Sunday, October 7, 2012

The Prisoner of Heaven; Carlos Ruiz Zafron


Author:  Carlos Ruiz Zafron
Publication Year: 2012
Publisher: Harper Collins
Edition: eGalley
Setting:  Barcelona
Source: Edelweiss
Date Completed: August/2012
Rating: 3.5/5 
Recommend:yes

It's hard to write a review when you finished the book a couple of months ago, and didn't take the best of notes along the way -- such was the the case with The Prisoner of Heaven, Book #3 (Cemetery of Forgotten Books)......please bear with me on this one.

The Prisoner of Heaven brings back some of the same characters as in the first (2) books: The Shadow of the Wind and Angel's Game.  Interesting enough -- the second book, The Angel's Game, is actually a prequel to the series, but I digress.

Barcelona - 1950s, Daniel Sempre (married with a young child) and his father Senor Semper are both back in this novel running Sempre and Sons bookstore, but business isn't very good.  In this novel the mysterious book in question is an extremely rare and valuable edition of The Count of Monte Cristo.  Fermin Romero de Torres is back as well, but this time secrets from his past have a way of catching up with him, and the reader is transported back to the 1940's to learn more.

Dark and atmospheric, this novel is much shorter than the previous two, and although it kept me turning the pages, I didn't think it had the same level of suspense and mystery as the earlier books. 

Have you read this series? If not and are thinking about it, I would definitely read these in order.  It appears there will still be yet another installment to come.

9 comments:

  1. I liked this book, and rank it second favorite in the series so far. I do think it added so much when it came to figuring out what was going on in parts of the second book.

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  2. This is the only one I've read in the series, and I almost didn't get the hype about them. It wasn't until the last few pages that this book clicked with me and now I do want to go back and read the other two.

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  3. I haven't read this series but my sister loves it.

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  4. I'm not much of a mystery fan but I love these books for the atmosphere and characters of 1950s Barcelona.

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  5. I read the first two and do want to get this latest. The characters were intense and I loved the setting.

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  6. I have the first book and I so will read this in order!!!

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  7. Yes, less mystery and suspense. It felt more comfortable than the other novels. I guess maybe because we were already familiar with the main players.

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  8. I do feel like I need to read these books. And I shall read them in order!

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  9. I've read Shadows but so many people were disappointed with Angel's that I haven't picked it up yet.

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