As Inspector Jefe Javier Falc—n investigates the case of a faceless, mutilated corpse, the beautiful city of Seville is rocked by a massive explosion. The discovery of a mosque in the basement of a devastated apartment building confirms everybody’s fears of terrorism. Panic sweeps the city and the region goes on red alert. As more bodies are dragged from the rubble, the media interest and political pressure intensify and Falc—n suspects that all is not what it appears to be. Just as he comes close to cracking the conspiracy, he makes the most terrifying discovery of all and the race is on to prevent a catastrophe far beyond Spain’s borders. A masterful thriller, The Hidden Assassins is fiction of the highest order.
From Publishers Weekly
At the start of Wilson's strong third mystery set in Seville featuring police Insp. Jefe Javier Falcón (after The Vanished Hands and The Blind Man of Seville), the mutilated body of a nude male turns up in a municipal dump. Before Falcon has time to investigate, a huge bomb explodes in a mosque and flattens an apartment complex and a day-care center. Was it an Islamic bomb-making operation gone awry? A specific attack against Muslims? Or the work of separatists fighting to return Andalusia to Muslim rule? Falcón has a dark and tangled personal history that provides several side plots, some of which are incorporated into the terror investigation and some of which are left to be taken up in further installments. Falcón 's investigation is as detailed and meticulous as the writing, which makes for a dense tale that demands close attention, but will reward careful readers with a story that has not only plenty of plot but also in-depth character intrigue. Author tour.**(Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
A quiet morning in Seville, Spain, is shattered when an apartment block explodes. There was a mosque in the basement of the apartment building, but in the days following the bombing, police inspector Jefe Javier Falcon investigates an increasingly urgent question: Did the devastation result from the mishandling of explosives by Muslim extremists or from an attack directed against them by Christian Fundamentalists? This talky book never bogs down because the talk remains smart and compelling as Falcon and his confidantes explore what drives people to commit acts of terror. The Moroccan friend he enlists to spy for Spanish intelligence even offers a possible explanation for the U.S. invasion of Iraq that's as logically persuasive as it is counterintuitive. Wilson constructs a richly layered, intricately plotted story that examines the corrosive consequences of all types of terrorism, from the geopolitical to the domestic, on victims and perpetrators. As Falcon puts it, "It happened in the Crusades; why shouldn't it happen now? While some were out there battling for Christendom, others just wanted to kill, pillage and conquer new territory." Indeed. Frank Sennett
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved