Awaiting the Flood
A brutal serial killer. A hunt until the last heartbeat. A city threatened by a flood.
Between 1968 and 1969, a serial killer known by the press as Bible John killed three young women in Glasgow. He was never identified, and the case remains unsolved to this day.
In 1983, Noah Scott Sherrington, a Scottish investigator, manages to get to Bible John… but, at the last moment, an unexpected heart failure hinders the arrest. Despite his fragile health Noah follows a hunch that will lead him all the way to Bilbao, against his doctors’ advice and his superiors’ orders, to cease the persecution. A few days later, a disastrous flood will destroy the city.
Dolores Redondo describes herself as a “writer of storms” and with this new novel, based on true events, she takes us to the epicenter of one of the biggest storms of the last century while she portrays a city in political and social turmoil. The novel is a tribute to work culture, full of nostalgia for a time in which radios were some of the few open windows to the world and, especially, to music. It is also a celebration of the comradeship of Basque groups of friends (cuadrillas) and to love stories that are born from a hunch.
Awaiting the Flood is a stunning work that takes readers from the most harrowing cruelty to a rekindled hope in humanity.
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Original Language
SPANISH | Destino/Planeta
SPANISH (Audio adaptation) | Audible
Translation Rights
BASQUE | Erein
CATALAN | Columna
DANISH | Superlux
FRENCH | Gallimard
GERMAN | btb/PRH
ITALIAN | Rizzoli
POLISH | Kobiece
PORTUGUESE (Brazil) | Planeta
PORTUGUESE (Portugal) | Planeta
Film Rights
Audiovisual rights sold to Zebra Producciones/iZen, part of Newen Studios.
Reviews
"Dolores Redondo's potential as a writer is undeniable. Awaiting the Flood is a book that promises to become a bestseller. A flashback to one of the greatest storms of the last century and to a time of political and social turmoil, which serves as the backdrop for a hypnotic plot." Ahora Qué Leo, La Sexta
"Dolores Redondo brings the pursuit of the killer Bible John to Bilbao in 1983, a real unsolved case that the author of the Baztán Trilogy twists and expands to turn it into an effective (and very rainy) crime novel." Babelia, El País
"Dolores Redondo presents an ambitious and thorough narrative proposal anchored in reality ... The protagonist's concerns revolve around fear, injustice, and time running out. His story is the tale of an obsession, and of a passion sheltered by the streets of that Bilbao whose cartography stands as one of the great strengths of this immense novel ensemble." Pilar Castro, El Cultural
"Everything flows rapidly in Awaiting the Flood, amid mud, rain, passions, redemptions, and storms, those of Noah Scott Sherrington, a Scottish detective in search of a serial killer who existed and was dubbed Bible John." Jesús Ruiz Mantilla, El País Semanal
"Millions of people across Spain and around the world were waiting for this moment." ELLE
"When fear dwells in the place where one should feel safe, the family home becomes a hell, where, it is known, only evil resides." Miriam Villamediana, ABC
"A superb investigation, conducted with great skill." Le Figaro Littéraire
"The investigation is sophisticated, and the chase is thrilling. A success." Fabrice Tassel, Le Nouvel Obs
"The author of the remarkable Baztan Trilogy brings us Awaiting the Flood, an investigation that takes us from Glasgow to Bilbao, following the trail of a serial killer. A masterful novel." Thierry Clermont, Le Figaro
"After the unforgettable Amaia Salazar from the Baztan Trilogy, a new investigator appears under the pen of the Basque novelist: Noah Scott Sherrington, a sentimental and heart-stricken Scotsman, tracking Bible John, a killer who murdered three women in Glasgow in 1968 and 1969." Libération
"The visual writing and dramatic tension make the story captivating, with a surprising ending." France Inter
