The Prisoner of Heaven: A Novel [Paperback]

Once again, internationally acclaimed,New York Timesbestselling author Carlos Ruiz Zafón creates a rich, labyrinthine tale of love, literature, passion, and revenge, set in a dark, gothic Barcelona, in which the heroes ofThe Shadow of the WindandThe Angel's Gamemust contend with a nemesis that threatens to destroy them.

“Gabriel García Márquez meets Umberto Eco meets Jorge Luis Borges for a sprawling magic show. —New York Times Book ReviewonShadow of the Wind

Barcelona, 1957. It is Christmas, and Daniel Sempere and his wife, Bea, have much to celebrate. They have a beautiful new baby son named Julián, and their close friend Fermín Romero de Torres is about to be wed. But their joy is eclipsed when a mysterious stranger visits the Sempere bookshop and threatens to divulge a terrible secret that has been buried for two decades in the city's dark past.

His appearance plunges Fermín and Daniel into a dangerous adventure that will take them back to the 1940s and the early days of Franco's dictatorship. The terrifying events of that time launch them on a search for the truth that will put into peril everything they love, and will ultimately transform their lives.

[A novel] with the blissful narrative drive of a high-class mystery& Ruiz Zaf?n is a splendidly solicitous craftsman, careful to give the reader at least as much pleasure as he is evidently having.The story has heart, menace torture, kindness, cruelty, sacrifice, and a deep devotion to what makes humans tick.Perhaps his wittiest [novel] and the darkest to date, a stylistic feat that Ruiz Zafon handles deftly&Savor this book.“Gripping…suspenseful…The magic of the novel is in the wonderfully constructed creepy and otherworldly setting, the likable characters, and the near-perfect dialogue.”“Invoking the atmosphere of Dumas, Dickens, Poe and Garcia Marquez, Carlos Ruil-