Book of the Month - The Angel's Game

I’ve been absolutely dying to get my hands on Carols Ruiz Zafón’s latest oeuvre since the second I put down his last one, Shadow of the Wind. Zafón is a master storyteller, loved the world over. With brilliantly woven plots, vivid characterization, and finely crafted language, his works are destined to become classics.

The Angel’s Game is a gothic tale set in 1920s Barcelona. The main character David Martin, a young novelist, gets lured away from his pulp fiction career by a mysterious publisher who makes him an offer he can’t refuse. The commission is simple: David is to invent a religion and create a book for which “people will live and die”. Working out of a decrepit and poorly lit house bought with the proceeds of his Faustian bargain, he slowly unravels, becoming harder to penetrate and increasingly obsessed. He is also afraid – afraid of the man with the cat-slit eyes and angel pin to whom he in essence gives his soul.

This book has atmosphere, dark teetering on disturbing but not quite crossing that line. It is compelling. It is rich. It has turns of phrase that cry out to be copied into a notebook and preserved. One sips and savors this book and does not simply read it.