Carme Chaparro
Carme Chaparro is a journalist with a distinguished career as a TV news presenter and editor. For twenty years, she has presented the Mediaset group’s flagship news programmes covering the key Spanish and international events of the past two decades. Carme Chaparro is a lifelong campaigner for the rights, freedom and equality of women. She is the founder of BenditoBolso.com -BlessedBag-, a company whose mission is to provide dignified employment to women who have been victims of sexual explotation. In 2018 she was awarded the PSOE Feminism Prize, and her work has been recognized by the Spanish legal system’s Domestic and Gender Violence Observatory. In addition to her television work, Carme contributes to a number of magazines, including Yo Dona, where she has a weekly column, and GQ and Mujer Hoy. She also writes a regular blog for Yahoo. Her first novel, No soy un monstruo [I am not a Monster], won the Primavera Fiction Prize 2017. A sequel, La quimica del odio [Chemistry of hatred] has just been published in
Spain.
-----
“In Spain, Carme Chaparro is a star: a respected television journalist and an award-winning, best-selling author. Her debut thriller in English, I am not a Monster, will make her a star in America as well. The plot is propulsive, intricately constructed and enriched by meticulous research. Chaparro also takes the time to develop vivid characters with complex backstories. Having worked and lived in Spain, I can confirm that the portrait of Spanish law enforcement in action--from the hard-charging personalities to the dogged investigative work—rings true. The story of two high-powered women, a detective and a journalist, plunged into the hunt for missing children and a mysterious predator, is relentlessly suspenseful. The twists and turns will give you whiplash. In the end, this book succeeds as a mystery and as a story about the nobility and darkness of the human soul.”
--Sebastian Rotella, Author of Rip Crew (#3 in the Valentine Pescatore series).
------
“Carme Chaparro’s debut crime novel, I AM NOT A MONSTER, is a taut, modern and intensely visceral thriller. Chaparro unspools the plot with journalistic precision, painting a stark picture of modern Madrid with the flair and confidence of a veteran novelist. I’m astounded and impressed that this is her first novel, and I eagerly await many more. Do not sleep on this book. International suspense at its finest.”
-- Alex Segura, author of the acclaimed Pete Fernandez Miami Mystery series
“Carme Chaparro has crafted an emotionally intense tale of abduction – and she’s done it with striking ingenuity, unfailing compassion, and a vivid focus on the tumultuous inner lives of her characters. The pace of the cleverly constructed plot accelerates
steadily -- culminating in a truly startling revelation.”
-- JOHN VERDON,
international bestselling author of the Dave Gurney series of mystery-thrillers
------
“Each chapter is a perfect mechanism that mesmerises the reader.”
EL PAIS
“A novel dealing with the monster that lies within each one of us.”
LA VANGUARDIA
“This thriller makes a perfect script for a movie.”
EL MUNDO
“A devilishly intelligent novel with an unexpected ending.”
CARMEN POSADAS, writer
“A magnetic novel that keeps you in suspense to the end.”
CARME RIERA, writer and Spanish language academic
