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The Prisoner of Heaven

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About this listen



Barcelona, 1957. It is Christmas, and Daniel Sempere and his wife, Bea, have much to celebrate. They have a beautiful new baby son, and their close friend Fermín Romero de Torres is about to be wed. But their joy is eclipsed when a a mysterious figure with a porcelain hand enters the Sempere bookshop, threatening to divulge a terrible secret that has been buried for two decades.

His appearance plunges Fermín and Daniel into a dangerous adventure that will take them back to the 1940s - the early days of Franco's dictatorship and the very heart of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.

The Prisoner of Heaven is a rich, labyrinthine tale of love, literature, passion, and revenge set in a dark, gothic Barcelona, in which the heroes of The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game must contend with a nemesis that threatens to destroy them.

Read by Peter Kenny

©2011 Shadow Factory L.L (P)2012 Orion Publishing Group Action & Adventure Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction United States World Literature Magic Fantasy Suspense

Critic reviews

'This is is explicitly, and joyously, a book about books, about what can be learned from them and what is lost when they are lost' GUARDIAN

'Full of stylish writing, Gothic atmosphere and love letters to 19th-century novels' WASHINGTON POST
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Most relevant
Ruiz Zafon has written 4 books in this series, or is it 5 so don't quote me on that. All I know is I read them all in paperback and now at almost 70 I tend to listen to audio books instead. When I saw this one come up on Audible I just had to see if it was as good as I remember. I can say most definitely it's as enjoyable in the spoken word as when I first read it a long time ago. I believe it was originally written for the younger audience but soon became a favorite to all ages. Personally I thoroughly enjoyed them all and truly wish hed written many more. I recommend you get book one and see if you don't buy them all. An excellent read or listen what ever your fancy. 5 stars for Ruiz Zafon.

A great story for young and old.

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really enjoyed ut as per usual needed to listen into the early hours of the morning!!

excellent read

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I just couldn’t listen to this. I was so excited to listen to to revisit these characters, they really should have had the same narrator. Nothing against this narrator as such, but Fermín is Spanish and his dialog is one of the best bits of the first book in my opinion. A Northern English Fermin just doesn’t work.

A northern English Fermín.

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I proffer it is best to have read The Shadow of the Wind and The Angels Game before this.

I loved the first book (thought it was a better story and I enjoyed that narrator more) but the second held its own.

This attempts to tie them both together, which it does, but for me fails to deliver the same atmosphere, mystery and suspense. That said, it is well written with returning characters etc.

Prisoner does leave the ongoing story open for a fourth instalment though which I have not been put off!

Ties together the previous two books

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Loved this story.

Wasn't sure about narrators voice to begin with but it did grow on me. Should say its my first ever audio book.

I cant wait for the next installment......

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