"[A] sly novel about the lives and fates of a gang of teenage outlaws in post-Franco Spain . . . Enticing mysteries drive the narrative forward . . . Yet it's the overarching mystery of identity that ultimately sets this novel apart." –The New York Times Book Review
A moving meditation on youth, love, betrayal and the media, as well as an uncompromising political novel. Cercas has yet again expanded our idea of what fiction can do. –Juan Gabriel Vasquez, author of THE SECRET HISTORY OF COSTAGUANA
"His novels probe the sore spots and raw wounds of contemporary Spain, their cunning and complexity leavened by a light touch and an easy, graceful style in which captivating dialogue becomes a genuinely dialect pursuit of truth." –
The Independent on Sunday "The beauty of this intelligently probing novel is that one is left wondering if we ever truly know anything about anybody–that anybody including ourselves." –
Scotsman "Compelling . . . Though the novel moves towards a suite of surprising and unsettling revelations about the characters, the real strengths of the book are in Cercas's unadorned prose, once again deftly translated by Anne McLean, and in his ear for the rhythms of everyday speech." –
Guardian "Cercas adroitly balances the earlier criminal thrills with the later moral and emotional complexities." –
New Statesman "The story is told entirely through speech–different speakers addressing an unnamed interviewer in alternating chapters. It's an elegant construction that gives immediacy and pace from the start." –
Literary Review "A vibrant yet realistic portrait of two teenage boys who find themselves in very different circumstances in adulthood . . . It's a compelling, drawn-out story with rich period detail and emotional depth." –
Kirkus Reviews
