THE ANGEL'S GAME

TITLE: THE ANGEL'S GAME
AUTHOR: CARLOS RUIZ ZAFON
Pages: 441
Date: 30/08/2009
Grade: 4.5
Details: no. 2 Barcelona Trilogy
Own

David Martin has had a dismal childhood, during which only his love of books and reading keeps him going, a love encouraged and sustained by the proprietors of Sempere & Sons bookshop.
As a young man he makes a living writing Gothic novels filled with violence and darkness about Barcelona's underworld. With the money he is making he is renting an abandoned and supposedly cursed mansion. The house he has felt drawn to since he was a boy. both repels and attracts him.
When he receives an offer to write a book unlike any ever written before, he accepts the offer, the rewards being too good to refuse.
Soon, however, it becomes clear that the book he has been commissioned to write is somehow connected to his house and the dark secrets it contains.
As David tries to uncover the secrets of the past it becomes clear that he has entered the dark underworld he used to write about. A place of violence, mystery and death. A place that will cost him almost everything he holds dear. A place he may not be able to escape, ever.
This book was a lot darker than it's prequel, The Shadow of the Wind, and was maybe a bit too dark for me. I never really felt any sympathy for or connection with David Martin.
However, Zafon is a remarkable writer, without any doubt. He has a wonderful way with words and ideas, and his love of books always shines through his stories.
What I wouldn't give to be able to visit the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.