Detalles

Off Track, Fran Zabaleta

A man on the run. A paradise steeped in legends. A thousand-year-old quest that is about to come to an end.

Laro is already in his forties and can't take any more. He has been at rock bottom for years, unable to take control of his own life, when a haughty judge and an unanticipated prison sentence give him the final kick in the teeth.

With nothing to lose, he flees Madrid and settles in an abandoned house in the mountains of Courel, one of the most remote and beautiful regions of Galicia, with the intention of vanishing from the world. But vanishing is not easy when the past haunts you and the future forces you to face your most stubborn enemy: yourself.

Moreover, paradise is not as idyllic as it seems. Despite the apparent friendliness of the locals, Laro soon discovers that he has found himself in the middle of a centuries-old conflict in which legends and reality have blurred boundaries and everyone wants to use him for their own ends...

A novel of suspense and adventure and a gruelling account of overcoming personal difficulties in an exceptional setting. An intense portrayal of events in which history is intertwined with the most deeply rooted popular beliefs of Galicia.

A journey into the legendary past of a land of dazzling beauty.

The location of the novel

Do you want to have a look at the towns, forests and mountains where the novel takes place? In the following map you have the main locations. Look for the places on it, but then I recommend that you look at them on Google Maps, satellite map, with 3D vision. You will see the contours of the mountains perfectly and you will get a much more accurate idea of the beauty of the Courel.

If you want to save this map, just select the icon in the header and it will be saved on your Google My Maps.

Off Track

Fran Zabaleta

Publisher Los Libros del Salvaje

320 pages

Available in digital format

Get it here!

What readers say

Amazing. I started reading and I couldn’t put it down. It has the power to transport the reader to the magical world of legends. It takes you into the very depth of the Galician forests, and you experience the sensation of entering a region that through its geography transports you to the past as graphically as a time tunnel. I was touched by the humanity of the characters and their complex relationship with the everyday and the mystical. I was sure that I would not be disappointed, and I certainly wasn’t.

I enjoyed it very much. It describes in a very vivid way the scenery of the Courel mountains in Galicia. As you read you feel yourself immersed in the landscape and in the popular beliefs of this land. The characters are also masterfully defined. Add to this a story that grips you, a story of suspense and adventure and a battle for personal fulfilment. I was delighted with it.

Superb plot in which contemporary issues, history, nature and emotions intersect.... A passionate narrative that combines historical events and present times, together with the nature and origins of an area that deserves to be better known... as indeed does its author.

Fantastic novel … The plot interweaves fictional protagonists with real locations in the Courel area of Lugo, all masterfully interwoven with ancient Galician legends in a thrilling intrigue that picks up pace as the story progresses ... I'm not usually very attracted to witchcraft and other ancestral beliefs, but here they are so well woven with reality, and so justified, that I ended up loving the novel.