The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, #2
The Angel's Game
by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Contents
Act One - City of the Damned — Chapter 7
Overview
David accepts a lucrative anonymous deal to write City of the Damned as Ignatius B. Samson for the predatory publishers Barrido and Escobillas. Flush with income, he leaves his pensión and sets his sights on a deserted, supposedly cursed tower house at 30 Calle Flassaders, arranging a first visit despite ominous warnings.
Summary
After turning twenty, David Martín accepts an offer to write two hundred pages a month of sensational fiction under the pseudonym Ignatius B. Samson. He launches City of the Damned, to be sold in monthly hardbacks, trading anonymity for generous pay and the freedom to win readers through scandal and suspense.
His publishers, Barrido and Escobillas, prove as unscrupulous as Pedro Vidal predicted: Barrido cooks accounts with brazen polish, while the menacing Escobillas enforces discipline. Their secretary, Herminia—nicknamed Lady Venom—completes the trio’s predatory dynamic. David keeps relations strictly business, determined to justify Vidal’s trust through relentless work.
With new earnings, David leaves Doña Carmen’s pensión and fixates on a brooding tower house at 30 Calle Flassaders. Drawn by its gothic gloom as much as by independence, he hopes neglect has lowered its price enough to be attainable.
Property manager Vicenç Clavé warns that the house is jinxed, recalling its funereal atmosphere when it was sealed years earlier. Despite omens, David arranges a viewing. He visits in March with Clavé, the manager’s secretary, and a bank auditor, learning the property has sat empty amid legal knots for two decades as he steps toward claiming it.
Who Appears
- David MartínProtagonist; accepts anonymous pulp contract as Ignatius B. Samson and pursues a haunted tower house.
- BarridoPublisher; smiling accountant-fox who falsifies books and exploits authors.
- EscobillasPublisher; gaunt enforcer from undertaker trade, handles intimidation and dirty work.
- Herminia ("Lady Venom")Publishers’ secretary; outwardly demure, reputedly treacherous and ever-present.
- Vicenç ClavéProperty manager; warns the tower house is jinxed, arranges David’s visit.
- Pedro VidalMentor mentioned; David strives to validate Vidal’s help and trust.