The Prisoner of Heaven

Barcelona, Christmas 1957. Daniel, married to Bea and father of little Julián, watches a stranger buy a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo at the shop and leave a threatening inscription for Fermín. Fermín tells his past: in 1939 he was locked up in Montjuïc Castle, where governor Mauricio Valls kept David Martín alive to rewrite Valls's own books. With David's help, Fermín escaped like Edmond Dantès, in a dead man's place, and promised to look after little Daniel. The stranger is Sebastián Salgado, a former cellmate who wants back a key Fermín stole. The matter gets settled, and Fermín, who officially doesn't exist, gets papers so he can marry Bernarda. Daniel, now knowing Valls threatened his mother, is left thirsting for revenge.

1. Behind the scenesAnother million

   The first print run, for Spain and Latin America, was one million copies. It came out on November 17, 2011.

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2. Behind the scenesThe brightest one

   When it came out, the Spanish press called it the brightest book in the series, and the one that unlocks keys to the earlier ones.

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3. ReferenceThe Count of Monte Cristo

   It all starts with a stranger who buys a rare copy of The Count of Monte Cristo and inscribes it to Fermín. Dumas's novel shapes much of the book.

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4. ReferenceThe prisoner of the title

   David Martín from The Angel's Game turns up in Montjuïc prison. What we see of him here makes you rethink how far to trust that book's narrator.

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5. SetupRemember this name

   Mauricio Valls, the prison governor who wants to be a writer, doesn't leave the stage when the book ends. That name comes back later.

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