The Illumbe Trilogy
La illumbe trilogy is a set of mystery and suspense novels written by Spanish musician, software engineer, and author Mikel Santiago. The titles, composed of The liar (2020) In the middle of the night (2021) and Among the dead (2022), were published by Ediciones B, and since their launch have caused a considerable impact among readers.
Each volume can be read independently, although release order is always recommended.. This fact has to do with a small but profound relationship that exists between the texts, which include landscapes, situations and characters that are repeated in all the stories, although they are not directly involved with each other.
Synopsis of the Illumbe Trilogy
The liar (2020)
This first novel is responsible for introducing the reader to the ethereal universe of Illumbe, a place surrounded by bodies of water and full of roads with views of the sea. It unfolds the story of Alex, a man who wakes up in an abandoned factory without remembering the last forty-eight hours of his life. Furthermore, he finds himself in a terrible scenario, since there is a corpse next to him.
Did he murder him? To find out, you will have to examine step by step everything he did before that moment. Mikel Santiago makes readers distrust all the characters, while the protagonist investigates and discovers the worst secrets of the residents of Illumbe, who live on appearances that, when they fall, are capable of demonstrating the worst of the human race.
In the middle of the night (2021)
The book begins with a brief introduction to the Illumbe rock musical movement. Later, The author narrates an event in 1999, in which a Vespino was found in an accident. Its driver is identified as Lorea, but no trace of her was found beyond her car. The only suspect in her disappearance appears to be her boyfriend, Diego Letamendia.
This boy wakes up in a town hospital, lost due to drugs and alcohol. The police are unable to extract much information from him, since he does not remember anything of what happened. After, The author resorts to a time jump. Twenty years have passed since Lorea was lost. After receiving a call from his mother informing him of the death of his best friend, Diego decides to return to Illumbe.
Dismayed, the man realizes that both his girlfriend's disappearance and his friend's recent departure occurred under very similar circumstances. Could they be related? As in The liar, in this novel Mikel Santiago plays with the reader's perception, the loss of important memories and the need for justice.
Among the dead (2022)
The closing of this successful trilogy presents a conflict that, a priori, seems much more intimate than the previous two. It all begins when Nerea Arruti, the Mayor of the Ertzaintza—the judicial police of the Basque Country—returns home with Kerman Sanginés, the coroner of Illumbe. The two were together over the weekend to enjoy an extramarital affair that no one suspects.
However, just when they think they are safe from any shadow of doubt, they have an accident. Despite this, they were lucky that her car ran aground precisely near his. But tranquility leaves Arruti's body when Their veiled relationship leads her to become involved in other strange secrets., like criminal pacts that will keep her in check.
Possibilities of a film adaptation
With the news that The last night at Tremore Beach would be adapted into a movie for Netflix, Santiago readers began to wonder what could happen in the future with the Illumbe Trilogy, which has more than 300.000 copies sold. With such success involved, it is logical to expect that the author will take the next step, either through other books or a television series.
To the surprise of the public, in an interview with The newspaper of Aragon, The writer mentioned that “There are audiovisual projects of the illumbe saga "We'll see if they come to fruition.". Later, Plano a Plano obtained the rights to bring the trilogy to series format thanks to Scenic Rights. Today it is known that In the middle of the night It is under development under the direction of Curro Royo.
About the author, Mikel Santiago
Michael Santiago
Mikel Santiago Garaikoetxea was born on September 8, 1975, in Portugalete, Vizcaya, Spain. He did his high school at a private educational center called Asti-Leku Ikastola. Subsequently, He graduated in Sociology from the University of Deusto. During his life he has traveled and lived in places such as Ireland and the Netherlands, although he currently resides in Bilbao.
Like many writers today, He began his literary career by publishing novels and short stories online., specifically on an independent platform that allows the distribution of texts to large publishers such as Barnes & Noble or iBooks. What the author did not expect was what happened next, since his books were on the list of the 10 best sellers in the United States.
Thanks to that, in 2014 He published his first novel in physical format, of which more than 40.000 copies were sold., being translated into more than twenty languages. Starting in 2023, a Netflix movie inspired by this book began to be filmed, directed by screenwriter Oriol Paulo. His personal life, which he shares with his wife and his three daughters, is quite quiet and not much is known about it.
Other books by Mikel Santiago
Novels
- The last night at Tremore Beach (2014);
- The bad way (2015);
- Tom Harvey's strange summer (2017);
- The island of the last voices (2018)
stories
- Story of a perfect crime (2010);
- The island of a hundred eyes (2010);
- the black dog (2012);
- Night of Souls and other horror stories (2013);
- The Trace, a paper compilation of stories (2019)