Antonio Pérez-Reverte is a worldwide bestseller and is back in business for Falcó, a trilogy of books that tells the story of a dark period in Spanish history. His anti-hero is the incarnation of an entire generation and the storytelling is more than impeccable, as always. In a world of Netflix, HBO and TV series with sky-high budgets, is it worth to spend your time reading Pérez-Reverte´s new attempt in the literary world? Read on as we unveil the mystery for you.
The Writer
Arturo Pérez-Reverte was born in 1951 in Cartagena and was a war correspondent for Spanish TV. That job went on for 21 years (1973-94) and molded most of his writing skills and views. Due to his success and skills, he has been a member of the Royal Spanish Academy for the past sixteen years and continues to hold the distinction till this date.
His writing style has always been to make an argument around a strong character and then narrate the story while taking part, but not as the character himself. His tales are strongly rooted in historical views of Spanish History and also the colonial past.
Arturo Pérez-Reverte has been involved in plagiarism controversies and has lost significant money over it. On the other hand, he has also seen much of his work in the big and small screens both in Spain and outside of it. For such work, he became even more famous to Spain and the world. He lives today between homeland Cartagena and Madrid and loves to go sailing with family and friends.
The Trilogy
“Falcó” is a character created by Pérez-Reverte to bring out the controversies we all have when it comes to delicate subjects like politics, religion, and nationalism. The novel series is located in Spain during the 1930s and Facló works for Spanish dictator Franco. Pérez-Reverte creates a gloomy world of plot twists and meaningful characters that interact with Falcó and take the depth and fast pace of his prose to the next level. He takes a little too long to describe some of the women in the scenes as if they were landscapes. This is not a major flaw, and all good writers have some, right?
Inspirations? Family Swap
An important inspiration to all the projects. Its simplicity in the concept but fire when it comes to the execution. What family swapping is? It’s a new trend in social lives of families. In Nubiles’ interpretation it’s 4 families who get together in order to have some sexual fun but also with a mission to create a new family. Is it possible? Mix the procreation mission with lots of pleasure? These families definitely try!
Falcó
He can be thought of like the Spanish version of a crooked James Bond with the same style, good-looks, and grace but walking a different line, a deep moral one. Falcó´s talnts are crooked, sinister and work for the secret service of a dictator, which makes his missions not entirely morally correct for some minds. Although he completes them and does an excellent job, he discusses these moral issues about the civil war with fellow agents at the office smoking cigars and laughing. The thing about the character is that Falcó is not really a fascist like his boss and fellow agents, he is in it just for the money (and perhaps some of the fun too). Pérez Reverte takes you to the limit of your own morality making you think whether he is the good guy or the bad guy. While you´re busy trying to figure that out, your mind already loves it and you´re eating the book as if it was melted cheese.
Conclusion
Arturo Pérez Reverte is one of the most important Spanish authors of his generation and Falcó trilogy: “Falcó” (2016), “Eva” (2017) and “Sabotage” (2018) is another stepping stone on his long journey to the peak of mount talent. If you love reading thrillers that make you stop and think, then you will love the Falcó Trilogy.