The Angel’s Game (2008) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón is a dark, labyrinthine Gothic novel set in Barcelona’s shadowy streets, serving as a prequel of sorts to his acclaimed The Shadow of the Wind. The story follows David Martín, a troubled pulp fiction writer in the 1920s who accepts a lucrative but sinister commission from the enigmatic publisher Andreas Corelli. Tasked with writing a religious text that will “change the world,” David soon finds himself ensnared in a web of supernatural horror, murder, and the cursed history of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.
As David’s sanity unravels, he uncovers eerie parallels between his life and that of the previous tenant of his eerie tower house, a writer who died under mysterious circumstances. Zafón blends metafictional twists with lush, atmospheric prose, exploring themes of obsession, Faustian bargains, and the destructive power of stories. The novel’s ties to The Shadow of the Wind deepen the mystery of Zafón’s Cemetery of Forgotten Books universe.
For fans of: The Shadow of the Wind, The Club Dumas (Pérez-Reverte), or The Thirteenth Tale (Setterfield).
