Miquel Àngel Riera

First published in 1973, The Flight and Martyrdom of Saint Andreu Milà is the debut novel by Miquel Àngel Riera and a cornerstone of his literary career. Combining the momentum of the roman noir with the depth of the psychological novel, the author crafts a striking parable that opens with the escape of a gang of thieves who, after a severe crash, find themselves trapped within the wreckage of their car.

Through an unfathomable journey into the mind of its protagonist, Andreu Milà, the work unfolds as a harrowing vivisection of a tormented existence. These pages exude raw intensity alongside a poetic sensitivity that moves the reader through intersecting motifs: good and evil; life and death; sin and punishment; sacrifice and redemption. “Seldom,” noted critic and writer Joan Triadú, “has the device we call the 'novel' been deployed with such a penetrating balance of intelligence and humanity.”