This extraordinary novel reveals Aguinis’ masterful subtlety and natural powers of seduction, as he ensnares the reader from the first page. A Conspiracy of Idiots is a story narrated by Natalio Comte, who—thanks to his abandoned medical career and his interpretation of the Scriptures (“Blessed are the poor in spirit…”)—discovers the secret of the “Sinarchy,” and is both witness to and protagonist of a search in which psychological insight and superstitions converge with occult sensations and superficial urges, which hate uses to invent new knowledge and power.

Without truce or mercy, this novel moves us, amuses us, and leaves us shaken. Its composition was assuredly a true challenge for its creator. “The author ascends a particularly painful slope in turning one of the most helpless sectors of humanity into the object of oppressive fury,” Aguinis confesses in the epilogue.

Aside from its formidable literary merits and its bone-chilling irony, “A Conspiracy of Idiots” is an exalted plea against all types of persecution. To quote the author, “The victims of every era—usually defenseless—may be innocent in every conceivable way, but to no avail; when the storm comes, innocence affords no protection.”