'A sprawling, striking debut ... Superbly told, and with a fine villain at its heart, this is a remarkable first thriller that bodes exceptionally well for Oldfield's future' The Daily Mail.

'An extremely compelling read ... Oldfield builds and maintains tensions like a pro, and is one to watch' It's a Crime. 'Polished and impressive ... [for] fans of Kate Mosse' Guardian.

You can't escape the past.

He was the cold steel behind Franco's regime. The fear behind Franco's power.

57 years ago, Comandante Leopoldo Guzmán disappeared without a trace. They know what he did, but they don't know where he's gone.

Madrid, winter 1953: the snow lies thick on the ground and Comandante Guzmán of the Brigada Especial is preparing a dawn raid. His job is to hunt down opponents of Franco's regime and destroy them. Feared by all in Franco's Spain, Guzmán takes what he wants: food, drink, women.

That is about to change. Guzmán is going to find himself on the wrong side of Franco, and on the wrong side of history. It's not the first time Guzmán has been on the wrong side. But there's no one left alive who knows about that... until he gets a message from a dead man...

Madrid, 2009: Ana María Galindez is a forensic scientist investigating a mass grave from the Franco era. Now she is hunting for the hidden ledger of secret policeman Leopoldo Guzmán - a man who disappeared without trace in 1953. But there are those who would rather the secrets of Guzmán's ledger stay buried. Galindez' pursuit of the past has revealed a battle for the present...

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