The Angel's Game - Carlos Ruiz Zafon (audio)

I don't think anyone would argue that "The Shadow of the Wind" is one of the good ones. There's a whole lotta love going around for this book, and I contributed a little bit of my heart to the mix. The story was mysterious, romantic, atmospheric and beautiful. Listening to the audio was a seduction. After finishing, the obvious thing to do was move on to The Angel's Game, which I understood to be a sort of prequel to SOTW.

I was hesitant. Some loved the book, some didn't. Some couldn't even finish it. Some recommended not to read the two books close together. Most said it did not match up to Shadow of the Wind. Yet I plunged ahead.

Enter David Martin, a young talented writer who has a deep passion for literature, but spends his days in a crumbling, moldy tower, pounding out trashy crime novels. Parentless, he is mentored by a wealthy playboy who eventually claims Martin's true love, Christina, for his own. He is a work-a-holic, his greedy publishers are sucking him dry, his only friend is a bull-headed 17-year-old female assistant, and soon discovers he has terminal brain cancer.

The dark, mysterious Andreas Corelli, a Parisian publisher, approaches Martin, offering a solution to all his problems. For a huge sum of money, Martin will write a novel that will be his magnum opus - he will create a "new religion". Martin's brain cancer, his previous contract with the blood-sucking publishers, and any distractions will be "handled" by Corelli. Never mind that Corelli reeks of evil, and that we, the readers, suspect this is the old "selling your soul to the devil" kinda thing. (It is what is oft referred to in the Nawrot house as a "sh*t-filled Twinkie".) Martin, a desperate man however, takes the deal happily. He soon begins to suspect, to his horror, that it appears others have taken the same deal before him, and have not fared well. After a little cloak and dagger investigating, Martin becomes increasingly disenchanted with Senor Corelli. He wonders if there is any way to extricate himself from Corelli, without sacrificing his life.

There are many things about this story that have a similar feel to "Shadow of the Wind". The Cemetery of Forgotten Books makes its appearance, as well as the previous generation the Sempere and Sons bookstore (for most of the book I thought it was the same father and son as Shadow of the Wind...I'm a little dense sometimes). It was heart-warming to see my old friends appear in this tale. We also have a little unrequited love, secrets revealed and a crumbling, spooky old house. This is where the similarities end, however.

This book is a much darker, sinister and violent book. The body count is significant...people drop like flies right and left. The book is also filled with confusing twists and turns that will give your mind a good screwing. (Have you ever seen the movie The Game with Michael Douglas? If you have, this book is in the same category...). I had to pay attention, and still I found myself saying "Wha???" every disc or two. I didn't find our main man and main gal (Martin and Christina) to be likable. Martin was cold, detached and depressed, and Christina seemed whiny. The only character I really liked was Martin's plucky assistant, Isabella.

Even after rattling off all of those negatives, however, this is not a book I will soon forget. It took me a couple of days just to verbalize my thoughts. It is an over-the-top, gluttonous feast of mind candy. It was enough of a sugar-high to leave your head spinning in the end, weak in the knees. I immediately started listening to a feel-good audio after I finished this one, and had to shut it down after about fifteen minutes. My mind was too shell-shocked for feel-good. I cranked up a murder mystery...that was better.

I raved about the narrator in the Shadow of the Wind. He was so smooth and so sultry, I was putty in his hands. As a result, I was so very disappointed to hear a different narrator, Dan Stevens, at the helm. He is an accomplished narrator, though, and I will admit he performed excellently. But because he is a British actor, most of his voices had British accents, even though they were Spanish characters. Small quibble.

4 out of 5 stars