Carlos Ruiz Zafón returns for the fourth and final time to his gothic Barcelona and (every book lover's fantasy) the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. In The Labyrinth of the Spirits, Zafón introduces Alicia Gris, a fierce, courageous but damaged young woman who was orphaned during the Spanish Civil War and recruited to become a member of the Spanish secret police. Already disillusioned at 29 with the darker demands of her work, Alicia reluctantly agrees to investigate one final case for her boss, Leandro Montalvo, in exchange for her freedom. She and her partner, Juan Manuel Vargas, must investigate the disappearance of Spain's Minister of Culture, Mauricio Valls.

When Alicia discovers a copy of a rare book by Victor Mataix hidden in Valls' desk, she and Vargas start down a twisting path that leads them back to Barcelona and eventually reveals connections between Valls' mysterious disappearance and a series of atrocities committed years earlier during the corrupt Franco regime. At the same time, Alicia must confront her own complicated past, which includes a return to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.

Barcelona after the Spanish Civil War provides the perfect setting for Zafón's novel, with its shadowed, misty labyrinth of streets, foreboding buildings and sinister sense of corruption. The plot is exquisitely intricate, like an elaborate steampunk timepiece. Alicia, a fragile but ferociously formidable, vampire-like seductress, is unforgettable. The pacing is exceptional, with its incessant, rolling waves of tension. Even the dialogue is remarkably sharp and fresh.

The Labyrinth of the Spirits is a masterpiece more than worthy of sharing a shelf with its bestselling predecessors, The Shadow of the Wind, The Angel's Game and The Prisoner of Heaven. For those who have read Zafón's earlier novels, some loose ends are finally resolved. Readers' one regret will be that Labyrinth is the last in this ingenious cycle.

 

This article was originally published in the October 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Now 29, Alicia was orphaned when the Nacionales bombed Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War and works for Spain's secret police. She's agreed to one last job: find the vanished minister of culture, Mauricio Valls. A rare book leads her to two authors imprisoned in Barcelona's notorious Montjuic Prison, which Valls directed, and to kidnapping and murder during the Franco regime. Readers get one last chance to wander through the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, first introduced in Ruiz Zafón's The Shadow of the Wind. With a 50,000-copy first printing.

Ruiz Zafón's fourth book in the "Cemetery of Forgotten Books" series (after The Prisoner of Heaven) takes place in Spain from 1938 to the 1970s. Familiar characters from the first three books are living under the repressive, deadly regime of Francisco Franco. Daniel Sempere and wife Bea run a book shop. Fermin survived the fascist bombings of Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War and during one attack saved the life of badly injured nine-year-old Alicia Gris. Carrying mental and physical scars and now working as a kind of "fixer" for the police, Alicia is the focus here as she's sent on an assignment that brings her back to Barcelona and into the lives of Fermin and the Semperes. All is not as it appears and the ingrained character of violence, lies, and silence that defined the actions of the police and the government for almost four decades lead to a surprising ending. VERDICT At approximately 800 pages, this book is a commitment, but it is one well worth making. Complex characters, rich language, and intrigue make it a story to be savored. [See Prepub Alert, 3/28/18.]—Terry Lucas, Shelter Island P.L., NY

Zafón follows 2012's The Prisoner of Heaven with the conclusion to his Cemetery of Forgotten Books quartet, a gripping and moving thriller set in Franco's Spain that's fully accessible to newcomers. In 1959, 29-year-old Alicia Gris, a capable, insightful operative working for the Spanish secret police in Madrid who will remind readers of Lisbeth Salander, is tapped by her superior, Leandro Montalvo, for a sensitive inquiry. Spain's Minister of Culture, Don Mauricio Valls, who's been the target of anonymous threats and was the subject of a failed assassination attempt, has disappeared. The authorities believe that Valls was pursuing a lead on his persecutor on his own. Leandro promises the emotionally worn-out Alicia that she can leave his employ after this last assignment. When Alicia investigates, she discovers that Valls hid an unusual and valuable children's book in his Madrid mansion—The Labyrinth of the Spirits VII—and this in turn leads her to a Barcelona prison, where Valls was in charge during WWII. Fans of complex and literate mysteries featuring detectives with integrity working under oppressive and corrupt regimes will be well satisfied. (Sept.)