Oriol Canals (Barcelona, 1978) took his first steps as a writer in 2013 with Fills de mala mare (Base). Since then, he has built a path in crime fiction that includes the titles Diví (Base, 2018), Els sentinelles de la llibertat (Rosa dels Vents, 2023) and No dormiràs (Rosa dels Vents, 2024). With the latter, Canals –who besides writing is the business director of ARA– placed himself among the best-selling writers of 2025 in Catalonia. Now, in the novel El cinquè cor (Rosa dels Vents, 2026), Canals unfolds a new story starring a doctor who is a world authority in the field of cardiology. The diagnosis of a serious illness will coincide with his 50th birthday and with a macabre gift that will set the pace of the story: a box with three human hearts and two empty spaces. Through this protagonist, an investigative journalist, and a Mossos d'Esquadra officer, Canals articulates a plot through which he provides an X-ray of evil, unbridled ambition, and contemporary fears.

I think that children today are being overprotected: no exams, no tests, nothing that could cause them a headache or discomfort. This can lead to overprotected adults. I don't like exams either, but I take them every day. We all take them every day.