I really really like the premise for this series and it is definitely a series I would watch (will look for it on Amazon asap). Some of it is a hard sell, but I love the Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty dynamic between Mr White and Antonia. I read book 1, didn’t get the chance to read book 2, and jumped right into this one so I fully acknowledge there’s pieces of the story I’m missing, but I still felt like I understood the moving pieces and appreciated the authors creativity.

White King by Juan Gómez-Jurado was an audiobook listen narrated by Scott Brick. I loved this so much. 5 outstanding ⭐️ for originality and beautiful, relatable relationships. I felt everything and I loved Scott Brick as a narrator. He was phenomenal and perfect for this series. This author has a talent like no other when it comes to plots and a close intensity of characters, action and mystery. This was definitely my favorite of his to date and I highly recommend it. So good.
Thanks Macmillan Audio via NetGalley.

“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!

I had read and loved both “Red Queen” and “Black Wolf.” This time I was graced with access to both the ebook and audiobook, so I decided to switch off between the two, beginning the first third via audio. I have never heard Scott Brick’s narration before, but his tone for this story was always as if he was shouting, acting too strident or too excited or too suspicious for what was actually written. There are times when an actor’s voice is welcome, but Mr. Brick was way too theatrical for me. I read the next 20% and then returned to the audiobook. After only a few more chapters I realized I was correct — the presentation was theatrically annoying and I read the last third. So, 2.5 stars for the audiobook, 5 stars for the written version. READ THIS THRILLER; you might be put off by the narration of the audiobook.

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, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for advanced reader and listener copies!