If you’re reading a series that combines the hyper intelligent sleuthing of Sherlock Holmes with the sarcastic police procedural of the John Corey series, but it also includes mysterious killers and political intrigue… then you’re probably reading the latest thriller from Juan Gomez-Jurado.

White King is the third installment in the Anita Scott series that features a highly trained forensic investigator with the secretive Red Queen program. After the devastating events of the previous two books, Anita must face off with the man who has been tormenting her for years. With Mr. White finally exposing himself, the stakes could not be higher. When her protector and friend, Inspector Jon Guiterrez is kidnapped, Anita sends what’s left of her family into hiding. To get Jon back, she will do anything… including playing Mr. White’s psychotic games that will pit her against everything she’s previously held dear.

There is no shortage of great series in the thrillerverse, but few come along and capture my attention and interest like this one has. I won’t say it’s my favorite series of all time, but it’s my favorite new series since the English language translations came out three years ago.

Gomez-Jurado has the sharp wit and sarcastic leanings that only a long time journalist can bring to the page. The investigative nature of the plotlines are detailed enough to feel authentic, but do not get bogged down in the details like you'd more often see in a Hollywood blockbuster, creating a perfect balance of realism and suspended disbelief.

These three books have brought in so many of the qualities I love in a wider range of subgenres and manages to expertly stitch them together to weave a masterfully entertaining story that is high intensity at times as well as deeply introspective at others. I cannot recommend this series enough.

A very enjoyable, fast paced thriller with the always intriguing, and often frustrating Antonia Scott and her brave and loyal protector Jon. I love the chemistry created on the page between these two protagonists and was happy with the resolution of the storyline from the trilogy.

The. Long. Wait. Is. Over. There are very few books I have looked forward to as much as White King. I'm happy to report it doesn't disappoint. Juan Gómez-Jurado masterfully concludes the Red Queen trilogy with this exceptionally entertaining read. Antonia Scott remains one of the best characters the genre has ever produced and her showdown with Mr. White is riveting. Will the challenges created by Mr. White prove to be a bridge too far? You won't be able to turn the pages fast enough as you seek the answer to that question. The chemistry between Antonia and Jon Gutierrez remains as important as ever throughout this instant classic. I must confess that, in the wake of the phenomenal Reina Roja television series, I pictured Vicky Luengo and Hovik Keuchkerian as I read White King. That made this incredible book even more enjoyable. I can't wait to see what Gómez-Jurado gifts us next. Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, & NetGalley for the advance reading copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

White King, the final book in the trilogy, wrapped everything up perfectly, including plot points that I didn't realize were important from the earlier books. Jon and Antonia are back, and the stakes could not be higher. This book had a great mix of mystery, adventure, and character development. I give The White King 5/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the opportunity to review White King by Juan Gomez Jurado

White King is the 3rd book in the Red Queen series about featuring crime solving savant Antoinia Scott whose personal struggles are just as complex as the jobs that take her all over Europe. Things are coming to a head in both her personal and professional lives; her husband has died, her partner has been kidnapped, and her agency is under attack. The mysterious Mr. White is somehow orchestrating the murders of Red Queen agents around the world. Antonia is forced to play by Mr White’s rules in order to save her partner’s life while trying to solve a series of cold cases. This book is another page-turning race against the clock in order to save lives and possibly the entire Red Queen organization.
#TheWhiteKing #NetGalley

Awesome finish to the Red Queen trilogy. Wraps up the mysteries from the first 2 books and adds new cases.

So much fun! Antonia and Jon's final showdown with Mr. White. Juan Gomez-Jurado's series has only gotten better. This one is a clever page-turner, with its characteristic omniscient narrator, whose slight distance from the proceedings generates so much humor.

The third (and last?) book in a thrilling series. Stylistically a little different from what you might read from American authors but an enjoyable ride. Would love to read more works from the author.

This is the amazing finish to a 3 part series that is one of the best series I have ever read. It is a masterpiece of intellectual, almost magical abilities of a nonconformist protagonist who thinks for three minutes of everyday about her suicide. See, Antonia Scott, is very smart, extremely smart which she puts to the test solving unbelievable crimes. But, she is not without her emotional instabilities and in this book faces the most evil demon one could come across.

This is a game of cat and mouse, an unrelenting thriller scape, that will leave you holding your breath. Will Antonia win in the end? And the ending….

This whole series if highly recommended!

Antonia Scott is an exceptional agent for Spain’s Red Queen project. She is astoundingly intelligent, methodical, skillfully trained with extraordinary abilities. Alongside her partner/protector, Jon Gutierrez, the two must solve three crimes all before the explosive device is detonated in Jon’s spine. Time is against them and the stakes are literally a matter of life and death. This suspenseful final installment is perfect for fans of the Jason Bourne series by Robert Ludlum.

This is the third in the Red Queen series, the Red Queen is a program that sought out certain people then trained them into becoming a super detective with advanced abilities to analyze crime scenes and determine who did the crime. Antonia is the Red Queen in the Spain area, she becomes aware of a series of murders of other Red Queens in other areas of Europe, she is soon contacted by the man behind them, Mr White, someone who has been tracking Antonia for many years. He gives her a seemingly impossible task, to find out who really murdered someone, and she only has 3 hours to do so. No sooner has she done that, then he gives another similar task, and when she comes close to solving that, one more, which ends up being at her own house. There is a lot of pursuing leads, and she uses her Mentor to help her, though Mr White, is a ruthless man, and he infiltrates their base of operations, and well you best read to find out. Antonia of course gets very upset and well I can't say much without spoiling it, let me just say what she did was very amazing. I would highly recommend this and the other in the series. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Minotaur Books for the ARC.

Exciting conclusion to this part of the Antonia Scott story. It picked up exactly at the end of the last and kept the tension on all the way through. Would definitely not be a pick up and read if you have not read both the first books. I also think if it’s been a while since you read the first books, a refresher might be needed. The whole trilogy is dense with characters and mythology that took me a bit to resync to but once I did, I was captivated.

“White King” is the translation of Juan Gómez-Jurado’s 2020 internationally best selling “Rey Blanco,” the final part of the “Red Queen/Reina Roja” trilogy. This is the final in a series featuring Antonia Scott (Spanish mom/ British dad), an incredibly talented forensic criminologist who needed to be coaxed out of a self-imposed retirement in the first book by Inspector Jon Gutiérrez, who is her bodyguard/companion/“shield bearer.” She can easily be described as a less Goth Lisbeth Salander, although it’s mainly Antonia’s mind, not any computer skills, that she can weaponize.

I would definitely recommend that you read the first two installments before diving into “White King.” The multinational agency that Antonia and Jon work for has no name, but it operates alongside law enforcement (with incredible resources) to solve unusual cases. Each participating nation has a chosen “Red Queen” (like the “off with your head” Red Queen of “Alice in Wonderland” - the monarch who insists you have to run in order to stay in place). Antonia, Spain’s Red Queen, was given unique training and then she guides the investigations with her special skills. Her mind works at ultra speed and she had taken red and blue pills (ala The Matrix) to often keep from crashing. In the last book, she had decided to wean herself from the pills and resolve the unfinished business that complicated her life — the near murder of her husband, Marcos, that put him in a coma and also estranged her from their son Jorge.

As the story begins, Antonia finally decides to end her husband’s life support and is grieving (in her own detached way) when Jon is kidnapped. Other Red Queens and international project members are under attack; a bomb in Germany kills five. The Dutch shield bearer killed his Queen. The French Queen and her shield bearer have disappeared.

During all the books, Antonia has sensed an immensely evil, but unprovable, mastermind shadowing her. He finally reveals himself as Mr. White, who will save Jon if she can “solve three crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice.” Jon is released, but has a bomb implanted in his neck. Solutions to the crimes involve tight deadlines (like solving a supposedly closed case and finding the real murderer in six hours).

There's a good reason that Juan Gómez-Jurado has 10 million international readers. This series is one of most loved thriller trilogies in the world and unfortunately it took too long to have it translated into English. The author has already completed another trilogy (part of the Red Queen universe), that I desperately want translated as soon as possible. The action is non-stop. This is truly a world class thriller. 5 stars!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES The Other Woman has green eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): MAYBE I question if hydrangea and wisteria bloom at the same time in Spain (in the US, wisteria is early spring and hydrangeas are late summer.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy!