There is an electrical outage that shrouds the meeting in semi-darkness. Their conversation is thick with careful formality that exudes even more menace. The third attendee at this meeting is Father Lorenzo Quart, Spada's agent. He is the embodiment of religious inversion. Celibacy is the foundation of his pride; obedience is a replacement for piety. Drop-dead handsome and elegantly tailored, Quart is the enigmatic agent dispatched to Seville to conduct the delicate and highly secret investigation.
In Seville more characters appear. Gris Marsala is the chief architect and art historian in charge of the stalled restoration project; Macarena Bruner de Lebrija is the banker Gaviras's estranged wife; Maria Cruz Eugenia Bruner is the dowager duchess and Macarena's mother; and Don Octavo Machuca is Macarena's godfather and the about-to-retire chairman of Gavira's bank.
It's worth the time to keep a notebook of these names while reading the book. There are additional characters drawn from the past as well as the story's present. The author gives each character, particularly the comedic ones, a compelling set of intentions and then releases them to pursue their convoluted schemes. The characters do not disappoint. Some even warm to their roles. Quart arrives in Seville protesting that he is only there as a neutral observer — a mere reporter of sorts.
He is blind to the fact that his very objectivity is what is objectionable to the impassioned supporters of the church. Strip away the emotional connections to history and art and all that remains is a monetary assessment.
Obviously, no one provides any clues about the identity of the mysterious hacker. The person with the strongest motive is the parish priest so old he hardly seems a candidate for computer literacy.
Neutrality is a convenient conceit that not even Quart fully believes. There are always consequences. A past investigation by Quart had disturbing results. That the church's supporters are not motivated by religious fervor is a surprising conundrum. Father Ferro, the parish priest, is a battered relic whose religious belief dried up long ago.
Ideas and lost causes carry you away. The story slips from a thriller to variations on the theme of existential crisis. Nobody could invent a city like Seville. The reader is complicit in these attempts, not so much due to the skill of the writing as to the fondness developed for the characters and their foibles. Despite the existential exploration that preoccupies much of the story, he also returns to the tonal color of mystery he opened with.
His conclusion reverts to a satisfying mix of closure and beguiling ambiguity. Yet, it is clear he is an author in transition. For those of us who have never been to Seville, photos of the actual Plaza Virgen de los Reyes and the Santa Cruz area are worth viewing. The polychrome sculpture of the Spanish baroque period is central to the church's mystique. Gregorio Fernandez and Juan Martinez Montanes are two of the primary artists of the period. This website is one example of the pieces from this period.
May 05, Jim Fonseca rated it really liked it Shelves: spanish-authors. A mystery with great local color of Seville, Spain. The husband of the glamorous woman is a banker who is in on the financial deal. The banker hires a trio, two men and a woman, a kind of Three Stooges, to spy on the various parties and to make sure the church closes. Three people die in the church in mysterious circumstances.
Fast-moving and a good read. Jul 09, Kelly rated it really liked it Recommends it for: mystery fans, spanish lit fans. Shelves: owned , 20th-century-postwar-to-late , fiction. The end is disappointing. He falls into the dark lady cliche trap. But the book is beautifully written, with a touch of Marquez swirling around in there amongst the rest of his wonderful writing.
The mystery's concept and development are mostly wonderful. I just think he couldn't decide to what to do with the ending, and he made the wrong choice. But again, great book. Loved it. I will read it again. View 2 comments. This brilliant story has a surprising ending.
The scenes of Sevilla and the dialogue are so vivid. By the way I read it in Spanish where the title is "La piel del tambor. His mastery of all aspects of the Spanish languages, from the 17th-century dialogue in the Capitan Alatriste series, to the Mexican street language and Spanish drug slang to the 19th-century Franglish in "Trafalgar" have earned him a pl This brilliant story has a surprising ending.
His mastery of all aspects of the Spanish languages, from the 17th-century dialogue in the Capitan Alatriste series, to the Mexican street language and Spanish drug slang to the 19th-century Franglish in "Trafalgar" have earned him a place in the Real Academia de la Lengua. He is my favorite modern writer. Jul 29, Judi rated it liked it Shelves: read-in A hacker breaks into the Vatican's computer to leave a message for the Pope that says that there i's a church in Seville that "kills to defend itself.
And two people have died accidentally. They send Father Lorenzo Quart to impartially gather information about A hacker breaks into the Vatican's computer to leave a message for the Pope that says that there i's a church in Seville that "kills to defend itself.
They send Father Lorenzo Quart to impartially gather information about the unfortunate incidents of this run down Baroque church called Our Lady of the Tears and to determine the hacker's identity. Quart is not your Father Confessor. He's well dressed, good looking, secretive and a good Intelligence soldier for the Church. Soon he finds that the answers in Seville are not the ones he is seeking. For me, this was not a fast read, which is a positive statement.
He creates some very unforgettable characters that are reinforced with repeated descriptions. The plot is thick with politics, greed, history, yet moves along at pace that can be compared to a pleasant walk through Seville which there are many of. I would not call this an action thriller or a "page-turner" as it wanders a bit too much and I did have to go back to the beginning and start again during the second chapter.
But there is something that compelled me to the end. The concern with old fashioned faith, love, commitment and the philosophy thereof are intellectually satisfying. There are some humorous scenes and the ending twists a few times. Perhaps the most rewarding surprises are Father Quart's decisions and the true meaning behind the title of the book.
I recommend the book, but with one caveat; read it because it takes you to Seville, not because you are looking for a good hacker mystery. Sep 04, withdrawn rated it liked it Shelves: fiction. Poor writing. Weak plot. Conceptually okay - a few ideas to contemplate. Given that my time has been broken up by a constant flow of social encounters, I have had difficulty reading anything more serious.
Hence this review. I no longer am. I found much of my reading experience to be spoiled by stereotypical characters, sti 2. I found much of my reading experience to be spoiled by stereotypical characters, stilted dialogue and a contrived plot. The attempt at creating comic relief through the three inept criminals fell quite flat for me. I have never been a fan of slapstick humour. While I would have appreciated a more in-depth discussion, I was pleasantly surprised by the very fact of the inclusion of these ideas in the book.
Kinda cool. Okay, so I bought this book thinking it was part of the author's Captain Alatriste series and almost returned it when I realized it was a technological thriller, set in vintage Seville, with a Vatican priest as the main character. I'm very glad I kept it. For me, it was less a thriller though the mysteries are intriguing , more an intense character-study of a very different sort of man.
Lorenzo Quart, the priest and protagonist, characterizes himself as "the last Knight Templar," obedient a Okay, so I bought this book thinking it was part of the author's Captain Alatriste series and almost returned it when I realized it was a technological thriller, set in vintage Seville, with a Vatican priest as the main character. Lorenzo Quart, the priest and protagonist, characterizes himself as "the last Knight Templar," obedient and loyal to an institution that rarely has his best interests at heart.
He's not a character who happens to be a priest, but a priest who happens to be a participant in a series of relatively small events that change him in cherished ways. The backdrop is Seville, Spain -- a city I now want to visit -- and the supporting characters are, I have to believe, as typical of that city as any of Damon Runyon's or Dashell Hammett's characters were typical of their milieux, and just as dignified and memorable.
I read this novel in a translation by Sonia Soto who rendered Perez-Reverte's prose into simple, yet elegant English The star of this show was Seville, that Andalusian centuries old charmer wrapped in her robes of every sort of pageantry the history of Europe had to offer.
The crumbling Baroque church in the heart of Seville is slated for demolition—and two of its defenders have suddenly died.
Or murders? And was the church itself somehow involved? Thus begins a sophisticated and utterly suspenseful page-turner that has taken its readers by storm. Is a crumbling church set for demolition able to kill to defend itself, or is there something behind the mysterious deaths?
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