Kimber Silver's Reviews > The Angel's Game

"Every book has a soul, the soul of the person who wrote it and the soul of those who read it and dream about it."

I again traveled to Zafón’s Barcelona with high expectations set on his sequel to The Shadow of the Wind. Discovering that it was a prequel was quite a surprise!

David Martin is a young man struggling to make a splash in the literary world. As he repeatedly takes one step forward and two steps back, the life he dreams of remains just out of reach. But young Mr. Martin has an ace up his sleeve—a rare talent that can make words come alive in a reader’s mind.

With a dismal career holding him back and his health failing by the day, David is flattered when wealthy publisher, Andreas Corelli, recognizes his unique gift and, to all intents and purposes, offers him a way out that is paved with heavenly banknotes. But has the money, along with its owner, oozed up from a darker place?

This is a story steeped in failure and fame, love and loss, mystery and misery. A devilish price must be paid when one plays The Angel’s Game…

After being completely swept away by The Shadow of the Wind, I settled in expecting the same level of enchantment that I had experienced in those pages. While The Angel’s Game was a terrific story that hints toward a Faustian deal, it was missing that sparkling something I found in the first novel. That being said, the writing is dreamy, and the story is Gothic gold.
I would certainly recommend this book.


"A writer never forgets the first time he accepted a few coins or a word of praise in exchange for a story. He will never forget the sweet poison of vanity in his blood and the belief that, if he succeeds in not letting anyone discover his lack of talent, the dream of literature will provide him with a roof over his head, a hot meal at the end of the day, and what he covets the most: his name printed on a miserable piece of paper that surely will outlive him. A writer is condemned to remember that moment, because from then on he is doomed and his soul has a price."

"Do you know the best thing about broken hearts? They can only really break once the rest is just scratches."

"Poetry is written with tears, fiction with blood, and history with invisible ink."