Search results for ""author carlos ruiz zafón""

1916, Calcutta. A man pauses for breath outside the ruins of Jheeter's Gate station knowing he has only hours to live. Pursued by assassins, he must ensure the safety of two newborn twins, before disappearing into the night to meet his fate. 1932. Ben and his friends are due to leave the orphanage which has been their home for sixteen years. Tonight will be the final meeting of their secret club, in the old ruin they christened The Midnight Palace. Then Ben discovers he has a sister - and together they learn the tragic story of their past, as a shadowy figures lures them to a terrifying showdown in the ruins of Jheeter's Gate station.From the bestselling author of THE SHADOW OF THE WIND, this is the haunting story of a secret society and a labyrinthine railway station with a dark past.

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'A heady brew of detective thriller, supernatural horror tale, magical realist fable and a heartbreaking love story' DAILY MAIL'Readers familiar with The Shadow of the Wind will find themselves back in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books where, from a labyrinthine library, volumes seem to select their readers . . . rattling good gothic fun' SPECTATORIn an abandoned mansion in the heart of Barcelona, a young man, David Martín, makes his living by writing sensationalist novels under a pseudonym. The survivor of a troubled childhood, he spends his nights spinning baroque tales about the city's underworld. But perhaps his dark imaginings are not as strange as they seem, for in a locked room deep within the house lie photographs and letters hinting at an unsolved mystery.Like a slow poison, the history of the place and an impossible love bring David close to despair. But then he receives a letter from a reclusive French editor who makes him the offer of a lifetime . . .'Will grip you from start to finish' DAILY EXPRESS

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'This is is explicitly, and joyously, a book about books, about what can be learned from them and what is lost when they are lost' GUARDIAN'Full of stylish writing, Gothic atmosphere and love letters to 19th-century novels' WASHINGTON POSTBarcelona, 1957. It is Christmas, and Daniel Sempere and his wife, Bea, have much to celebrate. They have a beautiful new baby son, and their close friend Fermín Romero de Torres is about to be wed. But their joy is eclipsed when a a mysterious figure with a porcelain hand enters the Sempere bookshop, threatening to divulge a terrible secret that has been buried for two decades.His appearance plunges Fermín and Daniel into a dangerous adventure that will take them back to the 1940s - the early days of Franco's dictatorship and the very heart of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.The Prisoner of Heaven is a rich, labyrinthine tale of love, literature, passion, and revenge set in a dark, gothic Barcelona, in which the heroes of The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game must contend with a nemesis that threatens to destroy them.

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THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'Magnificent: a dizzying tale of drama, intrigue and passion' MAIL ON SUNDAY'A colossal, genre-crossing achievement' GUARDIANAs a child, Daniel Sempere discovered among the passageways of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books an extraordinary novel that would change the course of his life. Now a young man in the Barcelona of the late 1950s, Daniel runs the Sempere & Sons bookshop and enjoys a seemingly fulfilling life with his loving wife and son. Yet the mystery surrounding the death of his mother continues to plague his soul.Just when Daniel believes he is close to solving this enigma, a conspiracy more sinister than he could have imagined spreads its tentacles from the hellish Franco regime. That is when Alicia Gris appears, a soul born out of the nightmare of the war. She is the one who will lead Daniel to the edge of the abyss and reveal the secret history of his family, although at a terrifying price.

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"Anyone who enjoys novels that are scary, erotic, touching, tragic and thrilling should rush right out to the nearest bookstore and pick up The Shadow of the Wind. Really, you should." —Michael Dirda, The Washington Post“Wondrous...masterful...The Shadow of the Wind is ultimately a love letter to literature, intended for readers as passionate about storytelling as its young hero.” —Entertainment Weekly, Editor's Choice“This is one gorgeous read.” —Stephen King"I still remember the day my father took me to the Cemetary of Forgotten Books for the first time..."Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer’s son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julián Carax. But when he sets out to find the author’s other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax’s books in existence. Soon Daniel’s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets—an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.

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