The Warning

By: Paul Pen, Simon Bruni - translator

Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon

A strange pattern of death emerges in a small Spanish town in this novel of twisting suspense by international bestselling author Paul Pen.

I don’t wish to frighten you, reads the anonymous note introverted and bullied eight-year-old Leo Cruz finds in his backpack. All the sender asks is that he avoid a certain spot on a certain day, or he’ll die. Leo has reason to be afraid. The warning hearkens back to nearly a decade ago - to the same site, where a murder has become local folklore and a favorite campfire tale reinvented year after year by the kids of Arenas, a small Spanish town.

Leo’s parents initially suspect the lonely boy’s cruel classmates. The perfect joke to terrorize an impressionable victim. Unless, as they come to believe, it’s Leo himself who is the author of the warning.

Is Leo being lured to an unavoidable fate? Is someone taking bullying to a dangerous new level? Or is there something else at work in Arenas, a town with intersecting destinies and a century of secrets?

©2011 by Paul Pen. Translation © 2020 by Simon Bruni. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Tedious

Tedious to listen to. If this had been a physical book, I would have skimmed numerous pages of repetitive and unessential detail.

WOW...so good!!

I am so glad to have found this author in audible...this is the third story I have listened to and WOW! They are all out there, but all so good. I feel like I know these people...especially Léo❤️ and Victoria. I've dealt with many times in my life....and some things never change. Heading out to listen to the final one. Enjoy!

Absolute Slog

Maybe something was lost in translation, but this was incredibly tedious to get through. Everything is over-explained in repetitive detail, which is completely unneeded because the author does a good job of setting up all the reveals; there's no reason for us to hear every single bit of every characters' thought processes.

Many of the characters are well-developed, though not all, since there are so many of them. The plot is interesting, but really needed to be tightened up, at least in the English translated version.

Excellent psychological thriller

I became a fan of Spanish author Paul Pen four years ago with listening to the very, very dark and twisted psychological thriller The Light of the Fireflies. That was followed one year later by the outstanding psychological thriller Desert Flowers. Under the Water was translated next. It was far less dark, but is likely the best work of Paul Pen. THE WARNING was Paul Pen's first novel but was only recently translated to English. It is not as dark and twisted as either The Light of the Fireflies or Desert Flowers nor is it as good as Under the Water.Still, it is excellent.

determined to finish

disappointed thought it was a thriller, maybe it was and I want thrilled. ended as expected