Recently, during a meeting with friends my age, we talked about how there are no good legal thrillers anymore. There was a time when many were made, like “Entrapment”, “The Pelican brief” or “Absolute power”, almost all based on bestselling books. Now that thrillers are back on trend, I still like legal ones, and since reading Eva Cornudella‘s novels, I wish someone would bring this genre back to the big screen. However, I’m content that someone like Eva continues to cultivate it in book format, which I highly recommend.
“Game of silences” (in Spanish, “Juego de silencios”) was the first novel where the main character was the prosecutor, Virginia Gibert, and now comes “Game of shadows” (in Spanish, “Juego de sombras”), a legal thriller about power, corruption, and attraction. Published by Versátil, a publisher house I like more each day for their work and approach. I believe Eva and Versátil make a perfect duo.
Here’s a brief summary of this second novel, independent of the first one but featuring the same main character who stole my heart, a smart prosecutor who won’t leave you indifferent.
Ane Armentia, an investigative journalist and scourge of unscrupulous politicians and businessmen, leaves home to meet with Mario Laredo, the judge presiding over the Alondra case, a political corruption network. But before she can step outside, a stranger stabs her to death. It seems like a violent robbery, but Judge Laredo knows exactly what the assailant was after: the information Armentia had been gathering, which threatens to dismantle the foundations of Catalonia’s business web. Prosecutor Virginia Gibert’s astuteness will help Laredo untangle a spider web that becomes increasingly complex as the investigation progresses, because too many people are interested in keeping the truth in the shadows.
A duel of forces where power, ambition, love, and sexual attraction lie at the heart of a gripping legal thriller with an unsettling pace.
A well-crafted, well-structured novel, not too long, and one you can read in one sitting. Ideal to take on your summer trip.
