The Watcher in the Shadows

Caray, compre los tres libros. Geniales los tres. Este, de los tres, el mejor, para mi.

I bought this one along with the first 2 published novels. As he states, these are novels intended for a teenager public and as such are not as deep nor as complex as La sombra del viento. Character descriptions are not so developed and the book feels rushed into the closing chapters, but it's understandable because again, were written for teenagers. But yes, you can feel Zafón here from the first lines and for those who enjoy his writing skills as I do that's quite enough. By the way, for those of you who felt a little lost with El juego del Angel, reading his first novels will clarify some questions, as thematic resources used a lot on these works are the answer to the seemingly lost ends in that later book. All in all, very good works from the author considering the public they are intended to reach.

Todo sucedio en el verano de 1937, una viuda, Simone, y sus dos hijos, Irene y Dorian Sauvelle, se mudan desde París hacia un pueblecito en la costa, huyendo de las numerosas deudas que la muerte de Armand Sauvelle ha dejado tras de sí. Siguiendo la promesa de un buen empleo como ama de llaves de un adinerado y misterioso inventor de juguetes llamado Lazarus Jann, los Sauvelle parten hacia la costa de Normandía. Lazarus, el misterioso fabricante de juguetes, vive recluido en una gigantesca mansión llamada Cravenmoore, con la única companía de su esposa Alexandra gravemente enferma y postrada en cama desde hace más de veinte años, y cientos de seres mecánicos, extraños juguetes y autómatas. Poco después de llegar, Irene conoce a Hannah, una vivaracha chica que también trabaja en Cravenmoore y a Ismael, primo de ésta, un joven tímido y amante del mar, por quien se siente atraída. Dorian por su parte se dedica a explorar los alrededores y a descubrir los misterios de los juguetes mecánicos que se alojan en la mansión, mientras tanto Simone traba amistad con Lazarus, a la vez que aprende las pequeñas extravagancias del inventor. Cuando los Sauvelle sienten que al fin sus vidas estan tomando un respiro de todas las tragedias que atras dejaron... Empieza la accion! Como es muy usual del autor, esta uno con la guardia baja y de un renglon a otro la historia da mas de 2 vueltas. Te queda buen sabor de boca, y la duda de... Para cuando el otro?

I have all ready read "El tren de la media Noche" y "El principe de la niebla" and I can only say this one is my favorite...

I found this novel enthralling enough to struggle with the Spanish. The author is a prize winning 42 year-old from Barcelona. The story opens in Paris in the 1930s. M. Sauvelle suddenly dies leaving his wife Mme Sauvelle and their two children Irene, a young teen, and Dorian, a pre-teen, with a mountain of debt. A mysterious stranger, Lazarus Jann becomes their salvation when he offers Mme Sauvelle a job running his estate on the southern coast of England. Jann is allegedly a widowed toy manufacturer. His "toys" are frightening mechanical contraptions that seem to take on a life of their own and his mansion is rife with intrigue. Irene falls in love with Ismael an orphaned teenage fisherman who lives with his relatives who also work for Jann. Ruiz has spun his plot borrowing some elements from Carl Gustave Jung's shadow, which I'm pretty sure Jung borrowed from the Kabbalah, and the yetzer hara (the evil inclination), as well as Faust. This novel is geared towards a teenage audience. The illustrations are great.