Blood Libel

23 hrs. 38 min.

Language Russian

Author Sandra Asa

Narrator Egor Partin

In the harsh winter of 1620, Madrid is gripped by terror: the bodies of a young woman and a child are found, with the heart cut out of the child. Panic quickly turns into a witch hunt—city gossip with no proof declares the victim to be the respected notary Sebastian Castro, a man with an impeccable reputation. Meanwhile, the real killer remains at large, and Castro doesn’t realize he put himself under threat when, through carelessness, he certified the will of an overly scrupulous aristocrat. All it takes is a single report from a frightened citizen—and the fates of several people are shattered.

Castro’s children manage to survive: thirteen-year-old Alonso, who until recently had been living an ordinary teenage life, suddenly finds himself on the street with his little brother in his arms, where cold, hunger, and the threat of arrest await. From that moment, his entire existence is reduced to one goal—snatch his parents out of the hands of the Inquisition. Friends help him—other runaways with the same grit and inner fire intact.

For many years Sandra Aza worked as a lawyer, but left the profession for literature. Her debut novel “The Bloody Libel,” opening a duology, is a fast-paced adventure thriller with noir undertones, the atmosphere of a courtroom investigation, and the twists of a picaresque novel; a book critics compare to both Dumas and Arturo Pérez-Reverte, and it instantly became a cult favorite in Spain. A series of brutal murders, hidden mechanisms of the Inquisition, a family destroyed by prejudice, revenge and the search for justice, early coming-of-age and choosing one’s own path—what we have here is a vivid historical novel about a time we haven’t seen portrayed this way before.

1. Blood Libel