicted by a ruthless prison guard.

There are twists and turns and changes in time line that confuse, obfuscate, tease the reader and illuminate the plot. I caught references that helped tie in the first two books, though, in fact, any of them can be read as a stand alone novel, and they do not need to be read in any particular order.

Peter Kenny did a fine job of narrating the audiobook. He had many characters to deal with and managed to give them sufficiently unique voices to differentiate them. HOWEVER, he chose to use British accents for everyone and that drove me nuts. The book is Spanish, the characters are Spanish, NONE of them should have a Cockney accent! Lost a star there.



My full review HERE