Corazones de lobo

The year is 1952, at the height of the Franco regime; the body of an American spy—accompanied by a dead horse and dog—is discovered at a military barracks near Madrid. Ricardo Valor, a commissioner with the Criminal Investigation Brigade, takes charge of the case and uncovers a plot involving penicillin trafficking that implicates high-ranking military officials and politicians. Set against a backdrop of military and police life, *Corazones de lobo* (Wolf Hearts) reflects the poverty of a country that had not yet recovered from a fratricidal war. Through precise, understated prose that builds suspense and grips the reader to the very end, Javier Reverte highlights the contrast between the destitution of the general population and the wealth of the conflict's victors—men who used the power they had seized to enrich themselves at the expense of others' suffering.