TLC Book Tour Stop: The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Title: The Prisoner of Heaven
Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publish Date: July 10, 2012
Source: TLC Book Tours

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a fiction fan.
• You like a bit of a mystery.
• You've read the other books in this series.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "Barcelona,1957. It is Christmas, and Daniel Sempere and his wife Bea have much to celebrate. They have a beautiful new baby son named Julian, and their close friend Fermín Romero de Torres is about to be wed. But their joy is eclipsed when a mysterious stranger visits the Sempere bookshop and threatens to divulge a terrible secret that has been buried for two decades in the city's dark past. His appearance plunges Fermín and Daniel into a dangerous adventure that will take them back to the 1940's and the dark early days of Franco's dictatorship. The terrifying events of that time launch them on a journey fraught with jealousy, suspicion, vengeance, and lies, a search for the truth that will put into peril everything they love and ultimately transform their lives."

My Two Cents: 

The Prisoner of Heaven is the third installment in this series by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. This series is a little different in that you are supposed to be able to read the books in any order and still be able to "get" the story. I think you can do that but I think that it would behoove you to read all of the books. I read Shadows of the Wind several years ago (perhaps even in high school but I don't quite remember) and I loved it. Unfortunately, I feel like I might have not remembered a couple things from Shadows of the Wind that would have been helpful when diving into this book. Even though you don't need to read the books, I think that I would have liked this book a little more and would have gotten more out of it had I read all of the books (and I would probably read them in order but that's just the way I am with books that are connected to each other).

Anyhow, one thing that I loved about this book is the writing. I think that translations can sometimes be difficult to read but this is a fabulous version. Also, I think that Zafon, himself, is just a master storyteller. He really has a way of engaging the reader that's really cool.

I couldn't help but to feel that I was missing things by not reading the other books (or at least not having read them recently). I feel like in this book, you dive right into the story. I kind of wish that you got to know the other characters a little bit better.

Bottom line: Still a good story but you should read the other two books first. In fact, I might go back and do that myself.