language
en
ca es

Bruno Blog

Sandra Bruna Literary Agency

A FOREST, A MURDERER AND THE DOUBT

Author: Bruno Thursday 16 February 2023

I’m excited about this week’s blog because Malenka Ramos is back: an author who is making a niche for herself in horror, a difficult genre. In being a woman, she has yet another obstacle to overcome. Publishing legends say that horror does not sell, but on the other hand we have the great master Stephen King, who publishes bestsellers just as popular as horror movies. Why is it difficult for Spanish authors to position themselves in this genre? I don’t know the answer–perhaps readers have it, but Malenka was given the title of the “Spanish Stephen King”, and although comparisons are really only sales labels, it helped us to gain that niche in the world of literary horror. It’s a niche we don’t want to lose, and I am sure that with this novel, not only will we not lose it but we will gain space, because LOS CRIMENES DE HAMLET is a horror novel with supernatural overtones that grabs you from beginning to end.

At the age of seventy, Hamlet, the famous serial killer, spends his days immersed in the dark dream of once again painting the disturbing scenes that keep the police awake at night. He has been held in a maximum security prison for twenty years, but despite this, a new corpse with his unmistakable signature has appeared in the quiet and secluded valley of Caín. The event has awakened the Cutter, a diabolical and bloodthirsty being who, according to popular belief, only lived in old legends. Until now. The Carver and his entourage have come to the call of blood and claim their domain in the forest with their particular signature: he cuts off arms and legs. Hamlet and the oldest woman in the town are the only people who can help the police unravel the case.

We have all the ingredients to get you hooked on this novel. For horror lovers it is perfect, it will not disappoint, and for those of us who are not, it will keep us in suspense, and also, from time to time, we will have to stop and breathe, because the tension is at its maximum. Malenka gets what she wants: the reader is in the state that makes any little noise a jumpscare. If this novel were directed by Bayona and starred Belén Rueda, it would be top of the billboards, so I hope readers help us to put it at the top of the lists, because it is pure entertainment.

CORRUPTION IN NAVARRA

Author: Bruno Thursday 9 February 2023

Susana Rodriguez is an author who needs no introduction. Her trilogy SIN RETORNO has sold more than 30,000 copies and soon we will be able to it on the big screen.

She writes crime novels for fans of the genre, and for those of us who perhaps are not so much, because her female characters are engaging, brave, strong and credible. Besides, there is no lack of any “noir” ingredient in her stories, especially in this one. EN LA SANGRE, published by Harper Collins, who continues to back Rodriguez, is the second novel following the story of Inspector Marcela Pieldelobo. Pieldelobo is still being questioned for her resolution of a triple murder case related to a powerful Opus Dei family. But this time, another murder has occurred: the young Elnur Amézaga, a police confidant and girlfriend of a prominent local nationalist leader in Beta, a small town in Navarra. 

Everything points to Inspector Ribas, Marcela’s friend and ex-lover, as the culprit, although it has been many years ago, and therefore she is reluctant to believe that her “friend” is a corrupt policeman. But we know Pieldelobo, and we know that she will not stop until the end, ignoring all the anonymous blackmail to settle the case as soon as possible, and the threats of the nationalist environment refusing to be dragged into a drug-related case.

All in all: murders, police corruption and an inspector who believes in her instinct, above all, and will start a dangerous investigation against the clock that could cost her her life.

THE LITTLE BOOK GETS BIG AGAINST ANXIETY

Author: Bruno Thursday 2 February 2023

Anxiety is the big word. The most used among all of us who go through life against the clock. Who doesn’t feel pressure in their chest? Nerves? Almost all of us have worries or things that make us anxious, and we can all be affected by anxiety at some time or another. Not for nothing is it one of the most common mental afflictions in the West, which can present itself as a simple annoyance but sometimes becomes a huge black cloud that prevents us from living as we want.

Ferran Cases, expert in anxiety, invites us to explore the patterns that lead us to feel anxious and teaches us how to change them. All this in small and accessible steps, which the author presents in the form of a staircase of stages to overcome. Step by step, we will learn to breathe, to calm our inner voice and control catastrophic thoughts, to soak up the importance of physical exercise or mindfulness, to cultivate habits that allow us to keep moving forward. The way out of anxiety is to know ourselves and redirect our way of interpreting the world, and we just have to have the courage to take the first step. In this new edition, completely revised and expanded, Cases includes new exercises and five additional steps that, based on the philosophical principle of stoicism (a doctrine based on the mastery of facts and passions that disturb life), use the courage and reason of personal character to help us conquer the art of true happiness.

Ferran is on the seventh edition of EL CEREBRO DE LA GENTE FELIZ (THE BRAINS OF HAPPY PEOPLE) and 8 countries, Brazil, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Greece, Italy and Poland, have chosen to translate it. Ferran’s experience, backed up by a neuroscientist, Sara Teller, led to this practical and necessary book. In EL PEQUEÑO GRAN LIBRO DE LA ANSIEDAD (THE LITTLE BIG BOOK OF ANXIETY), Ferran provides us with the tools he has learned and how to apply them, after listening to experts on the subject and going through his own personal experience. An effective technique, for all of us who ever feel that uncomfortable feeling called anxiety, that invades us and sometimes paralyzes us. Climbing Ferran’s steps is a therapy that can help us when we are anxious about our daily tasks, when we are somewhat overwhelmed, and if we follow these steps we could get to control it. Therefore, this is a necessary book for most of us. It will not disappoint you.

THE ABSCENCE OF A MOTHER

Author: Bruno Thursday 26 January 2023

I don’t tend to talk about poetry on this blog, since we don’t represent poets. However, some of our authors dare to venture into the genre, which I always admire, because I find it extremely difficult, and I’ve always been in awe of those who know how to do it.

Alejandro Palomas is one of those authors– he has always written poetry, and in recent years he’s been able to find the right themes and the perfect editor to publish them. Letraversal does an extraordinary job: it takes bravery to publish poetry, and they’ve managed to make it into a beautiful book, beautiful like Alejandro’s words.

His latest title, Y UN DESPÉS, is about facing the emptiness left by a mother and understanding that nobody teaches us to be orphans. With an intimate and overwhelming voice, Palomas welcomes us into the intimacy of grief and embodies the pain, naked and pure, that emanates from absence. It is about the desire to see her again, becoming comfortable with living among memories, and discovering the woman who hides behind a mother. It is a precious, delicate collection of poems and the perfect gift to pay homage to mothers, without whom we would not be here.

Alejandro has made his novel UNA MADRE a longseller, just like UN HIJO and EL TIEMPO QUE NOS UNE,because in them we discover characters that steal our souls. And in this book of poems, the one who steals our soul is Alejandro himself– if you also have the privilege of being able to listen to him recite them, which we did on January 16th, in a full-to-the-brim theatre in Barcelona, it really leaves a lasting impression. So I encourage you to also become acquainted the poet Alejandro, because you will not be disappointed.

BLACK NIGHTS IN BARCELONA

Author: Bruno Thursday 19 January 2023

Second recommendation of the year: this time, a proper crime novel. I have always confessed that I do not particularly like this genre, but in this case, I must say, I really like the author. To me, Jordi Solé is a consolidated author who has yet to publish a mediocre or bad novel. They are all excellent, and yet perhaps there are readers who still do not know him. For this reason, although LA NOCHE DE DAMBALLAH was published in Catalan by Columna years ago, a publisher like Alrevés, a specialist in genre, did not want to waste the opportunity to publish this novel in Spanish, despite years having passed. It has the quality and the furious pace that keep you turning the pages. This is how its publishers present it to us:

Early morning, Barcelona’s Zona Franca. On Lluís Artigas’ patrol car radio sounds a 10-50: “Someone has been killed”. The victim is a young Nigerian girl brutally murdered following what turns out to be a voodoo ritual. Artigas, a burned-out agent under suspicion of being corrupt, undertakes an unexpected search for those responsible for this crime. His only ally is Mónica Vidal, a journalist who will do anything for a story, and who is also besieged by her own demons.

LA NOCHE DE DAMBALLAH is a masterfully written novel, with a furious pace, the narrative pulse of crime classics, an ironic tone, and a cynical, always incisive voice. Jordi Solé shows us a little-known, greasy side of Barcelona, where often-unnoticed characters roam. The most compelling is the protagonist, Artigas, a policeman called to become a mythical antihero.

All that’s left is for me to add that I hope that this time the novel gets the recognition it deserves, because it really is a good one.



Uso de cookies

Este sitio web utiliza cookies para que usted tenga la mejor experiencia de usuario. Si continúa navegando está dando su consentimiento para la aceptación de las mencionadas cookies y la aceptación de nuestra política de cookies, pinche el enlace para mayor información.

ACEPTAR
Aviso de cookies