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  • The Labyrinth of the Spirits

  • A Novel
  • Written by: Carlos Ruiz Zafón
  • Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
  • Length: 27 hrs and 55 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (38 ratings)

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The Labyrinth of the Spirits

Written by: Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
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Publisher's Summary

The internationally acclaimed New York Times best-selling author returns to the magnificent universe he constructed in his best-selling novels The Shadow of the Wind, The Angel’s Game, and The Prisoner of Heaven in this riveting series finale - a heart-pounding thriller and nail-biting work of suspense which introduces a sexy, seductive new heroine whose investigation shines a light on the dark history of Franco’s Spain.

In this unforgettable final volume of Ruiz Zafón’s cycle of novels set in the universe of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, beautiful and enigmatic Alicia Gris, with the help of the Sempere family, uncovers one of the most shocking conspiracies in all Spanish history.

Nine-year-old Alicia lost her parents during the Spanish Civil War when the Nacionales (the fascists) savagely bombed Barcelona in 1938. Twenty years later, she still carries the emotional and physical scars of that violent and terrifying time. Weary of her work as an investigator for Spain’s secret police in Madrid, a job she has held for more than a decade, the 29-year old plans to move on. At the insistence of her boss, Leandro Montalvo, she remains to solve one last case: the mysterious disappearance of Spain’s Minister of Culture, Mauricio Valls.

With her partner, the intimidating policeman Juan Manuel Vargas, Alicia discovers a possible clue - a rare book by the author Victor Mataix hidden in Valls’ office in his Madrid mansion. Valls was the director of the notorious Montjuic Prison in Barcelona during World War II where several writers were imprisoned, including David Martín and Victor Mataix. Traveling to Barcelona on the trail of these writers, Alicia and Vargas meet with several booksellers, including Juan Sempere, who knew her parents.

As Alicia and Vargas come closer to finding Valls, they uncover a tangled web of kidnappings and murders tied to the Franco regime, whose corruption is more widespread and horrifying than anyone imagined. Alicia’s courageous and uncompromising search for the truth puts her life in peril. Only with the help of a circle of devoted friends will she emerge from the dark labyrinths of Barcelona and its history into the light of the future.

In this haunting new novel, Carlos Ruiz Zafón proves yet again that he is a masterful storyteller and pays homage to the world of books, to his ingenious creation of the Cemetery of Forgotten, and to that magical bridge between literature and our lives.

©2016 Carlos Ruiz Zafón; Translation copyright 2017 by Lucia Graves (P)2018 Orion Publishing Group
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Carlos Ruiz Zafon masterpiece

This final book wraps up the series and does so in in the most masterful way. I got a little chocked up in the final chapters. Some of the best story tellers of our time. Bravo!

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Labyrinth of the spirits

I have loved every minute of this and all Carlos’s books. Each one moves you forward with emotion.

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great

I love this series, even though it breaks my heart a little. Was this a perfect book? Heck no. Were there some serious WTF are you doing Mr. Zafon moments, yes, yes there were. (Daniel was done dirty. Oh, man. Ugh. Yeah, it left a bad taste in my mouth.
Other than that (and the fact that the whole series reads like a warning against irresponsible sex) I really did enjoy it. There was one scene (I have this in audio format, too) that made a painful lump form in my throat and my eyes fill up. At work. Embarrassing.
The series is interesting in that it skips back and forth in the timeline, revisiting the same time period from different angles, flashing forward at the end of a book and then pulling back to some period in between in the next. The epilogue kind of makes sense of everything- it gets meta, with the 4 books being the magnum opus of Daniel's son Julian who only briefly mentions himself at the end of the book (where he explains everything, including his plan to only briefly mention himself at the end of the book.) It was a bold move, and I'm not sure how I feel about it.
Also, the end was very Return of the King Part 2, where Peter Jackson had no idea which ending to choose so he chose them all. I'm not mad, though. It was nice to have literally everything wrapped up neatly.
The Alicia storyline was more compelling than I thought it would be, partly because the nefarious scheme she uncovers was an actual thing. It provided a broader view of Francoist Spain than what we've seen through the lens of the Sempere bookstore.
The end, in 1992, with a bright new Spain, tourist friendly and free of shadow, was such a sad, poignant way of finishing things up. The Spain of Julian's parents and grandparents is gone, never to return, taking its magic with it. (In fairness, also a lot of darkness and misery, but hey.)
I was left feeling both satisfied and bummed out, not just because a series I am so fond of is over, but because it hammered home the fleeting, temporary nature of everything in life.

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