What readers think of The Angel's Game, plus links to write your own review.

If you liked his previous book, "Shadow of the Wind" then you will undoubtedly like this one too. I do. Although I haven't quite finished this book yet I'm savoring every word written as I'm mesmerized by this Gothic tale and don't want it to end.

Although there are plenty of holes in the plot, loose ends not tied up, I enjoyed this second effort of Zafon's. The narrative is surprisingly compelling, the author kept me turning the pages, There are enough scenes in dark towers, cemeteries and dank bookstores (indeed bibliophilia plays an integral part of the story), the Devil his own self, to keep even the jaded horror fan interested. I think the author succeeds less in his depiction of historical place and characters. Seems the book could have been set anytime, anyplace, characters are a little too modern. But it still worked for me.

Like Shadow of the Winds, this book combines the elements of mystery, romance, and adventure. It provides an eerie return to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and other haunted Barcelona habitats. I was especially intrigued by the author's exploration of the idea that every book has a soul capable of interrelating the souls of the author who wrote it and the reader who reads it.

When David Martin accepts a large commission to write a book with a theme chosen by Andreas Corelli, he has struck a Faustian bargain with a host of unsettling consequences. The supernatural ending is quite unexpected, but I can foresee it as the starting point for characters who will be brought forward into Zafon's next eagerly anticipated novel.

"Angel's Game" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon is a Dickens like classic tale of good versus evil. Many richly described characters weave a twisting, mysterious plot. If you enjoyed Zafron"s first novel "Shadow of the Wind", then you will like "Angel's Game". However, there are some similarities that might be a little disappointing. Many intriguing and thought provoking ideas are discussed in conversations between the two characters representing good and evil. There were also some interesting comments on being a man of faith without religion. The book starts slowly and drags in a few places but the pace picks up and intensifies in Part 3. The ending cannot be predicted and is very satisfying.

Carlos Ruiz Zafon takes us back to Barcelona and the familiar Cemetery of Forgotten Books. This journey while spellbinding at times becomes a little tedious. The thematic process of developing Good and Evil is a little overbearing at times. There is no question that Zafon can write a good story, he would do better to compact his development of the theme and let the story loose.

His books are easy sells for librarians and booksellers. I guess I would recommend The Shadow of the Wind over The Angel's Game.

Though No. 1 in Spain, I feel we have read so many themes of angels of the darkness that this is just one more. However, the characters are fascinating, the plot knotted and tight, and there undulates over the entire book a shadow of threat and fright.

Influenced by neighbor Gaudi's fantastic castle in Barcelona, Zafon enlarges and personifies the imaginations of living gargoyles, gossamer threads weaving snares to entrap and consume the gullible young journalist David Martin. Driven, however, toward his goal of publication, young Martin is deaf to all rationale and leaps into his dreams, mingling his convictions with those of freakish creations, a mad artist with unblinking eyes - the angel? - canine smiles and with hypnotic control over his prey.

Nothing is as it seems. Even the two loves of David's life seem impotent to awaken him from his paranoia of grandiose pursuits into oblique darkness of soul and of spirit.

Mr Ruiz-Zafon's second novel in a proposed quartet was a distinct disappointment. The story is disjointed and overly gothic. Mr. Ruiz-Zafon states that this second installment is a semi-prequel. We can only hope for better things from the third book. The characters in The Angel's Game are unsympathetic and lackluster. I read The Shadow of the Wind before it became popular and was very impressed, so much so that I nominated it for a local area read.