Zafón’s Barcelona thriller is as much a love story as it is a mystery. Although the main characters are booksellers, and the plot centers around an obscure author, the literary aspect is merely window dressing for the wonderful characters that participate in this story. The prose is delightfully poetic and shines in the dialogue, especially from the most memorable character Fermín whom one can’t help but root for. Although I enjoyed the story and even experienced one shocking moment that completely took me by surprise, I felt it could have been about 100 pages shorter. The books ending dragged out much longer than it needed to which I felt unfortunately dampened the impact of some of the later moments. It’s still well worth the time investment and stands out amongst its genre.