First time reading the author and probably won't read another. I didn't care for the way the author plotted the storyline.
Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of the novel.

Another great installment of the Antonia Scott Series. Antonia isn't at her best, in fact she is self-medicating and barely keeping in control. Without giving anything away, we learned more about the depths of the Red Queen Project and that Antonia is a little more morally flexible than Inspector Jon Gutierrez would have normal thought. This book, like the prior, is a twisting turning plot with a body count and almost everyone but Inspector Gutierrez has hidden motives. I'm not going to say this installment was as good as the first, but it is setting us up for some great reveals in the next book. Totally worth the read, while you could read it as a standalone this is best enjoyed if you have read the first book "Red Queen".

Please note, I received an ARC copy of this book for review from NetGalley, but that never influences my honest reviews of books or authors.

This is the 2nd in the series. The author includes Russian and Spanish words in the text. Sometimes they are explained in English and sometimes not. Since I don't speak Russian at all and my Spanish is weak, I have to look the words up. The story continues with Antonia and Jon's partnership. The first third and last third held my attention and was a story I wanted to read. The middle third was dry and harder to follow. The author reminds us too many times that Jon "is not fat" and that he is gay. Just the story of the mystery and "who done it" is enough for me. These two things were stated in the first book and I tired of the author telling me over and over again about them. We find out that the pills Antonia is taking might just be addictive. Will she be able to stop taking them? I know there is a third book but I don't plan on reading it even though I want to find out what happens to Jon and Antonia and to know if they capture the bad guy.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a chance to read this book early in exchange for an honest review.

Last year, I was pleasantly surprised by the first book in the Antonia Scott series and was especially intrigued by her unique abilities. This book (the 2nd in series) took it to another level as there was more action as well as further development in the relationship between her and her partner. As Antonia seems to be further spiraling from her addiction as well as having to deal with what happens to her partner, I am very interested to see where the final book in the series goes. I am also really interested to see if the other books written in the realm of the 'Red Queen' will be translated into English as well. This was extremely entertaining and I give it 4.5 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

Antonia Scott returns, with her unique crime solving talents.

This well-written and highly engaging novel is set in Spain, and it should appeal to a wide range of readers, and is the highly anticipated sequel to Red Queen.

I enjoyed the first book in this series (Red Queen), so when I had the chance to read book two for a review, I jumped at it. I liked Black Wolf even better than Red Queen. It was easy to reconnect with the main characters (Inspector Jon Gutierrez and Investigator Antonia Scott) and jump back into the Spanish setting.

This book follows Jon and Antonia as they investigate a death and missing persons case surrounding a couple with Russian mob ties. I enjoyed watching them put all of the pieces together. The final showdown was like something from a James Bond/Mission Impossible movie, and the author did a great job writing it.

I laughed out loud several times–the dry humor is well done. Warning: given the Russian mob connection, this is a gritty book with a high body count. It's a well-written investigative mystery in the vein of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this book.

I received an ARC of this book from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback. This is the second in a series, and you definitely need to read the first installment before this one. There is a lot of backstory and reference to prior events. I did read the first one, but long enough ago that I was fuzzy on some details, and I do think that made me enjoy this book less.

Jon is my favorite character - his personality shines through, and I giggle every time the author repeats, "Not that he's fat." I found some of the other new characters confusing in this book, which I don't remember happening in the previous. I could not quite keep straight which Russian mafioso was which, or which of the local police was which. The character of Lola didn't win my sympathy, which meant I was pretty indifferent to what happened to her.

I have traveled to Spain many times, so a highlight of this author for me is always when he references locations, customs, or manners of speech that I am familiar with. For that reason and also to keep following Antonia and Jon's adventures, I will continue to read this series even though this particular book wasn't a stand out to me.

Thank you Net Galley for my ARC, the review is my own

Black Wolf is # 2 in the Antonia Scott trilogy. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book Red Queen and am so happy to receive the second book of the trilogy.

This book can be read as a stand alone although I appreciated the background I had on Antonia. Lots of smart women (always good to read about them), but also lots of drug dependency and trauma. Human trafficking and war and the resulting violence are all handled well. I liked Antonia and Jon's partnership and wonder how do folks expect their partner to be there for them when there are trust issues? I liked the pace (short chapters), although a couple of times I found myself saying huh maybe it's worded this way because of the translation.

All in all I say read it and I can't wait to read the White King in English (fingers crossed).

This is the second in the Antonia Scott trilogy, Red Queen was the first and I would suggest you read it, you'll like it and benefit from knowing the characters and their motives. Antonia and her sidekick Jon (he's not fat, just a big) are sent to Costa del Sol (Spain), to assist the local police with a brutal murder of a man who is in the Mafia, most of his head is missing after he was shot at home, not long after an attempt was made on his wife and she is now on the run. Antonia has been put through a program that enhances her mind, enabling her to understand crime scenes and read more into what is presented. Antonia and Jon pursue slim leads that keep them one step of the local police, who are not happy with them. Another person is also looking for her, the Black Wolf, rumored to be the most ruthless killer ever. Along the way Antonia finds a shipping container that, when opened, is found to have the remains of 8 women in varying degrees of decomposition, this is attributed to another Mafia guy, THE big shot in Spain. He also becomes involved in the search for the wife. A lot of action goes on, there is a high body count, all the important characters come together at the end, very good story. I look forward to the next one. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Minotaur Books for the ARC.

This second book featuring Antonio Scott was a must-read for me after I finished Red Queen. Here, Antonia and Jon have figured out how to work together, but a new case introduces complications in their partnership—including serious issues of trust. Antonia is struggling and becoming increasingly dependent on what were supposed to be emergency-use-only customized drugs to calm her mind during periods of intense mental stimulation. Jon discovers that key pieces of information have been withheld from him. My favorite moments in the book feature some offhand piece of Sherlockian deductive brilliance from Antonia, sometimes reluctantly spelled out for the benefit of Jon and others while Antonia complains about feeling like a trained animal when they ask her to “perform.” During this case, Antonia is traumatized by some horrifying deaths and determined to make the perpetrators pay. Some of the crime scenes are horrifying, but they explain Antonia’s drive to solve the crimes. The chase scenes involving scarily expert bad guys seem tailor-made for the movies, and I found myself automatically contemplating potential casting of a hypothetical film adaptation. The third book will jump to the top of the to-be-read pile as soon as it comes out.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for a digital advance review copy.

Black Eolf is hot on the trail of Red Queen with an overlapping mystery to be solved. As with the first book it’s fast paced and linear so it’s a mind game to keep up. Well paced and full of mystery m. An overall good addition to the series. Well done.

My thanks to Netgalley, St. Martins Press, and the author, Juan Gomez-Jurado for the opportunity to read, “Black Wolf.”

The author did an outstanding job in developing all the characters, especially Antonia. The extensive drug dependence added much to her character but I found it tiring to read on such a repeated basis.

Although the story was entertaining, I got frustrated in the many breaks in the story going back and forth. However, this may be subjective criticism not to my liking. With this in mind the flow of the story suffered. I just couldn’t adjust to the author’s style of writing and ended up not finishing the story.

I totally fell in love with the characters of this series in the Red Queen. Also really enjoyed the author's writing style. Translation seemed brilliant to me - no awkwardness at all!
So excited to read the next in series - this was a case involving a murder of a Russian Mafioso by an oligarch/criminal network. His wife is on the run as they are also trying to kill her. Antonia and Jon are on the case thinking it might be related to the case in the Red Queen
This is another book of nonstop action and twist after twist. There is violence trigger and sometimes I just skip the details.
I really enjoyed learning more about both Antonia and Jon. They are totally unique characters. Lola ( the pregnant wife on the run) made a totally original and intriguing character. All the trials that befell her had me turning the pages as fast as I could.
I did not enjoy the violent world of the Russian Mafioso- scary to think they are so active in Spain especially beautiful Malaga. This made this book a little less interesting to me than the Red Queen.
Still anxious to continue the series in translation! So intriguing and fun to read.
4.5 stars.
Thanks to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC.

Deliciously entertaining with delightfully complex characters, and a plot that moves along at light speed, I loved every second of this novel.

First, a small caveat. I have not read the first book in this series, Red Queen, but I very much intend to now. And that being said, if you have not read Red Queen, you will be a bit lost for the ;first quarter or so as events and people are discussed without preamble as to what came before.

Never mind that however. If you are looking for an entirely engrossing, edge of your seat, can't put it down even though its past midnight, tale, this is it. If I could give it 6 stars, I would.

I received this book from NetGalley and I got through about half of it before it was 'disappeared' from my Kindle, so I can't give a review of the whole book. It's the second book in a series, I believe. Set in the general area of Madrid, the main characters are Antonia, a detective with some sort of Spanish/EU agency and her "handler" Jon, also a detective, a very nice man who seems to deserve better than being Antonia's caretaker. Antonia has some sort of mysterious gift, that causes voices in her head that whack her out. She and Jon are on a case investigating the hit on a mob boss and several attempts on the life of his wife. The wife is missing after being shot at at a mall and the mob are looking for her. This book is reliant on knowing what happened to Antonia and Jon in the first book and that was a little frustrating. I really liked the wife; I found her interesting and I wanted to find out more of her story, but unfortunately I couldn't.

This is the first book I have read by this author and I find myself wishing I had read the first one before this one. I'll definitely be going back to read the first installment and the 3rd one when it is released.

The thing I love most about this book is the pacing. Short chapters and constant action keep this moving quickly and keep you interested in the story. The characters have a very interesting dynamic and that in itself keeps you riveted to the story.

The author's writing style was different than a lot of others out there which I find refreshing. It's always a great surprise to find a unique voice out there!

I don't want to reveal any spoilers so I'll just say that this is one you are going to want to pick up and devour in one sitting!

I loved the first book in this series so when I saw the chance to get an advanced reader copy of the second I jumped on it. I’ve been looking forward to reading this since I finished the previous book.

I absolutely loved this. It’s hands down one of my favorite reads of the year. Both of the main characters are fun to read by, especially Antonia Scott. I like their banter/relationship throughout the book. Antonia is on a quest of sorts through the novel related to events in the first book so I won’t go into details because spoilers but it’s intriguing and I can’t wait to see how it pans out.

The book is intense all the way through and action packed. It can get very violent and bloody at times so I don’t necessarily recommend this for the squeamish reader (although if you can handle the first book in the series I highly doubt you’ll have a problem with this one). I don’t like all of the plot twists that happen toward the end of the book (especially involving the title character) but I still loved the book overall.

Highly recommend for thriller fans of appropriate age.

This book is the second of three. Coming in at this point puts the reader at a slight disadvantage. The writing style helps with all the "asides" giving information but also makes the flow a little wonky. Fast paced action packed read.

It took me a while to get into the style, it's quite unusual! Written mostly in the present tense, which isn't unusual, and gives an immediacy to the narrative. Third person with 2 major protagonists, and the narrative is sprinkled with almost editorial asides (which is what took some getting used to). These asides were great though, adding depth to the characters and helping explain their thoughts and actions. The story itself is about the Russian mafia in Spain, ie organized crime so nothing particularly new, but an interesting angle. As is usually the case with good writing, it's more about the characters and their interactions than the story itself, meaning that this book, although in the police procedural general genre is as much character driven as plot driven - a big plus in my opinion! The ending was the usual over the top confrontation, with one added twist that I thought was unnecessary and needlessly complicated things. That said, I really liked the book and it's a shame that the first one doesn't seem to be available in English.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.

When I realized this was book 2 of a trilogy by Spanish author Juan Gomez-Jurado, I had to find and read the first in the series. The first book, Red Queen was a thrilling, fast-paced read which I thoroughly enjoyed. The author does request no spoilers so I will only say that Antonia (a gifted member of the Red Queen Project) and her "protector", Jon, are working together on a case involving the Russian mafia. They are not the only ones interested in the case, Black Wolf- a contract killer is also on the trail. Though the story was entertaining, I thought this sequel fell a bit short. I felt the phrase "not that he is fat" was used way too many times and it started to annoy me. Maybe this is due to the translation? Regardless, the ending was outstanding and does leave you eager to read the next book. 3.5 Stars