A while back I saw one of this author’s recent books in a Spanish airport and it said that he is the most popular thriller writer in Spain so I thought I’d look him up. I found an English translation of the first book in his hit trilogy – Reina Roja, or Red Queen.

The story is about the pairing of the most intelligent – but deeply emotionally scarred – woman in the world and a disgraced policeman. She is the star performer in a secret operation to solve the most challenging crimes and together they have to tackle a particularly sensitive case of murder and kidnapping.

It all sounded a bit preposterous to me and I tend to shy away from this type of book in case they get too violent or graphic (and highlight the psychopathic tendencies of the author). But reviews showed how popular the series is so I gave it a go.

It took a while to get going but that was largely the need to introduce the characters. Everything was chugging along ok until around half way through when I got hooked. One of the scenes was particularly well written and from then on I had to keep listening. When I turned round the book was finished and I had to admit that I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.

Other aspects: the translation seemed ok and the narration by audiobook narrator legend Scott Brick was good but nothing remarkable. One day I may well check out the Spanish audiobook to see if the language is any richer. It’s also narrated by a woman which seems like a good idea given that the central character is a woman. It’s a bit of a shame that the narrator isn’t female for the English version. There are not enough female audiobook narrators – full stop.

I’ll happily go on to the next book in the series, which has just recently come out in English. It’s getting better reviews than the first which is very promising. The only trouble is that the final book in the trilogy is not due out in English for another year. I may have to take a listen to the original language version – it would be my first Spanish audiobook.