Starred review from July 18, 2016
Set during the Spanish Civil War, Alzamora’s extraordinary U.S. debut charts the corrupt political and familial relationships among anarchists, the Catalan government, and hidden religious communities. Brothers of the Marist Order negotiate with the religion-hating anarchists for their escape to France, and Capuchin nuns buy their safety by harboring a deviant bishop obsessed with a musically talented novice. Meanwhile, government officials investigate the murders of a priest and a young boy found bitten and drained of blood. Striking paranormal elements include an eloquently reflective vampire, who takes advantage of Barcelona’s chaos, and an automaton horse constructed from the remains of massacre victims. Alzamora deftly balances a swiftly moving, multithreaded plot set firmly in a historical context with a transcendent, nearly timeless exploration of the dark, violent nature of humanity and the vain search for God’s mercy, and, in doing so, creatively fulfills the challenge of reinventing gothic horror for a modern age. Agent: Cristina Mora, Cristina Mora Literary & Film Agency (Spain).
A veteran police inspector in Barcelona must hunt down a vampire amid the turmoil of the Spanish Civil War. Honest to God.When the bodies of a priest and a young boy are found butchered and exsanguinated, the authorities at first wonder if this is an extreme version of the violence anarchists are bringing against the clergy in the civil war. But the circumstances are too strange, and the investigator in charge soon finds himself navigating not only the dangers of the killer he is hunting, but political pressure and the ever present threat of the war itself. If this weren't enough, there's a subplot with a 13-year-old convent novice who becomes a target of the murderer. As William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist showed, religion is a great way for hacks to employ the queasiest exploitation techniques. It's not religion but history used to justify the grue here. And yet it doesn't relieve the dullness. Does anyone expect a good time when confronted with a line like "They were celebrating a special liturgy to mark Sister Adoracio's one-hundredth birthday" or "The novice enjoyed every laundry-related chore and implement: the stones used for pleating, the metal and wood irons for pressing garments, the different techniques for sewing and spinning"? If you've ever wondered what it's like to feel simultaneously bored and nauseous, this is the book for you. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
August 15, 2016
A veteran police inspector in Barcelona must hunt down a vampire amid the turmoil of the Spanish Civil War. Honest to God.When the bodies of a priest and a young boy are found butchered and exsanguinated, the authorities at first wonder if this is an extreme version of the violence anarchists are bringing against the clergy in the civil war. But the circumstances are too strange, and the investigator in charge soon finds himself navigating not only the dangers of the killer he is hunting, but political pressure and the ever present threat of the war itself. If this weren't enough, there's a subplot with a 13-year-old convent novice who becomes a target of the murderer. As William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist showed, religion is a great way for hacks to employ the queasiest exploitation techniques. It's not religion but history used to justify the grue here. And yet it doesn't relieve the dullness. Does anyone expect a good time when confronted with a line like "They were celebrating a special liturgy to mark Sister Adoraci's one-hundredth birthday" or "The novice enjoyed every laundry-related chore and implement: the stones used for pleating, the metal and wood irons for pressing garments, the different techniques for sewing and spinning"? If you've ever wondered what it's like to feel simultaneously bored and nauseous, this is the book for you.
COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.