Ricardo Menéndez Salmón studied Philosophy at the University of Oviedo. He is a contributor to the newspapers ABC, El Comercio and La Nueva España. His three previous novels for Seix Barral, La ofensa (2007), Derrumbe (2008) and El corrector (2009); called the Trilogy of Evil, were hailed by the critics and made him into one of the most prestigious contemporary Spanish authors. Ricardo has been translated into Catalan, French, Italian, Dutch and Portuguese and his work has received many prizes including the Crítica de Asturias, the Crítica de la Feria del Libro de Bilbao, the Cálamo for Best Novel of the year, among others.