Catalan Shadows

In this debut short story collection, British author Sergio Boehler takes the reader on a spellbinding journey along the streets of Barcelona and beyond, casting a searing light on the destitute and the downtrodden, the desperate and depraved, where Catalonia’s vibrant culture erupts into life amidst soaring human towers, schizophrenic surrealists, fire-wielding demons and poison-laced paellas.

Across thirteen devilishly dark tales that straddle past, present and future, Catalan Shadows bristles with sinister intrigue, murder, revenge and suicide.

A war widow must decide whether to hide a deserter from Franco’s Republic. A decorated matador uncovers a terrifying truth on the steps of his local bar. A woman who tames tigers is pursued by a gang of sex-charged predators. A troubled footballer loses his soul to the horrors of heroin. And in “Gaia” atop a futuristic Barcelona submerged by desert, a lone mother with the help of an unhinged hologram must battle the elements to save her daughter.

Darkly poetic and unsettling, this explosive collection of original stories will linger long in the heart like a haunting requiem. All is not well in Catalonia.