A racy entertainer. Review to follow soon. 
 There are many impressions to say about this book. But I will limit myself to some elements that had my attention. 
 The overall impression is already stated earlier: It is a Racy Entertainer. A good and an interesting companion in your holidays (for it can rob your time by compelling you to be glued to the pages). 
 About other impressions: 
 1. It can entertain anyone around the world. Though the story and the main plot are set in the Spanish city of Barcelona of the first 50 years of the 20th century and that the story is very much linked to the blood stained historical events (Revolutions and wars) that occurred in Barcelona and Spain, yet the reader from any part of the world without having any idea of the history of Spain could sill enjoy the novel and without much interruptions. If you are a person well versed with the history of Spain, then the level of your involvement in the plot would be all the more familiar. 
 2. It has all the necessary elements to keep the reader interested in - Gothic horror, Gothic romance, Gothic melodrama, action, suspense and nail biting thrilling sequences, a simple love story, humour, etc. Every genre is sufficiently treated and are equally spread over the 500 pages. 
 3. The characters: There are many interesting characters: You might admire some without you even knowing it; you might fall in love with few; your heart might go out to some (Eg. Penelope and Nuria and Miquel); you might want to have some as your companions (Eg. Fermin); you would cringe yourselves reading a name of a character; etc. I have avoided giving some more names for the fear of revealing the part of the story. ANd even now for having given few names I feel guilty of the spoilers. 
 Plot: I am not going to reveal the plot. But just an observation: The novel and the plot begins with the simple reality of a boy reading a book authored by Julian Carax. And from there it goes on to the simple enthusiastic investigation of the interested reader into the identity of the author of the book. Then opens the unimaginable and the racy plot. Zafon has the knack for suspense thrillers and no wonder that he was a script writer in the Hollywood. 
 Go for it if you are interested in a racy entertainer. 
 I feel my review should have been different. But then I also feared that I would reveal much of the story had I written in another way. But let me end with just an incident that would reveal to the extent I was drawn into the novel. 
 As I was half way through the novel one night I awoke with fright from the nightmare and adding to the nightmarish mood I just SAW two tombs in my room next to my bed. The tombstones were relatively very visible even in the darkness that covered my room in that night and it was only after some minutes I realised that I was seeing a scene from the novel and not a reality.