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    The Summer of Dead Toys: A Thriller
    Unavailable
    The Summer of Dead Toys: A Thriller
    Unavailable
    The Summer of Dead Toys: A Thriller
    Audiobook11 hours

    The Summer of Dead Toys: A Thriller

    Written by Antonio Hill

    Narrated by Mark Bramhall

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    A riveting crime thriller set in the midst of a sultry Barcelona summer, introducing the first book in the Inspector Salgado series

    Argentine native Inspector Héctor Salgado is one of Barcelona's leading criminal detectives. After a stint on probation—he assaulted a suspect from a human-trafficking case—Salgado is back in the office and eager for something major.

    To his dismay, he's assigned to a routine accidental death instead: a college student fell from a balcony in one of Barcelona's ritzier neighborhoods. But as Salgado pieces together details from the victim's life, he realizes that his death was not all that simple: his friends are clearly hiding something and drugs might be involved. Salgado follows a trail that will lead him deep into the underbelly of Barcelona's high society, where he'll confront dangerous criminals, long-buried secrets, and, strangely, his own past. But Salgado thrives on pressure, and he lives for this kind of case—dark, violent, and seemingly unsolvable.

    Gripping, sophisticated, and wickedly entertaining, The Summer of Dead Toys introduces a charismatic new detective and announces Antonio Hill as a new master of the crime thriller.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJun 18, 2013
    ISBN9780385363457
    Unavailable
    The Summer of Dead Toys: A Thriller

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    Reviews for The Summer of Dead Toys

    3.5/5

    60 ratings9 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Inspector Hector returns from time off because of beating up a perpetrator, and is asked as a favor to investigate the circumstances surrounding a young man's apparent suicide. Three wealthy families are intertwined in the situation, with many secrets and betrayals. Hector's own family is also in a state of flux, and he has reason to fear for their safety.
    • 4/5
      "The Summer of Dead Toys" took me several days more to complete than usual for a typical crime fiction novel. I found it somewhat interesting, but I never eagerly anticipated getting back to it, and after reading it for 30 - 45 minutes I was quite content with putting it down. There were long sections where the story was rather dull. Also there were many sections with lengthy and unnecessary description and character introspection. The story embraces three families tied to crimes old and new and we meet and learn of each family member in some detail. Ditto for our hero, the investigating cop (and his ex-wife and son). And of course his partner has a family issue. And there is a sub-plot which involves another cop. And another sub-plot which introduces some brutal drug dealers. So we have a real spaghetti plate full of characters here, way too much for my liking. And the story has a heavy pedophilia theme, not one of my favorite crime fiction investigations. The story takes place in and around Barcelona, but I never developed a strong sense of place. I felt the story could have easily been placed in Rome or Lisbon with a few name changes. But I did like Hector, the protagonist, and his partner, Leire. This is the first book in a series; I may try a future book, but maybe not. The story had a satisfying ending but the journey getting there was not as enjoyable as I had expected.
    • 5/5
      I love love loved this book. I didn't have high hope after getting two books from Blogging For Books that I wasn't so thrilled with but this one didn't disappoint. From the very first page every motion was well crafted and thought out. I can usually figure out who ultimately was responsible for things but this book totally kept me guessing, even during the final unraveling and reveal I found that I was off the mark.Salgado is a broken man, his wife left him for another woman, and he is on probation from work for assaulting a voodoo doctor who was involved in a human trafficking. Upon returning he is given the assignment to unofficially look into what seems to be an accidental death or suicide of a young boy of privilege. The further they investigate the more they uncover and this death is anything but routine. In the meantime the man who Salgado assaulted has gone missing.There are many different story lines in this book but they all converge in the end to a mostly satisfying conclusion. I found the characters to be realistic with all their flaws and insecurities, it left me wanting to know more about each of the main characters. Even the descriptions of those involved in the cases were sympathetic in their own way. Even when they were a bit despicable you could feel some type of compassion for them. If you like a well written thrill pick up something by Antonio Hill.
    • 4/5
      This book is an Advanced Readers Copy sent to me by Random House. It explicitly states that it is an uncorrected proof so I hope my one big problem with the book was corrected in the final version. More about that later.Inspector Hector Salgado is employed by the Barcelona police force or, possibly, he is not going to be employed much longer. While investigating a people smuggling ring that was bringing young girls from Nigeria into Spain for prostitution Salgado brutally beat an elderly man who called himself a doctor although he had no formal training. Salgado was given a months’ holiday while the investigation of his conduct took place. He returned to his birthplace of Argentina for the month but now is back in Spain. The doctor that he beat disappeared and blood, as well as a boar’s head, was found in his office. Salgado has been instructed to leave the investigation of the disappearance to his colleague Martina Andreu. Salgado has been given a case of Marc Castells, a young man from a good family who fell to his death from his attic window. His boss knows the family and wants to assure them that all efforts have been made to determine how the fall took place but he is sure that it was an accident. However as Salgado and a new detective, Leire Castro, look into the case it seems that nothing is clear-cut. Everything seems to lead back to an accident that occurred at a summer camp when Marc was 6 years old. Meanwhile Salgado is dealing with his personal problems. His wife Ruth left him a year before to pursue a relationship with a woman. His son Guillermo is growing up and Salgado worries that he hasn’t been a good father. His colleague Leire has problems of her own; she has discovered she is pregnant from a tempestuous, short-lived relationship.Parent and child relationships crop up a lot in this book. The mother of Marc Castells abandoned him and his father when he was 6 months old but she has returned for the funeral and to exert pressure to discover how the fall happened. Marc’s father has remarried and they have adopted a Chinese girl. Marc’s stepmother dotes on her but the father seems ambivalent. The book is fairly well-written although there is a tendency to use English sayings that are rather dated. Methinks the author, who is described as fluent in English, reads more books from England than from the North American continent. I liked the character of Inspector Salgado and his colleague Leire. However, there was a twist at the end that just doesn’t seem possible in the time line. Salgado’s ex-wife Ruth left Barcelona on Friday and was never heard from again. Salgado thinks that the doctor that he beat arranged the disappearance. However, we know from Sargeant Andreu’s investigation that the doctor was taken prisoner on Monday and died some time before Saturday of injuries that occurred on Monday. To me it just doesn’t seem possible that the doctor could have caused Ruth’s disappearance. That really caused me to lower the rating I gave to this book.
    • 3/5
      There were things I both enjoyed and disliked about this book. One of the things I disliked was that there were so many perspectives in this novel. We learned the details of the story from so many points of view that it was quite confusing. Also, there were way too many characters with very similar names. It was really hard to keep track of all the characters and their roles in the story.However the plot itself was multi-layered and unique. I enjoyed the story and I didn't see the end coming which is always a nice surprise in mystery novels.Another thing I disliked was the cliffhanger at the end. I understand that it leaves room open for the sequel, but it came out of left field and was a really random twist.The book wasn't perfect, but for a first novel it wasn't bad. I think Antonio Hill will get better as he continues to write and with fewer characters, the narrative will flow better and be easier to understand. I hold out hope for him.
    • 4/5
      What a terrific book. Antonio Hill is a new favorite author. I received this book from Read It Forward and so glad I entered. The story is about Hector Salgado an Argentinean ex-patriot now working in Barcelona. This is the first in a series focusing on Inspector Salvador and the book does a very good job of introducing a character who is tough and perhaps a little jaded and yet still sees the differences, at least in the end between truth and justice. In this book Inspector Salvador has two cases, one that has put him in the position of a temporary probation probation and the other related to an unsolved murder of a little girl and two possible suicides. I was surprised about the ending although after finishing the book I wondered why because Hill had given enough clues. Will read again.
    • 4/5
      Barcelona is climatically on the other end of the spectrum from the settings of the Nordic Noir I've been reading, but Antonio Hill packed a similar wallop of characters, mystery, into the pages of The Summer of Dead Toys, plus added the promise of a new series/Inspector to check out.Hector Salgado, an Argentinian, now a inspector in Barcelona but now on probation after an episode violence in one of his cases, is asked to unofficially look into the apparently accidental death of a well-to-do young man. But Salgado discovers the case not to be as clear-cut as assumed. His journey to discovery takes him through some of the shadier parts of Barcelona life, the areas tourists will probably never see. The story unfolds with craft, skill, and intelligence. The descriptions of Barcelona painted the city in my mind's eye. The book kept me interested, with two main threads of action, realistic characters, and enough tension to make me nibble a fingernail or two. And, for those who like a little noir/darkness in their reading, there's enough of that seamy underbelly exposed to satisfy.For me, the book is a clue in itself, that this is a series to keep in mind for future reading. There are enough interesting interactions between characters that will probably be recurring, enough realism, enough trueness in the relationships. Salgado, himself, seems to be that intelligent, flawed central character, the kind of which I like to follow in stories. The book, itself, is translated, but interestingly enough, the author is the actual translator, as that's what he does when he's not writing mystery/detective novels. While there is a little roughness in the telling of the tale, I think that will smooth out with time and more writing.Many thanks to Read It Forward for forwarding this on to me. I will pass it along, now, knowing I'm passing on a good book.
    • 4/5
      Excellent characterizations and plenty of plot twists wrapped in a dark timbre makes for a satisfying and entertaining read. This book introduces us to Inspector Hector Salgado, a Barcelona police homicide detective, who has just returned from visiting his native Argentina, as he is on “forced” leave due to beating up a sex trafficker ring leader who denied culpability in the death of a young Nigerian girl. Because of his violent actions, Hector is taken off this case while his former partner Sgt. Martina Andreu continues the investigation and stealthy keeps him updated. Now assigned to an open-and-shut case of a wealthy young man who fell to death from his balcony, Hector and his new partner Leire Castro are told to quickly wrap it up without a lot of fanfare. As Hector, Martina and Leire begin to peel back the façade of the public faces of those connected to the two cases, there is a private world of deceit, betrayals and secrets held close to the chest and makes for intriguing plot twists. What I enjoyed most is while this very able police team gets to the truth of the crimes, is we are also learning more about their compelling back stories and their own personal dilemmas and demons. The cases are satisfactorily wrapped up and the author has adequately tantalized me to be invested in knowing how the personal issues will be resolved. And I must say that the last chapter is a pure teaser setting me up for the next book in the series.The Summer of Dead Toys by Antonio Hill is a gripping murder with compelling characters set in sultry Barcelona. Recommend to mystery readers looking for a noirish style series.This book was provided by Blogging For Books in exchange for a fair and honest view.
    • 4/5
      The Summer of Dead Toys, Antonio HillBroadway Books978-0-7704-3589-9$15, 362 pgs“No one has ever been killed out of love; that’s a fallacy from tango.” - Héctor SalgadoThis story grabs you on page one and refuses to relinquish its grip. From the first page: “It’s been a long time since I thought of Iris or the summer she died. I suppose I tried to forget it all, in the same way I overcame nightmares and childhood fears. … I’m six years old, I’m at camp and I can’t sleep because I’m scared. No, I lie. That very early morning I behaved like a brave boy. I disobeyed my uncle’s rules and faced the darkness just to see Iris. But I found her drowned, floating in the pool, surrounded by a cortège of dead dolls.” Yeah, try to shake that image. Good luck to you.Today I am genuinely excited to introduce y’all to a major new talent in the American literary market. The Summer of Dead Toys by Antonio Hill, translated from the Spanish by LauraMcGloughlin, is the American debut of a bestselling thriller from Spain. Inspector Héctor Salgado, Argentine by birth, is a veteran of the Mossos, Barcelona’s police force. An intelligent man with a dry wit, he carries a sense of melancholy and bewilderment – his wife Ruth has left him for another woman and taken their son Guillermo with her, though they have maintained goodwill, even love, for each other. Salgado has been on leave from the force due to a rare violent incident in which a brutality complaint was lodged against him by a suspect in a Nigerian sex-trafficking ring. Hey – who can blame him? You handle the case of a particularly nasty suicide by one of the underage victims and then you can argue with the inspector.Salgado’s first case when he returns appears at first cursory glance to be a simple matter of an accidental death: 19-year-old Marc Castells’ body was found on the paving stones below his attic window, where he’d been known to enjoy a last cigarette before bed, following a night of partying on the eve of San Juan. From the beginning something about this case tweaks Salgado’s radar and that was before everyone in Marc Castells’ orbit begins receiving mysterious emails from someone who signs his- or herself “alwaysiris.” In order to get to the truth of what happened to Marc Castells, Salgado will have to travel back in time to solve Iris’s death and sort fact from fiction, supposition, and prejudice involving issues of economic privilege, right-wing politics, the Catholic church, and a cult of personality inspired by a particularly charismatic classmate of the victim.One of the many delights of The Summer of Dead Toys is the depth of its characters. Inspector Salgado is our main protagonist but the supporting characters are so well-developed that this is really an ensemble cast. Leire Castro, Salgado’s new partner, is particularly intriguing – young and new to the force, she is a thoroughly contemporary woman working in a hidebound, traditionally male career. In less-skillful hands Agent Castro might be a trope but Antonio Hill has breathed real life into her. Hill’s plotting is intricate but never convoluted, his pacing relentless, the clues expertly and precisely placed. And you know how the inevitable subplot is so often a trifle, a mere distraction, but somehow assumed to be necessary? Not so here. The subplot here is necessary.Go immediately to your local indie bookshop and start reading The Summer of Dead Toys today. Why? Because the sequel, The Good Suicides, was released in June AND I’ve got it right here in my hot little hands. I know! I was delighted, when I liked this one so much, to know that I didn’t have to wait to dive back into Salgado’s Barcelona and hang out with Agent Castro again. By the time you finish the first installment, I’ll have the review for the sequel ready for you. Look for the review of The Good Suicides in a few days right here!