tags: Basque-Spanish, mystery-crime, thriller
⭐⭐⭐
from GoodReads
A madman is holding Vitoria hostage, killing its citizens in brutal ways and staging the bodies. The city's only hope is a brilliant detective struggling to battle his own demons.
Inspector Unai López de Ayala, known as "Kraken", is charged with investigating a series of ritualistic murders. The killings are eerily similar to ones that terrorized the citizens of Vitoria twenty years earlier. But back then, police were sure they had discovered the killer, a prestigious archaeologist who is currently in jail. Now Kraken must race to determine whether the killer had an accomplice or if the wrong man has been incarcerated for two decades. This fast-paced, unrelenting thriller weaves in and out of the mythology and legends of the Basque country as it hurtles to its shocking conclusion.
I watched the Netflix movie based on the book before reading the book. The movie is just okay. It's good but not great. The book is also so-so probably because of translation from Basque to English. The main character Unai sounds and acts more like a female rather than a male IMHO. There are also unnecessary red herrings that don't make sense. Red herrings should be smart to mislead readers but here, they are stupid and insulting to the reader.
The story is compelling enough and I love the places, history, and rituals in the Basque town of Vitoria which are more interesting than the 3 cops who seem to have no distinct personality and have but one voice. The book has a high rating on GoodReads but I can't give it more than 3 stars. I still recommend it for readers who like thriller and mystery.
