A modern pulp novel, packed with erudition and sprinkles of the supernatural, masterfully crafted. Perez-Reverte’s prose is something to enjoy, academic and streetwise at the same time, full of irony and at the same time filled with crude honesty. His characters come straight from film noir: battered, cynical, yet filled with medieval codes of honor. The only letdown was the ending, mildly predictable, a little bit forced; nut this was one of his first novels, so I will keep reading him.