The ANGEL'S GAME. [Author SIGNED bookplate.]

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,author SIGNED bookplate,1st edn. [Complete number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2. Translated by Lucia Graves.] FINE/FINE. No owner inscrptn but author's SIGNED - without dedication - b/w photographic illustrated,rectangular bookplate pasted to title page and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,matt,monochrome photographic illustrated front panel of dw/dj,with fluorescent gilt+dark blue lettering,fluorescent gilt+white lettering to spine/backstrip,and critics' white+yellow lettered reviews to rear panel; with negligible shelf-wear or creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present. Both head+foot of spine/backstrip of dw/dj minimally bumped with reciprocal creasing.Top edges lightly toned, fore-edges brighter but both sets are clean; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips,appears unread - apart from my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,clean, sharp-cornered,original plain dark blue cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked fluorescent red gilt letters to spine/ backstrip and immaculate monochrome photographic illustrated endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj, author SIGNED bookkplate,1st edn,3-441pp [paginated] includes Acts 1-3 comprising 25,41,25 chapters and an Epilogue respectively; plus [unpaginated] half-title, pasted bookplated author SIGNED title page,a dedication,b/w photographic ACT's and Epilogue separator pages.
Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional and even internally,is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation,for a book of its near 15 year-old age. It is only the minor faults described that prevents a slightly higher grading overall. Despite that, it really is still an exceptional, exemplary example for its cleanliness,brightness and lack of detracting faults and particularly as an uncommon author SIGNED title. In an abandoned mansion at the heart of Barcelona,a young man,David Martin,makes his living by writing sensationalist novels under a pseudonym.The survivor of a troubled childhood,he has taken refuge in a world of books,and spends his nights spinning baroque tales about the city's underworld.But perhaps his dark imaginings are not as strange as they seem,for in a locked room deep within the house lie photographs and letters hinting at the mysterious death of the previous owner.
Like a slow poison,the history of the place seeps into his bones as he struggles with an impossible love.Close to despair,David receives a letter from a reclusive French editor,Andreas Corelli,who makes him the offer of a lifetime.He is to write a book unlike anything that has existed - a book with the power to change hearts and minds.In return,he will receive a fortune,perhaps more.But as David begins the work,he realises that there is a connection between this haunting book and the shadows that surround his home.
Set in the turbulent 1920s,'The Angel's Game' takes us back to the gothic universe of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books,the Sempere & Sons bookshop,and the winding streets of Barcelona's old quarter,in a masterful tale about the magic of books and the darkest corners of the human soul.
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