The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (2008)

An author of cheap, sensational crime novels in 1920s Barcelona is recruited to write a book for a wealthy, satanic stranger.

Book Review: The Angel's Game is a story of ... just about everything. There's no way I can reduce this to just a story of family or love, of books or writing, of philosophy or mystery. The beautifully written pages contain all of that and more; many readers will be drawn to the author's understanding of the love and power of books and writing. There's also a secret library! Zafon's detailed descriptions took me into the streets of Barcelona; I was there, sometimes forgetting it was a historical novel as it seemed to have been written in the 1930s. The plot is slow and deliberately paced, careful and precise. When I needed to I could stop reading The Angel's Game, but I always wanted to come back to it, wanted to learn what would happen, and never guessed what was next. There's a love story, but the book's real heart is the relationship between the protagonist and a young girl who becomes his assistant: with love, respect, hurt, humor, compassion. A lesser writer would have added a romantic relationship, but Zafon refuses and the book is stronger for it. I also liked the connection between our hero and an elderly bookshop owner. There are several discussions about religion here, making the reader wonder: what if the devil decided he wanted his own book, his own bible (since the winners write the history books). Speaking of religion, one character is not-too-subtly named Cristina -- hmm. The second half of the book gradually picks up steam, with occasional bumps and surprises along the way. The last few chapters become just like the protagonist's cheap crime novels: lots of gun play and violence. The ending will be a test of how successful the novel is for the individual reader. For me it didn't quite work (too much "ick"), but certainly didn't ruin the rest of the novel for me. The English translation by Lucia Graves was very good. The Angel's Game doesn't answer all the questions it raises (at least one confusing minor plot point), it's that kind of a book, but it's well worth the read. I haven't read Zafon's immensely popular The Shadow of the Wind, but now I'll have to get to it.  [4★]