«My father has stopped smoking and asked me if I want lighters. ME. Of course, I ripped the 5-6 that he was carrying out of his hand and put them in his backpack »,« You show me little of your penis for how much I like you. Some”. These are just a few of the latest tweets from Flanagan McPhee, a pseudonym used by the Valencian Vicente Catalá Tormo, who has been on the social network X (formerly Twitter) since 2011. With nearly 27,000 followers, he has become one of the most witty and fun tweeters on this famous microblogging service.
McPhee now publishes his debut novel after Manual of the perfect lefta book illustrated by Iván Harón that swings between lyric and story. The strange life of lost objects It is a work that combines the thriller with humor and that the publisher itself compares with the novels of Eduardo Mendoza.
‘The Odd Life of the Lost and Found’ by Flanagan Mcphee [Ediciones B]
The author places the plot in Madrid, where an explosion in the middle of Puerta del Sol puts the authorities on alert. There is no trace of bombs or suspicious devices, but kilometer zero has been completely devastated. The security forces do not understand what could have happened and the only ones who know how to proceed are the agents of the State Secretariat RES (Recovery of Susceptible Elements). Made up mainly of women – specifically four agents on the verge of a nervous breakdown: Arancha, Belén, Lola, Leonor and Elena – RES is above all a top-secret organization. Its mission is to recover, catalog and keep hidden objects that belonged to famous people in history and that have acquired strange powers. These are called “Elements” and, if any of them fell into the wrong hands – be it Lola Flores’ lost earring or Ramón y Cajal’s robe – Spain (and all of humanity!) would be in grave danger.
The event at Puerta del Sol and other recent incidents that seemed isolated are beginning to take the form of a conspiracy. Someone is plotting a plan to take the Elements and use them for their own (and dark) benefit, but the agents are not going to allow it. 400 pages of pure fun that takes us to hidden places such as the Curro pet cemetery of the 1992 Seville Expo, which is located in the municipality of Alcalá de Guadaíra.
The work is endorsed by personalities such as the journalist Raquel Martos or the writer Juan Gómez-Jurado, who has said of The strange life of lost objects which is a novel as original as it is ingenious, in which the reader will fall in love with the RES agents. Furthermore, in the presentation that took place at the Casa del Libro in Gran Vía, the author of Red Queen He claimed to want to know more about these characters, which is why he believed that McPhee should complete a saga.
A novel to entertain and intrigue you this summer. Without forgetting, of course, the humor. To see the sarcastic tone of it, you only have to look at the beginning, the warning that the author makes about his novel: «This is a work of fiction that contains names of real characters. Some have had their names changed for the sake of the story and because I didn’t want any trouble. To others, no: please, do not report me, I have done it out of love. But come on, I guarantee that any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental. Well, except for the Elements, which I can neither confirm nor deny are reality or pure coincidence. That is yet to be seen. Oh, and I hope you like it. You are warned.
