Product Description

A new psychological thriller in the Javier Falcon quartet, that includes THE HIDDEN ASSASSINS and The Blind Man of Seville. The sweltering city of Seville is still recovering from a shocking and unsolved terrorist attack but now a spectacular car crash brings to light another threat. A dead gangster and a suitcase filled with millions in cash means the prospect of a serious Russian mafia presence on Inspector Jefe Javier Falcon's beat. As a turf war erupts, Falcon finds himself and those closest to him personally targeted by the lethal forces suddenly unleashed. In the face of such a brutal attack, Falcon decides to retaliate with a ruthlessness that surprises him as much as his adversaries - but it will come at a tragic price.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7817 in Books
• Published on: 2009-08-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
In The Ignorance of Blood, the final book of Robert Wilson’s sterling Javier Falcón sequence, his doughty police inspector is in the middle of a battle between Russian mafia groups. He has made a promise to the inhabitants of Seville that he will track down those behind a bombing which has wrecked a pre-school building, and killed many -- including children. Falcón is stumped until a connection with the Russian mob becomes apparent after a fatal car accident. But things are complicated for Falcón when his closest friend, the Moroccan Yacoub Diori (who spies for the Spanish intelligence agency), is blackmailed by a group of terrorists into whose organisation he has inveigled himself.

In The Ignorance of Blood, Robert Wilson demonstrates once again his effortless skill at orchestrating a variety of elements: vividly drawn, fully-rounded characters, complex and intriguing plotting (with endemic corruption and the impact of the past on the present recurring themes), and – perhaps most piquant of all – a strong and atmospheric sense of place; few novels have conjured up the sultry city of Seville with the skill on offer here.

This, regrettably, is the final book in Wilson’s much-admired Falcón quartet will inspire a duality of feeling in readers who have keenly followed the sequence: satisfaction that Wilson has written such a satisfyingfinis to the quartet, and regret that this is to be our last time in the company of the intriguing Javier Falcón. But we can at least anticipate further achievements from the highly talented Robert Wilson. --Barry Forshaw

Review
Praise for 'The Ignorance of Blood': 'Wilson writes so well! brave, humane, intuitive' Literary Review 'A well-engineered plot and dense, chewy prose! skilfully woven together' Guardian 'This is a big, serious thriller with echoes of Le Carre!Wilson writes with an impressive sense of inside knowledge, both about contemporary Seville and about its criminal underbelly' Andrew Taylor, The Spectator 'The complex narrative contains several set-pieces of breathless brutality and twists and turns like a bull tormented by picadors. This is crime-writing for grown-ups' Sunday Telegraph 'The last in the fine quartet! a fitting end to an absorbing, well-written series' The Times 'A writer of sharp psychological insights!. This is the final book in Wilson's much-acclaimed Javier Falcon quartet! but such is the skill with which he has drawn us into Javier Falcon's world that he is leaving us hungry for more forays into Seville's dangerous underworld' Daily Express '[Wilson] has given the twists and turns of a thriller a pleasingly idiosyncratic national context, as the crooks on the Costa del Sol invade Seville' TLS 'A hard-edged finale to a crime series that succeeds in being shocking and sensitive, intriguing and electrifying, all at the same time' Northern Echo 'His writing is always trenchant and pity, his characters heroic and damaged, his descriptions of Spain resonant and prescient. A great contemporary thriller' Catholic Herald Praise for THE HIDDEN ASSASSINS: 'Wilson drives his narrative expertly! a riveting read, filled with incident and unexpected twists' Sunday Telegraph 'Wilson, as always, delivers' The Times 'Few writers mix tension and action as effectively as Robert Wilson! his carefully drawn charcters inhabit unusual, intriguing and psychologically intricate plots that never leave the realm of possibility!excellent' Guardian

Review
`A well-engineered plot and dense, chewy prose... skilfully woven together'

Customer Reviews

The final book in the quartet - at last!
Fans of Robert Wilson's Javier Falcon series have been waiting for this book for ages - the book that brings the series together, and they will not be disappointed! However, for those who have not read any other books in the series, this may appear a little disjointed and hard to follow.

Set approximately 3 months after the previous book in the series, this one begins with a car crash outside Seville, and it soon becomes evident that there are connections with the Russian Mafia - and with the ongoing cases relating to the Seville bombing and Javier's ex-wife's murder, all of which occured in the previous book.

Complications increase when his Moroccan friend arrives in Madrid -wanting to see him urgently - and grow further with the abduction of a child.

The culmination is exciting and explosive - everything that lovers of the series would want.

For those new to Robert Wilson's work - and particularly to the Javier Falcon quartet, I recommend that you begin with Blind Man of Seville, which will introduce you to the key characters and so to the series!

Enjoy - a series well worth reading!

Average
I took over a week to finish this as I kept losing interest in the story, not good for a thriller. The thoughts of the lead character were repetative, and dull. I`m sure it was character building but once you have the idea, second time re-enforces the idea, but the fourth and fifth are tedious. I wouldnt read another by this author.

Very good
You can find your detective thriller setting all over the world these days - recently I have read thrillers set in Italy, Malta, Scotland, the USA (obviously), the Middle East, England and now Spain. From those books, often the setting is merely a device, an attempt to differentiate, but here Robert Wilson creates a vivid picture of Seville and Spain. I had missed out on the Falcon series, so it was a bit of a mixed blessing to read the last of the series first, if you see what I mean.

This is a terrific book, written well enough to satisfy those looking for literary merit, but with a visceral edge to the action that will keep you turning the page. For me a believable plot is paramount, and Wilson doesn't disappoint. If you want to know the premise of the story, you can read the Amazon "blurb" but suffice to say, there are plotlines involving Russian gansgsters, terrorists and corruption all running concurrently, all handled and drawn together superbly by the end.

The only problem for me was that I had missed out on the earlier books, as I feel that I missed some of the elements of characterisation as a result - that is not a fault of the book, however, more a personal thing. I can thoroughly recommend this to lovers of detective fiction, and I will certainly be seeking out the previous books in the series.