Thank you Minotaur Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of Black Wolf in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Published: March 12, 2024
Summary:
Antonia Scott has an unusually gifted mind, able to see what others miss, able to solve the crimes that baffle all others. The only thing she fears is herself.
Antonia is the lynchpin of the Red Queen project, created to work behind the scenes to solve the most devious and dangerous crimes. But she is unwilling to move past the last case, convinced it’s related to a personal tragedy, until a series of deadly events pulls her back in. In southern Spain, in the Costa del Sol, a key mafia figure is found brutally murdered in his villa, his pregnant wife, Lola Moreno, barely escapes an attempt to kill her in a shopping mall and is on the run. A shipping container from St. Petersburg arrives in port in Spain containing the corpses of nine woman, all who suffocated. Now Antonia, with the help of her helper and protector, Jon Gutierrez, must track down this missing Lola. But they aren’t the only ones on Lola’s trail – a dangerous contract killer, known as the Black Wolf, is also on her trail. And Antonia Scott, still plagued by her personal demons, must outwit, out-maneuver, and, ultimately, face this terrible, mysterious rival.
My thoughts:
This is the second book in Juan Gomez-Jurado’s Antonia Scott trilogy, and it just might be my new obsession! I loved book one, Red Queen, and this second one was just as good, if not better, than the first. I’m so glad these books are being translated into English!
I loved being back with Antonia and Jon Gutierrez. There is just something about their unlikely partnership that works so well. This time around, they find themselves with quite a complicated case and of course don’t always see eye to eye with the other police agencies they must work with. The case is pretty high stakes, considering the Spanish Mafia are involved, and there is a lot of action, but of course it’s also a pretty dark and graphic book. Again, if you like the Millenium series featuring Liz Salander or the Joona Linna series by Lars Kepler, these books will be just perfect for you!
What I really appreciated in this particular installment is that not only do I feel we as the reader got to know Antonia better, but we were doing that alongside Jon. They are still relatively new to each other, but have developed such a great bond and have really come to care for each other – platonically speaking of course. Their friendship really works to help them keep each other sane…and the humor that ensues because of this at times is just hysterical, which is a nice break from the overall dark tone of the book.
A fast-paced, action-filled story that ends with quite the cliff-hanger, this is one series not to miss! And now I’ll just be waiting ever-so-patiently to get my hands on that third book!
Books in this series:
- Red Queen
- Black Wolf
- White King
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