Author Q&A: Eva García Sáenz
Author of THE SILENCE OF THE WHITE CITY
Every year, there are one or two books that become what I like to call my “out-of-left-field favorites”—books that I picked up on a whim and ended up just absolutely loving. In 2020, one of my “out-of-left-field favorites” was Eva García Sáenz’s exceptional serial killer thriller THE SILENCE OF THE WHITE CITY. The first in a trilogy of crime novels set in the Basque country, THE SILENCE OF THE WHITE CITY is an immersive, intricate, compulsively readable crime novel perfect for fans of serial killer thriller classics like The Silence of the Lambs. This trilogy has already found great success with readers around the world, and it’s easy to see why: THE SILENCE OF THE WHITE CITY has crime fiction must-read written all over it, from its vivid characters to its chilling central mystery and its immersive sense of place. Today, author Eva García Sáenz is stopping by CBTB to answer my questions about her heart-pounding thriller THE SILENCE OF THE WHITE CITY, and to give us a little teaser for what’s to come in this trilogy’s second installment!
In THE SILENCE OF THE WHITE CITY, a troubled investigator finds himself on the hunt for a brutal serial killer whose crimes draw on local mythology and lore. When a pair of bodies are found in the city of Vitoria, their corpses displayed in a ritualistic manner, Inspector Unai López de Ayala (known to his friends as “Kraken”) fears the worst. Years ago, the city was plagued by a serial murderer who committed crimes in much the same way. Police arrested a suspect for the crimes—a famous archaeologist, who is still serving out his prison sentence for the murders. Is a copycat killer at work? Or did police arrest an innocent man all those years ago? As the body count rises, Kraken and his colleagues in the police find themselves traversing the city of Vitoria and the Basque region, on the hunt for a killer whose crimes and crime scenes draw heavily on local lore. THE SILENCE OF THE WHITE CITY is an exceptional crime novel that blends air-tight plotting with an immersive setting and the added intrigue of local history and mythology.
In today’s blog post, you can learn more about THE SILENCE OF THE WHITE CITY (including a snippet from my review of the book!), read my Q&A with the author, and get a little sneak peek into the second trilogy installment, THE WATER RITUALS, too! With just about two months to go until the release of THE WATER RITUALS here in the US, now is the perfect time to start reading this exceptional crime fiction trilogy.
Many thanks to Eva for answering my questions for today’s Q&A! Disclaimer: This blog post contains Amazon Affiliate links. CBTB may earn a small commission for items ordered through these links.
About The Silence of the White City:
HOW DO YOU STOP A KILLER WHO'S ALWAYS TWO STEPS AHEAD?
A madman is holding Vitoria hostage, killing its citizens in brutal ways and staging the bodies. The city's only hope is a brilliant detective struggling to battle his own demons.
Inspector Unai López de Ayala, known as "Kraken," is charged with investigating a series of ritualistic murders. The killings are eerily similar to ones that terrorized the citizens of Vitoria twenty years earlier. But back then, police were sure they had discovered the killer, a prestigious archaeologist who is currently in jail. Now Kraken must race to determine whether the killer had an accomplice or if the wrong man has been incarcerated for two decades. This fast-paced, unrelenting thriller weaves in and out of the mythology and legends of the Basque country as it hurtles to its shocking conclusion.
From My Review:
What was the last book you read that turned out to be exactly the book you never knew you needed? For me, the answer to that question is easy: it was Eva García Sáenz’s outstanding trilogy launch, THE SILENCE OF THE WHITE CITY—published in the US for the first time this July. This gritty, intricate serial killer thriller is the perfect late-summer read for any crime fiction aficionado looking to get caught up in a truly immersive puzzle. Set in the Basque country, THE SILENCE OF THE WHITE CITY places readers in the heart of a terrifying series of events: a shadowy villain appears to be replicating the city of Vitoria’s most infamous crimes, twenty years after their initial occurrence. The perpetrator for the original crimes, an archaeologist whose charm and charisma propelled him to fame, has been locked away in prison for all these years. So who is committing these gruesome murders now? Is a copycat killer at work, or is there more to this story? Following an endearing and troubled detective known as “Kraken,” THE SILENCE OF THE WHITE CITY draws readers deep into the history and mythology of the Basque country—and into the mind of a sinister and shadowy villain whose reach and intelligence are far greater than the police ever suspected. Chilling crimes, page-turning pacing, endearing characters, and a healthy dose of local lore are woven together seamlessly in THE SILENCE OF THE WHITE CITY. This is a serial killer thriller for anyone who has loved genre greats like The Silence of the Lambs, and for anyone who just plain loves a great mystery to solve. Pick this book up for pure, chilling entertainment. | Read the Full Review
Author Q&A: Eva García Sáenz
Author of THE SILENCE OF THE WHITE CITY
Crime by the Book: First and foremost, thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions about The Silence of the White City! Where did the inspiration for The Silence of the White City come from? (Was there a particular moment that sparked the idea for this story?)
Eva García Sáenz: One of the most repeated myths in literature is that a novel arises from a single spark of imagination, but the reality of creative work is that a writer begins planning a novel when they want to deal with a theme and the dramatic premise provides the excuse for it.
CBTB: One of my favorite elements of this story is its characters, particularly the character of Kraken. How would you describe Kraken to someone meeting him for the first time?
EGS: Kraken is an obsessive criminal profiler. He has the survivor syndrome and feels very guilty for being alive while his wife and children are not, that’s why he is obsessed with stopping serial killers before they continue killing. He has a hamartia, like all classical Greek heroes, a fatal flaw, and that is that his determination to protect those he loves most puts them in danger.
CBTB: If you had to pick a favorite character in this book other than Kraken, who would you choose and why?
EGS: Estíbaliz, his colleague. She was abused when she was a child and that’s why she decided to study Victimology, she empowers herself and decides not to be a victim, but a survivor.
CBTB: The Silence of the White City is set in the Basque Country, and much of the story takes place in the city of Vitoria. You were born in Vitoria, correct? Why was it important to you to make Vitoria the setting for this story?
EGS: Vitoria provides me with the historical background that was very good for the plot. I didn't want to just write a procedural crime novel. I wanted it to also permeate the historical grounds of the cities of northern Spain, where dolmens, medieval walls and Renaissance palaces are present.
CBTB: How much did this book’s setting influence its plot?
EGS: I wanted the landscape and the settings present at the very origin of the crimes and at the scenes of the deaths.
CBTB: I know that so many readers, myself included, love mysteries that explore elements of mythology and lore, and you did a brilliant job weaving these elements into The Silence of the White City. Why were you interested in bringing these elements into your crime writing? And do you have any theories as to why so many of us are so fascinated by these old myths and legends?
EGS: I am a faithful follower of Carl Jung, of the power of myth, of the hero with a thousand faces and I think that the stories from Prehistory want to teach and educate us to give us resources for life: that is their role. When we analyze any myth we find a protective element, such as the Eguzkilore, or when a culture like the Celtic named its gods as rivers (Deba) or mountains (Tullonio) it was because there was a tribal wisdom behind warning us of the great truths of the Universe. In this case, that Nature is much more powerful than man, as has been seen in this pandemic 2020.
CBTB: The Silence of the White City has a very creepy series of crimes at its core, and readers will love trying to solve those crimes alongside the police. I’m curious, did you do any research into police work when you were preparing to write this story?
EGS: Yes, I had formal training as a Criminal Profiler during the novel's documentation process and took seven courses with the police to learn how Kraken would work if the crimes had been real.
CBTB: The Silence of the White City is a complex book: it has an intricate mystery for readers to solve, and it has multiple timelines as well. What was your writing process like for this book?
EGS: First of all, I devote a lot of my time to my research. When I see that it is enough, usually after a year, I turn to planning and work a lot on the outline of scenes and characters, especially the principal protagonists. Each of them usually takes me six months. Then I go to the first draft, which takes me another half year, and then I go on to write the successive drafts, some novels have been four and in others I have reached eight.
CBTB: When you began writing this book, did you already know how you wanted the story to end? Did you map the whole book out before you began writing, or did your plan for the story change as you wrote?
EGS: When you write a five hundred page novel, especially if they are thrillers, it is essential that they are well planned, otherwise they would have many inconsistencies and you cannot improvise about the identity or motives of the murderer, it can’t be something random, because the readers need to understand the motives, otherwise they would be disappointed.
CBTB: The Silence of the White City is the first book in a trilogy. When you began writing this book, did you already know that you wanted to write a trilogy about Kraken and his police colleagues?
EGS: Yes, I planned from the beginning a trilogy with the three acts of Aristotle: approach, middle and end.
CBTB: I’m so looking forward to reading the next installment in this trilogy, The Water Rituals! For those of us who are eagerly anticipating The Water Rituals’ release, I would love if you could tell us just a little bit about this next trilogy installment. What is The Water Rituals about?
EGS: The Water Rituals continues with a series of murders that mimic the Celtic triple death, a ritual form of sacrifice that the Celts practiced two millennia ago: they burned, hanged and immersed the sacrificed in a bronze cauldron. For the victims it was an honor and the bodies found in areas of northern Europe tell us that they were part of the elites. In this novel, Kraken finds that women and men who are soon to become parents are sacrificed in this way, and Alba herself is in danger, because she is pregnant and does not know if the baby is hers or her husband's. If it's hers, Alba will die.
Many thanks to Eva for answering my questions about THE SILENCE OF THE WHITE CITY! This gripping serial killer thriller is available now, and the second installment in this trilogy, THE WATER RITUALS, will published on March 30th.
Plus: Mark Your Calendars for THE WATER RITUALS
Book 2 in the White City Trilogy | Available March 30, 2021
Kraken is back for the second installment in the acclaimed White City Trilogy, and this time he investigates a series of ritualistic murders that target expectant parents, only to find that the key to uncovering the killer may be found in his own past.
A pregnant woman has been murdered in a brutal, ritualistic way: burned, hung, and then placed upside down in a Bronze Age cauldron. When Kraken discovers the victim is his first love, Ana Belén Liaño, memories of their time together come flooding back, and with them reminders of a dark secret long buried. Then the killer strikes again, enacting the same ritual against a second expectant parent. Kraken knows he must confront his past in order to unmask this fiend. And there's no time to waste, because Deputy Superintendent Díaz de Salvatierra has just found out she's carrying a child. And the father could very well be Kraken himself...
Book Details:
THE SILENCE OF THE WHITE CITY (White City Trilogy, Book 1)
Publisher : Vintage Crime/Black Lizard (July 28, 2020)
Language : English
Paperback : 528 pages
ISBN-10 : 1984898590
ISBN-13 : 978-1984898593
THE WATER RITUALS (White City Trilogy, Book 2)
*Available March 30, 2021*
Publisher : Vintage Crime/Black Lizard (March 30, 2021)
Language : English
Paperback : 480 pages
ISBN-10 : 1984898612
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