Member Review

Antonia Scott – the hyperintelligent, capricious Red Queen – comes face-to-face with her elusive nemesis, Mr White, in White King, the grand finale of Juan Gómez-Jurado’s electrifying Spanish crime trilogy. Having witnessed the abduction of her partner – shield-bearer – Inspector Jon Gutirrez at the end of the previous volume, Black Wolf, Antonia is prepared to do anything to get him back. But the kidnapping turns out to be part of an elaborate attack on the Red Queen project – an ultra-secret agency solving sensitive, serious, high-profile crimes far away from the limelight – that has already eliminated several queens and shield-bearers in other European countries.

The tension escalates when Jon is returned with a bomb surgically implanted in his spine, and Mr White, aided by his devilish sidekick Sandra Fajardo, forces Antonia into a twisted game: solve three seemingly impossible cases, or watch Jon die. What follows is a breathless race through Madrid’s streets and Antonia’s labyrinthine mind as she pieces together clues that appear disconnected but ultimately converge to reveal connections not only among themselves but also to her own traumatic past. To save Jon as well as her own family, Antonia must up her game several notches and defeat the pair of equally, if not more, intelligent and far more ruthless psychopaths.

I was waiting fervently to get my hands on White King right from the moment Black Wolf ended at a knife-edge and found it well worth the wait. Antonia Scott and Jon Gutierrez are at the top of the list of my favourite fictional pairs, and I cannot seem to get enough of them. The slip of a woman with a singular mind trained by brutal means and the hulking man, not that he is fat, are enormously appealing in their individual quirks and their crackling interactions. Gomez-Jurado has developed both characters tremendously since their debut in Red Queen, making it impossible to think of one without thinking of the other. While the plot moves at a breakneck pace, making unpredictable turns all along, the blood, betrayal, and darkness are expertly seasoned with moments of amusement and tenderness, keeping the reader invested throughout.

Though White King wraps up the trilogy with a satisfactory finish, it leaves enough loose threads for Gómez-Jurado to weave more stories with – something that would be of immense delight to fans. There are a few plot-turns that stretch plausibility, and a few places where the details are somewhat hazy, but the superb characters and the exhilarating narration, translated impeccably into English by Nick Caistor, make White King – and the Red Queen series – truly unforgettable.

I am immensely grateful to Pan Macmillan for the digital review copy of White King in exchange for my honest review.