The Prisoner of Heaven
By Carlos Ruiz Zafon
(Harper, Hardcover, 9780062206282, July 2012, 288pp.)
The Short of It:
A mystery, familiar characters and the lure of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books is why I quickly snatched this one up.
The Rest of It:
When I read The Shadow of the Wind years ago, I considered it a stand-alone novel. It was a magical story, beautifully written with a fantastic setting and wonderful, memorable characters. Plus, it introduced me to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books which was, to me, such a wonderful invention. Â Imagine a large library of forgotten titles, all lovingly preserved…never to disappear from existence. Sigh.
Several years later, Zafon came out with The Angel’s Game which was, at the time, advertised as a prequel to Shadow but the author has said numerous times, that all of the books are stand-alone novels and not meant to be read in any particular order and in the case of Angel, I’d say that fits. Â However, The Prisoner of Heaven is a follow-up to Shadow in that our main character is now all grown up, married and a father. Â But once again, although we get to know a little more about these wonderful characters, it has its own story to tell.
Daniel and his father continue to run their bookshop, but times are tough and the business has not been doing well. One day, a stranger walks in and buys a very expensive copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, signs it and tells Daniel to give it to his old friend, Fermin Romero del Torres. When Daniel opens the book, he sees that the inscription that the stranger left, is signed Fermin Romero del Torres which is the same name as Daniel’s long time friend. When Daniel shows the book to Fermin, the man has no choice but to share his secret with Daniel and in doing so, is forced to remember a different time, when his days were spent behind bars with a mysterious prisoner by his side.
The book is short so I don’t want to tell you too much about plot because if I do, you won’t read it. What I can tell you is that it isn’t as enthralling as Shadow but it was a solid installment to the series. I enjoyed it much more than Angel. My only quibble was the obvious lead-in to a fourth installment at the end. I knew from reading some other reviews that a fourth book is coming, but I didn’t expect the lead-in to be so obvious. That was really the only thing that stuck out for me.
If you could only read one book, I’d highly recommend Shadow but if you end up falling in love with the characters then you’ll be like me and read all of them just because they are all tied together in some way. This is one series where the setting has you coming back for more, too. Barcelona. Old streets. Gothic structures. Mysterious, sinister characters. Yep, quite enjoyable.
Source: Sent to me by the publisher via Edelweiss.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.
Book Chatter 
I will have to check out Shadow and go from there, but I like the idea of this library.
I haven’t read Angel’s Game (my son has the book and says he doesn’t like supernatural novels – must get it back from him), but loved Shadow of the Wind. I hope to read this third book too.
I bought the first book after reading Matt’s spectacular review of it. Now it’s been sitting on my shelf for over 3+ years….I really want to fall in love with it!
Shadow of the Wind is one of my sister’s all time favorite books so she’s really excited about this one.
I am reading this one for a tour early next month, and I can’t tell you how excited I am about that! It’s such a great series, and I know that I am probably the only one who loved The Angel’s Game more than the first book, but as a series, this is one of my favorites and most highly anticipated.
I thought I would love Angel’s Game but I didn’t fall for the characters which I think affected my overall enjoyment. This one was good though albeit too short!
I’m on hold for the audio at the library. it has been awhile since I’ve read Shadow or Angel, so I’m hoping that the characters will all come back to me (although how could one forget Fermin??). I do look forward to all that atmospheric fun and mystery.
Fermin is prominent in this one!
Somehow I knew this would be a book you would enjoy!
I need to go back & read Shadow … it seems by & far the best from all the comments
I read Shadow but not very sure if I want to pursue it all the way. we’ll see. Thanks for the review Ti.
I have had The Shadow of the Wind on my bookshelf for sometime now, and am determined I will read it during my holidays coming up soon. Sounds like a novel I will want to dive into and not come out until I am finished!
The Shadow of the Wind is a great book to read during the holidays. It’s the kind of book that you cozy up with and then devour!
I’ve seen these books around, but never knew they were a series or what they were about. I’m definitely going to have to read them now – a cemetery of forgotten books! Plus, they take place in Spain! Can’t believe I never even considered reading them before. I’m so glad you posted about them! Thanks!
Yes! Shadow of the Wind is a MUST read. You will love it.
I’m still in the process of reading this book, but one thing I had forgotten was how lovely his writing is. It was so easy to just sink back into that world and I’ve been enjoying it immensely.
I so want to visit Barcelona….
I would love to visit Barcelona too. I’ve never left the country but it’s on my list.
I haven’t read any of his books yet so it sounds like I need to pick up this Shadow book!
I like Shadow…a lot so have to catch up with the following two.
You had me at “Barcelona” and “Gothic structures.” 🙂 I am really looking forward to reading this.