Javier Castillo presents 'The Whisper of Fire' at the SUR Culture Hall

"We all burn inside with a desire to awaken," wrote Javier Castillo on his social media a few hours ago. A powerful and enigmatic phrase that will make sense today, as many begin to devour the pages of 'The Whisper of Fire' (Suma). Javier Castillo returns to bookstores this Wednesday with his eighth suspense novel, but the first set in Spain, in the Canary Islands. A return that, as is tradition, he will also celebrate at home. The writer from Malaga will present and sign copies of his new book on October 8 at the SUR Culture Classroom, in a meeting with journalist Paco Griñán at the Cine Albéniz. The event, sponsored by Fundación Unicaja and Cervezas Victoria, will start at 6:30 PM, with free admission until full capacity is reached.

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The Spanish thriller phenomenon, with 2.5 million books sold, assures that this is his "most emotional and momentous book." It deals with life, death, love, pain, loss, family... "And, above all, there is a hidden message at the bottom: that inner flame that we all have," he adds. A fire "that roars beneath" us and that justifies the plot's setting in the volcanic Canary Islands. Mario and Laura Ardoz, twin siblings, visit the islands: he has just received his last chemotherapy session; she believes that this trip is the best way to start over after cancer. But Mario suffers a relapse that keeps him hospitalized for a couple of days. Upon his discharge, he discovers that his sister has disappeared and her mobile phone locates her in a desolate area covered by lava. A race against time and a battle with the fire that seems to open up under their feet begins.

Sets the plot in the volcanic Canary Islands, as a simile for that "inner flame we all have"

"The novel seeks to become that small flame that enlivens people's lives," declares the bestselling author. Because, beyond containing a great mystery, with the classic twists of a thriller, in this book "what matters is not so much solving what happens, but what happens inside you as you read it."

Accustomed to setting his stories in New York, Castillo now completely changes the setting. He acknowledges that he has long wanted to bring the plot closer to Spain, but needed to find something that would give a global sense to everything. And an event he experienced in the Canary Islands sparked the idea. On a family trip, during a visit to the hermitage of San Telmo in Tenerife, a boy fainted due to a sugar drop and his partner, and everyone around, rushed to help him. That anecdote made him think about how someone can have a dream and many plans for a trip "and suddenly it gets disrupted and you realize that everything is much more ephemeral than it seems."

'The Whisper of Fire' hits bookstores just before another of his stories premieres on the small screen. Following the huge success of the adaptation of 'The Snow Girl' - filmed in Malaga - on November 14, Netflix releases 'The Crystal Cuckoo', the series of his sixth novel that moves the original action from New York to Madrid and from Steelville (Missouri) to the town of Hervás in Cáceres. He will discuss all this and more in an intimate meeting with journalist Paco Griñán, who has closely followed his career from the beginning. The appointment: October 8, at 6:30 PM, at the Cine Albéniz.