Jugar-s’hi la vida

Gambling With Your Life | Amsterdam/Ara Llibres, 2019


A reckless drug dealer, a daring pursuit, a drug squat in Barcelona, and two dead bodies: these are the cards Màrius Serra deals out in the opening pages of this novel. Let the games begin!

The sounds of screams and broken glass lead two police officers to a scene that leaves them both horrified: the corpses of a young man and an old woman on the floor of an apartment, the windows and doors sealed from within.

An expert gambler and neighborhood local, Oriol Comas i Coma, will use his instincts for deduction to help solve a case that will reveal unexpected connections both nationally and internationally. And when Comas i Coma’s curiosity is roused, it’s never long before his desire to get into the game awakens. Even if this means flirting with death.

With an absolute mastery of narrative pacing and the author’s characteristic sense of humor, Gambling With Your Life is set in present-day Barcelona and the Portugal of the Carnation Revolution. And it becomes an homage to two sides that play to win. Will chance still determine our lives in the era of Big Data?