4.5 stars. Not as strong as the first in the trilogy, but still a great read! A bit slow at times, probably because the case Antonia and Jon are working on isn't as interesting as the case from the first book, but the ending made up for it. Antonia grows in this novel, both personally and in her relationships. I am looking forward to reading the conclusion of the trilogy.

Antonia Scott has an unusually gifted mind, able to see what others miss, able to solve the crimes that baffle all others. The only thing she fears is herself.

Antonia is the lynchpin of the Red Queen project, created to work behind the scenes to solve the most devious and dangerous crimes. But she is unwilling to move past the last case, convinced it’s related to a personal tragedy, until a series of deadly events pulls her back in. In southern Spain, in the Costa del Sol, a key mafia figure is found brutally murdered in his villa, his pregnant wife, Lola Moreno, barely escapes an attempt to kill her in a shopping mall and is on the run. A shipping container from St. Petersburg arrives in port in Spain containing the corpses of nine woman, all who suffocated. Now Antonia, with the help of her helper and protector, Jon Gutierrez, must track down this missing Lola. But they aren’t the only ones on Lola’s trail – a dangerous contract killer, known as the Black Wolf, is also on her trail. And Antonia Scott, still plagued by her personal demons, must outwit, out-maneuver, and, ultimately, face this terrible, mysterious rival.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

After reading RED QUEEN, I am a bit disappointed in this sequel. The characters are still interesting but the plot concerning the mafia just didn’t work as well for me. There was lots of running around but nothing gets accomplished. Hopefully the third novel in this trilogy will be better.

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books/St. Martin’s Publishing Group for the ARC to read and review.

Black Wolf is a worth follow on to Red Queen. Jon and Antonia characters continue to develop, and we learn more about the "project". This is a great series for fans of the genre.

Do you know the worst thing about book series? The year long (sometimes longer) wait between installments. Considering Black Wolf, if my Spanish were more adequate, I could have read the entire series already, but my Spanish is bad enough that it could have taken me a year to read it! And, considering that last sentence, sometimes my English is just that bad too! 😉

Anyway, I was very much looking forward to Black Wolf, the sequel to last year’s fantastic Red Queen (which is now a series on Amazon!) and wasn’t let down.

Antonia Scott and her partner, Jon Gutierrez, have been assigned to a case involving the murder of a member of the Russian mafia. They must find his wife, Lola Moreno, who has fled from the murder attempt on her life but who also is pregnant, diabetic, and may have information that could help the police convict the leaders of the mafia in this small port town. As they investigate, they discover the tragic scene of victims of human trafficking in a shipping container and unintentionally meet the very lethal Black Wolf.

One of the strongest components of Black Wolf is the relationship between Antonia and Jon, which is platonic because Jon is gay, but has elements of love regardless. Jon is Antonia’s non-blood big brother, who adores her and her brilliant mind, yet also accepts that despite her brilliant mind, she has deep flaws she needs to work through, often with his unwanted assistance. And, I pretty much adore Jon. I love his self-deprecating humor, his turn of phrase, his style and taste. Their conversations are a pleasure as sarcasm and logic overlap.

The storytelling is excellent. I enjoyed Juan Gómez-Jurado’s observations, descriptions, and quirky turns of phrase. Also, the story kept me on my toes, providing enough unexpected twists to maintain and increase interest.

If I were to complain about something, it would be that Black Wolf ends on a cliffhanger, my most disliked ending in the world. Seriously, you already had me as a fan. You didn’t have to put a character in the lurch to keep me reading. Argh!

I am looking forward to the last installment in the trilogy, might even feel anxious enough to improve my Spanish and read the original. haha

Many thanks to Minotaur Books for sending me a copy.

Black Wolf is the second novel in the Red Queen series featuring Antonio Scott and Detective Jon Gutierrez by Juan Gomez-Jurado. Gomez-Jurado continues with his original creation of novels focused on the Red Queen project in a novel that is as good as the first.

Throughout the novel, Gomez-Jurado continues to build upon the already compelling and complex relationship between Scott and Guitierrez. The two continue to grow closer but because they are not completely honest with the other, friction does develop within the pairing.

Scott is still haunted by events from the first novel, especially since the body of a previously introduced villain has never been discovered,, Scott still believes her nemesis is still alive and hunting her, while others believe otherwise. Guitierrez, with issues of his own, starts to become disenchanted with the deceit not only by Scott but also by Mentor, causing him to consider walking away from the entire Red Queen program.

In Black Wolf, dangerously mysterious figures are hunting the wife of a mafia member after missing money handled by the husband has vanished.

Scott and Gutierrez are then tasked by Mentor, the Red Queen program administrator, to find the woman because otherwise, the entire Red Queen program will be in jeopardy.

The novel then follows the pair as they try to locate the missing woman, as well as participate in the investigation of a number of women found dead in a shipping container, all the while receiving open hostility and no assistance whatsoever from local authorities.

Soon, the two realize that not only are they the hunters, but also the hunted, as Juan Gomez-Jurado continues to introduce more lethal characters and further develop the sometimes prickly relationship between Scott and Guiterrez.

Gomez-Jurado has created an enjoyable series of books and wonderfully avoids any sort of cliched romance or sexual tension between the two leads, while at the same time, making them individually interesting within plots that are creative and new.

The Red Queen series is highly recommended to those who enjoy novels with well-developed characters and wide-ranging plots.

Readers should also know a dramatization of the first novel is now available through streaming.

Netgalley provided an ARC for review upon the return of an honest review.

Thank you St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for allowing me to read and review Black Wolf on NetGalley.

Published: 03/12/24

Stars: 2.5

Sadly, I'm not connecting with the story. I received the E-book and after reading 20% and retaining nothing I searched for and found the audiobook on Libby. After not thinking about this, particularly the cover (It screams pick me up, look at me.) I started fresh with the audiobook. The result is the same. I just hear tidbits. Mentally I am wore out.

Given the overall 4+ rating I am the outlier. I'm okay with that. Every book has a target, and I'm not part of Black Wolf's.

I would gift this in a basket with a bottle and cheese.

The second book in the Red Queen thriller series, Black Wolf is maybe even better than the first. The heroes fall into the Holmes/Watson school of mystery solvers. Antonia is the Sherlock figure - brilliant, prone to overstimulation, self-medicated, and generally unfit for human company - while Jon is the stolid, even-keeled Watson figure who is part partner, part babysitter. The writing is pitch-perfect, even in translation from the Spanish, mixing humor and affection with non-stop action, 3 dimensional villains, and a complicated plot. Also like Holmes and Watson, the relationship between Antonia and Jon is as much a pleasure as the action sequences. This second book is more international conspiracy thriller than police story, and that seems to be the direction the series is heading. It's simply a lot of fun to read.

I'm very much looking forward to the next book.

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart


Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Antonia Scott series is set in Europe, in Spain. Antonia and her partner, Jon, are sort of government agency law enforcement but a special program. Jon is gay; he has had some issues with trying too hard to get the bad guys. Rather than jailing him, he works with Antonia. Antonia has a high IQ. She is excellent with deductions and her unit uses special drugs to enhance her abilities.

I like the main characters. We get some of their personal aspects and stories as they work together. Antonia has a son who lives with her father. Her husband was injured and is in the hospital. Antonia is also preoccupied with some loose ends from the last case.

Antonia and Jon are in a smaller town looking for the wife of a Russian mobster. The wife, Lola, is pregnant and diabetic. There is a good chance the mob bosses want to kill her as they have just murdered her husband. In fact, it seems they may have hired the Black Wolf, an assassin to take her out. We follow her journey of trying to hide from killers without money or anyone to trust.

The local cops are not happy to see Antonia and Jon and would get rid of them if they could. It seems odd since Antonia and Jon never take credit and might be a great help. In fact, they do help and learn a lot of things about the mobsters and why Yuri and Lola became targets.

The Black Wolf is another point of view we get. I didn't understand it was her thoughts until later. Her thoughts are mostly historical about the little girl in the ashes. I first thought they were Lola's history. Lola came from a poor place and her chance to better herself was to marry well, which she did. She loved her husband.

There is a huge action scene when all the players manage to get together in a remote location during a blizzard. Plenty of twists in this story. Things are not what one thinks. The very ending is a bit of a cliffhanger, going back to the case from the first book, Red Queen.

There is also a TV show, just starting, based on this series called Red Queen on Amazon Prime.

BLACK WOLF by Juan Gómez-Jurado (Red Queen) is the second action-packed novel featuring Antonia Scott and it, too, is excellent. Although diminutive in stature, Antonia is a giant in intellect, observation, and analysis; she is trained and manipulated by Mentor in her role as part of a select cadre of international law enforcement. Her partner, Jon Gutiérrez, is a large ("He is not fat ..."), gay, and formerly disgraced police inspector who is very brave and loyal. Together, they are tasked with helping to find a pregnant woman on the run, Lola Moreno. As the body count mounts, Scott and Guiterrez confront the Beast (Aslan Orlov), local leader of the Russian mafia operating in Spain, near Madrid. Lola's gunned down husband was deemed a traitor to Orlov's organization and now Orlov is determined to find and kill Lola, so he calls in the Black Wolf, Chernaya Volchista. Readers will devour this thriller in a few days, appreciating Gómez-Jurado's skills at narration while developing and sustaining suspense. He could easily be describing his own writing when Gómez-Jurado explains, "that's the way it is with Antonia: to get to know her, you have to fit together pieces of the puzzle with the small details you pick up on and don't blink or you'll miss it." BLACK WOLF ends with a cliffhanger and I am eagerly awaiting the third entry in this series, The White King, (due out next Spring). Highly recommended.

A thriller lover's thriller. The second book in the Red Queen series but WOW!. These characters guarantee an excellent journey from crime to solve and some killer twists along the way. While Juan Gomez-Jurado may not be as well known as James Patterson, his characters and plot lines rival Patterson's best.

Book Review: Black Wolf, Antonia Scott #2 by Juan Gómez-Jurado
Translated by Nick Caistor and Lorenza Garcia
Published by St. Martin's Press & Minotaur Books, March 12, 2024

★★★★★ (5.0 Stars!)

For this review, I read the first two books of the trilogy: Macmillan Audio's production of "Red Queen", Antonia Scott #1 (2022), narrated by none other than multiple-award winner Scott Brick; followed by this advance review e-Galley of "Black Wolf", Antonia Scott #2 (2024), courtesy of St. Martin's Press & Minotaur.

"Black Wolf" is best read not as a standalone novel, but as a sequel to "Red Queen", as Book 1 sets the basis for the trilogy and includes key background insights on the development of Antonia Scott and the concept of Red Queen, a lifetime's endeavor no less than 10 years in the making according to author Gómez-Jurado.

This review covers the English versions of both Antonia Scott Books 1 & 2 by Juan Gómez-Jurado.

-----

"Red Queen", Antonia Scott #1 (2022) by Juan Gómez-Jurado
Translated by Nick Caistor
Narrated by Scott Brick

Set in Bilbao, the Spanish Basque Country, Northern Spain,
and Madrid.

Spain's Policía Nacional led by a Captain Jose Luis Parra investigates the exsanguination of a teenager in an exclusive gated community. The Red Queen unit, in accordance with their charter, simply "observes". It was but the first clue to a conundrum.

Enter Antonia Scott.
Born in Barcelona, she's 30 years old, 5' 2", half British, half Spanish. She's a philologist, a scholar and professor in the study of the history of languages. She speaks and thinks in several languages, using foreign words in her thought processes, from Japanese to Malaysian to Russian, et al.

She can calculate the square root of a number up to nineteen digits without the aid of pencil and paper, and is "...considered the most intelligent being in the planet". (See Footnote 1.)

After a three-year self-imposed hiatus due to a traumatic incident which left her husband in a coma, Antonia Scott hesitantly rejoins the "Red Queen Project". During her period of deep depression, she'd refused to work or even leave her apartment. As a consequence, she lost her job, and lost custody of her son, Jorge, to her father, Peter Scott, Cmdr OBE, UK Ambassador to Spain.

She's drives like an ace, isn't trained on handguns or weapons ("...I'm not a very good shot..."), has no sense of smell, does nightly mental exercises, and regularly needs pills to stave off information overload which puts her body under extreme stress. She's wealthy and owns an apartment building. Thoughts of killing herself still recur "...three minutes a day". She blames herself for the incident that caused the ongoing long-term coma of her husband.

The Red Queen Project.
Antonia is the sine qua non linchpin of the Red Queen Project, an anti-crime initiative undertaken by several European countries, described as "...a secretive organization that works in the shadows to direct criminal investigations of a highly sensitive nature...".

Spain's version has Antonia Scott, as the "Red Queen". Jon Gutiérrez, a police Inspector of the Ertzaintza, the autonomous police force of the Spanish Basque Country, is designated as her "Shield Bearer". The Basque man was disgraced, suspended, about to face criminal charges, and is offered a chance to salvage his career.

"Mentor", based in Madrid, actual name not revealed, directs the team and is their contact to higher-ups. Doctora Aguado, the team's pathologist and researcher completes the Red Queen unit.

Enter Ezequiel.

Stakes are raised when Carla Ortiz, daughter and heiress of "...the richest man in the world.." is kidnapped, and the Red Queen find themselves entangled with an elusive foe who calls himself Ezequiel.

It is when Jorge, Antonia's little boy is abducted that the case becomes personal for the Red Queen.

When the dust settles, Ezequiel remains at large. Even as Mr. Gómez-Jurado ends the book with hints to a hitherto über-mastermind.

"Mr. White".

-------

// "Black Wolf", Antonia Scott #2 (2024)
by Juan Gómez-Jurado
Translated by Nick Caistor and Lorenza Garcia

The story moves from Bilbao in the north to southern Spain's Costa del Sol.

Seven months after the Red Queen rescues Carla Ortiz, heiress, from certain death at the hands of Ezequiel (Book 1), six unidentified cadavers are found floating in Madrid's Rio Manzanares.

Meanwhile, in Costa del Sol, Yuri Voronin, a mob boss with human trafficking and Russian Mafia ties is found brutally murdered in his villa. His pregnant wife, Lola Moreno, barely escapes and flees with secret information sought after by very interested parties.

None other than the "Tambovskaya Bratva", the Russian Mafia in St. Petersburg who unleashes their ace-up-the-sleeve.

The "Black Wolf".

Meanwhile, the Red Heart unit find themselves at loggerheads once again with the police, this time with the UDYCO-Costa del Sol, the Spanish police drugs and organised crime unit.

Enter Irina Badia, originally from Chkalova, Ukraine. She too, an assassin. "...We had a farm. They wanted me and my sister. They killed our parents, abducted my sister for their human trafficking ring. I escaped. Then I grew up and killed them all. The perpetrators and the people who gave the orders. One by one..."

Except Irina Badia says she isn't the "Black Wolf".

The Red Queen is suddenly faced with one who could match wits with her. Someone with nothing to lose. Or are there two Black Wolves.

Then, as though the ensuing skirmishes, ambiguities and melee weren't enough, author Juan Gómez-Jurado throws that last minute curve ball.

And nicely sets up his final book in the trilogy...

------

Footnote 1. The thinking behind strong female protagonist Antonia Scott.

In Book 1's epilogue, Juan Gómez-Jurado reveals that his heroine is based on three woman in the annals of history noted for high intelligence. Hypatia of Alexandria, circa 350-415 AD, who's been described as a universal genius. She was a Neoplatonist philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician. Marilyn vos Savant, born 1946, an American magazine columnist, IQ 228. And, lastly, Edith Helen Stern, born 1952, an American inventor and mathematician and former Vice President for Research and Development at IBM, IQ 205.

// Nota bene. On February 29, 2024, Amazon Prime Video released Red Queen, Season 1 with 7 episodes, starring Spanish actors Vicky Luengo as "Antonia Scott", Hovik Keuchkerian as "Jon Gutiérrez" and Alex Brendemühl as "Mentor". //

Ten years in the making, an endeavor of a life. A must-read trilogy!

Review based on an advanced reading copy courtesy of St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley.

"The black wolf isn't the bogey man. She's the one you call to kill the bogey man."

...and her target is the smartest woman in the world, with an IQ over 200, Europe's covert agent Red Queen. In the nonstop action packed high body count Black Wolf (Antonia Scott book 2) by overly talented author Juan Gomez Jurado, we start right back with our Red Queen (book 1), Antonia still (not) dealing with the tragedy of her husband, and an emotional wreck from the lost relationship, and custody, of her son from the first book.

Just like in the first book, there are a few events that seem unrelated that happen throughout Spain, from a murdered Mafia boss, his pregnant wife, Lola, escaping the killers and on the run, a cargo crate filled with nine dead suffocated women and a report that the Russian assassin Black Wolf has entered the country with one target, Antonia.

Once again, the award winning voice actor Scott Brick brings these intense, emotional, and surprisingly often humorous characters to life. My favorite character, Antonia's partner and handler (she tends to lone wolf it while having emotional breakdowns), Jon is his usual gay self deprecating clever one liner self with lines like, "He was so deep in the closet he couldn't see the door for the coat hangers."

This smartly executed translated from Spanish crime thriller can be a standalone but why would you not want to know the Red Queen's origin story (now a Prime Video series!)? Look for my book vs TV series post on it soon. The sly twists at the end will have you howling at the Black Wolf.

I received a free copy of this book/audiobook from the publishers via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

Lots of twists and turns

Antonia Scott, the Spanish Red Queen, and her sidekick Jon Gutierrez are back in this second book of a Spanish thriller trilogy, working behind the scenes to solve high profile crimes.

The pregnant wife of a murdered Russian Mafia figure is on the run from an assortment of dastardly characters, including a contract killer known as the Black Wolf. Lots of gruesome deaths including a shipping container of dead trafficked women makes this not so light reading but I did enjoy it, even more so than the first book in fact. I thought it flowed better and was nicely paced.

I am looking forward to the third book in the trilogy coming out but meanwhile I highly recommend this book and Red Queen.

I received this Digital Review Copy from Minotaur Books through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review. This is that review.

I loved Red Queen by Juan Gomez-Jurado and was very excited to find out the next book in the series, Black Wolf, was finally being translated into English. This series has been a bestseller internationally and deservedly so. If you enjoy thrillers with great characters, don’t miss this series.

Antonia Scott (half British-half Spanish) is a terrific character, a super-intelligent woman who has experienced a good deal of personal trauma. Jon Gutierrez is a Spanish police officer who works with Antonia on very complex cases, assigned by someone called Mentor. Antonia and Jon are an amazing team. In addition to working cases together, he sort of babysits her. In this book, we get to know both characters more deeply. Antonia is part of the Red Queen project, “created to work behind the scenes to solve the most devious and dangerous crimes.”

As with the first book, the mystery is complex. The action takes place in Spain, this time in Marbella and Madrid. Antonia and Jon are assigned to find Lola, the pregnant (and diabetic) Spanish wife of a Russian mobster, who has gone missing after an assassination attempt. A professional assassin, nicknamed the Black Wolf, is also searching for Lola.

I bounced between the audiobook and the ebook for this title, which was very convenient, and allowed me to continue with the story even when I could not sit down and read. Scott Brick does his usual fabulous job with the narration.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook and to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Antonia is a mastermind at solving the most dangerous crimes. Finding nine dead bodies in a shipping container is another deadly crime to solve. And the disappearance of pregnant Lola Moreno has Antonia and her protector, Jon hot on the case.

Second in a pulse-pounding series that features strong female characters, lots of action, a bit of humor, and original plots. Antonia Scott is Spain's "Red Queen"; her mind works so fast that she sometimes needs drugs to slow it down, she has been trained to see and remember everything, making her a superlative investigator. Antonia and her police inspector partner and protector, Jon Gutierrez, are called in to help solve complex, sensitive, high-level cases. After the failed hit of Lola Moreno, a Russian mafioso's wife, Antonia and Jon are called in to help find her before the killer does. Lola is surprisingly skilled at evading not only the police, but also the "cleaner" sent by the Russian mafia, a woman called the Black Wolf. Seamlessly translated from Spanish, Gómez-Jurado is as skilled at building tension and mystery as he is at writing action scenes. I love this series and can't wait until they release the 3rd book in English!

The second book in the Red Queen series is every bit as good as the first one. I love the character of Antonia Scott. She is as socially inept as Lisbeth Salander from the Millenium Series by Stieg Larsson. but has totally different talents and skills. Although this can easily be read as a stand alone, I strongly recommend starting with the first book, Red Queen, and reading them both. Highly recommended

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for an advanced reader copy

This was an interesting read, especially since I didn't read the first book in the trilogy. But other than not knowing much about the Red Queen project and Antonia's abilities upfront, I felt that I was able to keep up with what was happening in this story. For me, the first portion of the story read as a little slow paced. Then about halfway through, the pace really picked up.

Antonia is a complicated person and doesn't seem to give herself enough credit for her natural abilities. Her partner, Inspector Jon Gutierrez, is very protective of her, understands her perhaps better than she does herself, and has learned how to deal with her - although there are still things he doesn't know about her.

This is a multi-layered story with a slew characters, multiple mafias, corruption, danger, and secrecy. There were many surprising twists, especially the closer the story came closer to the conclusion.

Thank you to NetGalley, Minotaur Books and the author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I understand why this series has been so popular internationally, it’s wholly bingeable and entertaining. I loved being back with the dynamic duo - Antonia and Jon. These characters are super likable and complex. The story keeps me on my toes with the suspense, mystery, and action scenes. The way Juan Gómez-Jurado writes cool female characters is really appealing to me in this series, short fast paced chapters really make the book unputdownable. I’m just dying to know what happens next after the cliffhanger!

Scott Brick does the audiobook performance and his storytelling voice is incredible. I love the kind of whimsy he puts into the narration, the characters’ personalities shine through, and the pacing never really lulls or drops off. I enjoy his speaking voice from other audiobooks and I’m looking forward to listening to him more in the future!

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio and Minotaur Books for the listening and review copies.

The second book in the Antonia Scott series set in Spain finds Antonia and Jon pitted against the Russian mob operating in the area and a female assassin called The Black Wolf.

The agents work for a secret European organization known as The Red Queen and Antonia is possibly the most intelligent human being alive. That said, she's also very broken and Jon serves as both her partner and handler. Their relationship is both complicated and difficult at times but together they make a terrific team. Lots of action and suspense with a plot twist or two I guarantee you won't see coming and even some laugh-out-loud humor. Can't wait for book three now: White King!

Many thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an arc via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.