Outlaws - Hardcover

"A persuasive, brilliant and absorbing book that has more contemporary resonance than even he might have imagined." --"The Economist", on "The Anatomy of a Moment"

"A haunting and provocative book about history, memory, and the elusive nature of heroism . . . Funny, moving, and surprising." --"The Washington Post", on "Soldiers of Salamis"

"Conjuring up lost people and places in a style at once personal, idiosyncratic and slyly circuitous . . . fostering a seductive and even moving sense of immediacy . . . Cercas demonstrates . . . that history demands emotional engagement." --"The New York Times", on "The Speed of Light"

A persuasive, brilliant and absorbing book that has more contemporary resonance than even he might have imagined. "The Economist, on The Anatomy of a Moment"

A haunting and provocative book about history, memory, and the elusive nature of heroism . . . Funny, moving, and surprising. "The Washington Post, on Soldiers of Salamis"

Conjuring up lost people and places in a style at once personal, idiosyncratic and slyly circuitous . . . fostering a seductive and even moving sense of immediacy . . . Cercas demonstrates . . . that history demands emotional engagement. "The New York Times, on The Speed of Light""

"A persuasive, brilliant and absorbing book that has more contemporary resonance than even he might have imagined." --The Economist, on The Anatomy of a Moment

"A haunting and provocative book about history, memory, and the elusive nature of heroism . . . Funny, moving, and surprising." --The Washington Post, on Soldiers of Salamis

"Conjuring up lost people and places in a style at once personal, idiosyncratic and slyly circuitous . . . fostering a seductive and even moving sense of immediacy . . . Cercas demonstrates . . . that history demands emotional engagement." --The New York Times, on The Speed of Light

On a summer day at the arcade, timid sixteen-year-old Ignacio Cañas encounters two charismatic rebels: El Zarco ("Blue Eyes") and his gorgeous girl, Tere. Entranced, he crosses the border into their dangerous world, becoming their partner in crimes that quickly escalate.

Twenty-five years later, Tere materializes in Cañas's office, needing help. Cañas has settled back into middle-class life, becoming a successful defense lawyer. Zarco has matured into a convict of some infamy. Yet somehow, with new stakes, this three-way affair will begin again.

With his usual brio, Javier Cercas surveys the borders between right and wrong, respectability and criminality, and to what extent we can pass between them—or determine on which side we ultimately fall. This brilliantly plotted tale firmly establishes him as one of the most rewarding novelists writing today.