TLC Book Review: North Face of the Heart by Dolores Redondo

Title: North Face of the Heart

Author: Dolores Redondo

Year Published: 2021

Category: Adult fiction (mystery)

Pages: 495

Rating: 4 out of 5

Location (my 2021 Google Reading map): Spain and USA (OK, LA, FL, TX, MN)

Summary (from Amazon): Amaia Salazar, a young detective from the north of Spain, has joined a group of trainees at the FBI Academy in Virginia. Haunted by her past and having already tracked down a predator on her own, Amaia is no typical rookie. And this is no ordinary student lecture at Quantico. FBI agent Aloisius Dupree is already well acquainted with Amaia’s skills, her intuition, and her ability to understand evil. He now needs her help in hunting an elusive serial killer dubbed “the Composer,” and in solving another case that’s been following him his whole life.

From New Jersey to Oklahoma to Texas, the Composer’s victims are entire families annihilated in the chaos of natural disasters, their bodies posed with chilling purpose amid the ruins. Dupree and Amaia follow his trail to New Orleans. The clock is ticking. It’s the eve of the worst hurricane in the city’s history. But a troubling call from Amaia’s aunt back home awakens in Amaia the ghosts from her childhood and sends her down a path as dark as that of the coming storm.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Connect with Dolores: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Review: I read this book during a difficult and busy work week: the last week of school, graduations, extra work piled on by the higher ups, and getting ready to present professional learning the following week. But, even though this book is a translated chunkster, I enjoyed it.

One of the things I liked most about this novel is that it took place during 2005 and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana. The author did really great job of capturing the destruction, both human and physical, helping the reader feel the emotions, and showing the darker side of human nature as people killed and raped. The scenes in the Superdome brought back strong memories of the news items.

There are really three stories going on in this novel, which was a bit strange. The first thread is Amaia's early years growing up in Spain and the suffering she did at the hands of her mother. The second is about Dupree, a senior FBI officer who is pulled into the swamp life in Louisiana in which we read of voodoo, zombies, and criminal gangs. Then there's the main story of the FBI and police hunting down a serial killer. I found the third (main) story the most interesting and the second one the most difficult due to the magical elements.

The book is well translated and doesn't feel stilted. The story is engaging and the characters multifaceted.

Challenges for which this counts: