A raíz de un ataque terrorista en Sevilla, el inspector jefe Javier Falcón está decidido a cumplir su promesa a sus ciudadanos: que llevará a los verdaderos perpetradores ante la justicia. La muerte violenta de un gángster proporciona evidencia que implica a la mafia rusa en el ultraje, pero arroja a Falcon al corazón de una guerra territorial por la prostitución y las drogas.
Ahora, el objetivo de los encapuchados viciosos, Falcon descubre que las personas más cercanas a él también están bajo una presión intolerable. Su mejor amigo, que está espiando para el gobierno español, revela que está siendo chantajeado por extremistas islámicos, y el propio amante de Falcón sufre la peor pesadilla de una madre.

A complex plot involving Russian gangsters, compromised judges and business people, Moroccan terrorists and a variety of other criminals. Javier Falcon, the head of homicide investigations in Seville, is in the center of it all. His girlfriend’s son is kidnapped while Falcon is investigating a recent bombing and also Russian corruption and he’s not sure who has the child.

The plot features characters from past novels and some new ones. The complexity of the various connections and the large number of characters make it difficult to follow at times. ( )

This is the last volume of Robert Wilson's Javier Falcon tetralogy - that's not a spoiler, by the way, it actually says this on the back cover of the book. Wilson also mentions it in a brief foreword to the book. You cannot get anything out of this book if you haven't read the first three volumes; this is a true "quadrilogy" in that the four books form a coherent whole, with each volume telling its own story, while sub-plots persist through all four books, reaching their conclusion in the fourth volume.

The main plot of the story involves the Russian mafia. One gang member is killed in an auto accident as he tries to switch from one group to a competing group, taking money and a set of videos for bribery purposes with him. Falcon tries to find out what the story is behind this death, leading him into a close encounter with the Russian mafia. At the same time, Falcon's Moroccan friend starts to become unwound as the demands of spying begin to take its toll. Topping it all off is the kidnapping of the youngest son of Falcon's lover.

Wilson weaves all of the sub-plots together with artful mastery. Everything is resolved here - including one or two throw-aways from the first book that play a major part in the fourth book. Wilson does seem to give in to that perpetual British tendency to introduce contrivances at the end to make everything happy, but he does it in a way that does not detract from the overall satisfaction one gets from the general conclusion.

As a whole, the series is extremely good - we watch as the various players in this drama evolve, with Wilson giving us three-dimensional characters the likes of which are rare in contemporary writing. I highly recommend the whole series. ( )

A car accident. Millions of euros. A Russian gangster drinking champagne in the middle of nowhere. The opening scene of this, the fourth in the quartet of books featuring Seville detective Javier Falcón, does not disappoint. Robert Wilson’s plotting is spot-on. I read this book voraciously as Falcón struggles to get to the whole truth, admiring the way the author weaves together the story strands from the preceding three books so that at the end you understand though you did not guess.
I did not get the ending right, I expected something different. There are moments when you wonder if Javier can continue, will he step over to the dark side, will his emotional strength desert him? This is the most international of the four books, with Javier travelling to London and Morocco but Seville retains its hot sultry presence. I can smell the dusty heat of the evening where the detectives seem to exist on coffee and cruelty lays just out of sight.
I’m sorry this is a short review, I can’t write more without giving away the plot. There were moments when I wanted to shout ‘don’t do it’ and others when I thought with sad acceptance ‘yes, that’s the only thing you can do’. At the end, I wanted to start reading the series all over again.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/ ( )

This is a marvelous series. The author perfectly depicts the atmosphere of Seville, making the city come alive with all its heat and hidden corners, and the plots are full of twists and turns and political machinations. But what really sets this series apart is the psychological nuances, the internal struggles that the main characters negotiate throughout the books. Can't wait to read other books by this author! ( )