If I had a dollar for every customer who asked me for a great book, “like The Shadow of the Wind,” I definitely would have a few more bookshelves in my house (and even more books to fill them). This summer, Americans’ long wait for Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s follow-up is over: The Angel’s Game goes on sale June 16th. While I don’t want anyone to be disappointed because of the build-up, I have to let you know: it was worth the wait.

Ever since we had the opportunity to read advance copies of The Shadow of the Wind, the booksellers of Queen Anne Books have been huge fans. You can imagine the excitement when we got our galley of The Angel’s Game. Thank goodness I work with patient, honest, generous people— I got my chance to bring it home. As soon as I opened its covers and started reading, I resigned myself to lunches of cereal, leftovers for dinner, and dark circles under my eyes. Zafon grabbed me again, and wouldn’t let me go until I read all the way through. While The Shadow of the Wind was very much a reader's book, this is certainly a reader's AND a writer's book. It also takes place in Barcelona, but a generation before Daniel’s story. The narrator of this novel is another young man obsessed by books: David Martín. Mentored by a bookseller with a heart of gold and a popular crime author who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Martín grows from a boy who takes a beating for Dickens to an author himself. The story is complex and thrilling, but I don’t want to give much away because part of the pleasure comes from all the twists and turns. (Another big heap of pleasure comes from the evocative language in Lucinda Graves’ translation.) The book is filled with spine-tingling gothic touches, a tender and talented narrator, spirited women to capture the heart... and possibly a Faustian deal with a mysterious publisher.

Turn off the phone, turn on all the lights, and treat yourself to this absorbing novel. Like its predecessor, it will transport you to Barcelona, sweep you up in its characters, dazzle you with atmosphere, and keep you gasping as the mysteries (and bodies) pile up— evidence of the power of the written word. ~Tegan