The Invisible Guardian

January 18, 2016
Spanish author Redondo’s assured first novel takes Insp. Amaia Salazar from Pamplona to Elizondo, in Basque country, where she grew up, to head a team investigating a serial killer. The killer strangles his young female victims, carefully arranges their hands and hair, and places a txantxigorri, a traditional cake of the region, on their torsos. Having been in Elizondo only 48 hours in the five years since her marriage, and already troubled by the horrors she has seen in her work, Amaia finds that returning to Elizondo has resurrected terrifying, long-repressed memories. She’s further handicapped by an insubordinate colleague, Insp. Fermin Montes, who resents her being in charge. Despite deep skepticism, Amaia is forced to consider whether a basajaun, a small, human-like creature believed by the locals to live in the woods, may have been responsible for the murders rather than a ritual killer. Already an international bestseller, this engrossing psychological thriller will impress American readers as well. Agent: Anna Soler-Pont, Pontas Agency (Spain).

November 1, 2015

A Special Air Service member, then a private security consultant, Maj. Hector Cross has battled some nasty types across the Middle East and Africa. Now an old enemy has risen up in new guise, determined to rule the world. Smith has always sold bundles, but 2014's Desert God still had a great leap in sales, which explains the 200,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2015
Published in her native Spain in 2013, this is the first of Redondo's Baztan Trilogy to be released in the U.S. A new case takes Inspector Amaia Salazar back to her childhood village of Elizondo in the Basque Pyrenees. Girls are being murdered and staged by the river for animals to feast on. Locals swear it's the work of a basajauna bigfoot-like creature rumored to haunt the woods. Amaia's investigation is complicated by her family's connections to the crimes. Her brother-in-law knew one of the victims a little too well; her eldest sister's bakery makes pastries similar to the ones found near the victims; and her aunt sees relationships she's afraid to name in her tarot cards. At the core of Amaia's unease are her memories of the last time she saw evil in Elizondothe last time she looked her mother in the eye. Redondo's books have sold more than 300,000 copies in Spain and have been translated into 32 languages.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)