Even the Darkest Night: A Terra Alta Investigation

Description

"A gem of a book, easily the best I've read this year. A contemporary police procedural with a literary edge. I was rooting for the flawed, but deeply compassionate Melchor Marin from the first page to the last. Highly recommended" M W Craven Two dead at the Adell house . . . But nothing in the duty officer's report can prepare Melchor Marin for what he finds. A wealthy couple tortured to death in an almost ritualistic manner. The little town of Gandesa in the backwater region of Terra Alta, Catalonia, is suddenly at the eye of a media storm. Melchor is no stranger to notoriety. He was sent to Terra Alta to lie low after foiling a terrorist attack. And, before that, he was jailed for his role as driver for a Colombian drug cartel, his decision to join the police inspired by a desire to avenge his mother's murder and a copy of Les Miserables from the prison library. Gradually, the leads in the Adell case dry up, and Melchor is ordered to back off. He doesn't, willing to sacrifice his reputation and career in a ruthless pursuit of the truth. But dusk is already falling on the darkest night of his life. Translated from the Spanish by Anne McLean

Javier Cercas was born in 1962. He is a novelist, short-story writer and columnist, whose books include Soldiers of Salamis (which sold more than a million copies worldwide, won six literary awards in Spain and was filmed by David Trueba), The Tenant and The Motive, The Speed of Light and The Anatomy of a Moment. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages. He lives in Barcelona.

The portrait of a man who becomes a hero inspite of himself * ABC. * A tense thriller from the first page to the last * Vanguardia. * Even The Darkest Night is a gem of a book, easily the best I've read this year. A contemporary police procedural with a literary edge. I was rooting for the flawed, but deeply compassionate Melchor Marin from the first page to the last. Highly recommended -- M W Craven A wonderful novel. I look forward to many more Melchor stories -- A N Wilson * Tablet * The first in what promises to be an excellent series -- Guardian * Laura Wilson * Striking -- Barry Forshaw * Financial Times * Stays in the memory . . . Cercas perfectly captures the fearful mood of a town in rural Catalonia after the crime. He has also come up with an unusual detective -- Joan Smith * Sunday Times * Cercas plays fast and loose with literary conventions . . . it will be fascinating to see how the character of Marin, a knight in tarnished armour, develops -- Mark Sanderson * The Times *