The action swings from London to Sweden, and then back into the past, to Franco’s Spain, as Roy & Castells hunt a monstrous killer … in the lastest instalment of Johana Gustawsson’s award-winning series
Spain, 1938: The country is wracked by civil war, and as Valencia falls to Franco’s brutal dictatorship, Republican Therese witnesses the murders of her family. Captured and sent to the notorious Las Ventas women’s prison, Therese gives birth to a daughter who is forcibly taken from her.
Falkenberg, Sweden, 2016: A wealthy family is found savagely murdered in their luxurious home. Discovering that her parents have been slaughtered, Aliénor Lindbergh, a new recruit to the UK’s Scotland Yard, rushes back to Sweden and finds her hometown rocked by the massacre.
Profiler Emily Roy joins forces with Aliénor and soon finds herself on the trail of a monstrous and prolific killer. Little does she realise that this killer is about to change the life of her colleague, true-crime writer Alexis Castells. Joining forces once again, Roy and Castells’ investigation takes them from the Swedish fertility clinics of the present day back to the terror of Franco’s rule, and the horrifying events that took place in Spanish orphanages under its rule.
Terrifying, vivid and recounted at breakneck speed, Blood Song is not only a riveting thriller and an examination of corruption in the fertility industry, but a shocking reminder of the atrocities of Spain’s dictatorship, in the latest, stunning installment in the award-winning Roy & Castells series.
Blood Song by Johana Gustawsson is the third in the Roy & Castells series and is published in paperback by Orenda Books on 19 September 2019.
My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review for this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour
The thing that I really love about fiction is the fact that I learn new things with every book. Johana Gustawsson's Roy & Castells series has certainly opened my eyes to periods in history that I previously knew little about. This third book; Blood Song has taught me more than usual
To my shame, I knew very little about the horrors inflicted upon the Spanish people during the reign of Franco, and this story has been something of an emotional and quite horrifying eye-opener for me.
Once again, this extremely talented author has woven two seemingly unrelated stories, set in London, Sweden and Spain, into a tale that is so atmospheric, so chilling and so very tense. I don't think I've come across an author who is quite so skilled in knitting together modern and historical so very well.
Profiler Emily Roy and true-crime author Alexis Castells are the perfect pairing. They are brought together once again to investigate the brutal murders of the family of one of their own colleagues.
Alienor Lindberg has only recently started to work with Scotland Yard in London when the news that her parents and sister have been horrifically killed, in their own home send her rushing back to Sweden. Roy and Castells are on the trail of the killer too, and it's not long before they begin to look more deeply into the workings of the IVF clinic owned by Alienor's parents.
Whilst this modern-day drama is both compelling and fast paced, it was the events that happened within the walls of the women's prison, and later in the orphanage in 1930s Spain that I found most chilling. Stark, and to the point, this author deals with the absolutely evil face of mankind, and the terrors that human can inflict upon human with a sensitivity and a deep sense of sadness.
There are terrifying and chilling connections; links between the atrocities of the Franco regime and the utter corruption and total disregard for the vulnerabilities of the clients of the IVF clinics
Blood Song is beautifully and intelligently translated into English by David Warriner. The language flows easily, and whilst it is never an easy read, it is charged with adrenaline, and the tension is unrelenting.
Haunting, intoxicating and deeply affecting. Blood Song is another excellent episode in this superb series. Roy and Castells are an unexpected, but brilliant pairing and Johana Gustawsson is an amazing talent.
Born in Marseille, France, and with a degree in Political Science, Johana Gustawsson has worked as a journalist for the French and Spanish press and television.
Her critically acclaimed Roy & Castells series, including Block 46, Keeper and Blood Song, has won the Plume d’Argent, Balai de la découverte, Balai d’Or and Prix Marseillais du Polar awards, and is now published in nineteen countries.
A TV adaptation is currently underway in a French, Swedish and UK co-production.
Johana lives in London with her Swedish husband and their three sons.
Website : www.johanagustawsson.com
Twitter : @JoGustawsson
David Warriner translates from French and nurtures a healthy passion for Franco, Nordic and British crime fiction.
Growing up in deepest Yorkshire, he developed incurable Francophilia at an early age.
Emerging from Oxford with a modern languages degree, he narrowly escaped the graduate rat race by hopping on a plane to Canada – and never looked back.
More than a decade into a high-powered commercial translation career, he listened to his heart and turned his hand again to the delicate art of literary translation.
David has lived in France and Quebec, and now calls beautiful British Columbia home.
Website : www.wtranslation.ca
Twitter : @givemeawave
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