Today, the president of the Planeta group and the jury of the Planet Award 2018 they have unveiled the plot of the 10 finalist novels at a press conference held at the Palacio de San Pau, in which Actualidad Literatura was present.
This year 2018, the theme of the finalist novels has taken an important turn after 65 editions of the Planeta Prize. The Historical Novel and the Civil War give way this year to novels with female protagonists. In the ten finalists we find detective novels of all kinds (with humor, with science fiction, psychological and historical) and more science fiction than ever. So are the finalist novels:
Goodbye, by Sandra Glaser (pseudonym)
A fast-paced family saga. A story of struggle, overcoming and survival of three generations of women from the same family, who are driven to madness by a ruthless male figure, and where the narrator tries to understand her past in order to reconcile with the present.
Gender violence of Paulina Ayerza (pseudonym)
A transgressive novel, with lesbian stories and a shocking ending. After learning about the death of the woman who was once her great love, an Argentine painter living in Paris recounts the ordeal she went through and the difficult relationships of domination and social rejection that were established between the two.
Looking at a Silent Sky, by Elena Francis (pseudonym)
Sci-fi thriller. A mysterious light, for which scientists can not find any explanation, appears in the sky. However, the consequences soon manifest: diverse people around the world begin to share memories, suffer nightmares and become interconnected for life.
The Rise, by James Sussex (pseudonym)
The dazzling rise of a woman in a world of men immersed in the struggle for political power and who think that leadership only belongs to them. The protagonist will skillfully maneuver to achieve her goals.
The art of the escape, by Daniel Tordera.
Sci-fi dystopia in which four old acquaintances wake up in a closed room with only one box. Inside, a pistol, three bullets and a note, which announces that only one of them can survive. They must agree, decide who is to stay alive and commit suicide next.
The Cherry Tree Shadow, by Ariane Onna (pseudonym)
In a town in the French Basque country, a terrible event occurs that shocks everyone: What can lead an apparently happy woman to end her life and her daughter who is just over a year old? This is the mystery that the narrator will try to reveal, delving into the suffocation and loneliness that motherhood implies.
The Losers, by María Díez García
Story of two antagonistic characters that cross and intermingle without them knowing it. He, a hit man by profession and who, apart from his peculiar job, leads a normal life; she, a private detective specializing in infidelities and investigating a murder case.
Hatshepsut's Mate (pseudonym)
Historical detective novel. Valencia, S. XVI: a woman finds the world's first modern chess codex. New York, XNUMXst century: a doctor is involved in the search for this codex. The investigation will take her to Valencia, where she will discover her dark past and her murky present.
Angela by Leticia Conti Falcone
This well-known writer breaks out of her usual genre with a classic Raymond Chandler-style crime novel. The death of a young Uruguayan, dedicated to correcting texts and writing black stories, makes the commissioner Piedrahita return to action, discovering that the woman was actually poisoned. But who had reason to kill her?
The Black Widow's Lover, by Ray Collins (pseudonym)
Black novel with a touch of humor. An Argentine dog walker is involved in the case of the Black Widow, an avenger who murders prostitute clients. He is suspicious of several women but ends up discovering that it is nothing more than a cover for the shady businesses to which his late brother was linked.
Which of these works will be the winner and finalist of the 2018 Planet Prize? Bets are allowed. Tomorrow October 15, 2018, the day of Saint Teresa, as every October for 65 years, in homage to Teresa, the founder's wife, the mystery will be revealed.