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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  extrajoker | Jul 4, 2009 |  Charlie Parker is a great, well-developed character that is written with such fast paced wit that it's hard to imagine his series ever becoming dull. (  ) branimal | May 3, 2009 | Charlie Parker makes his appearance in John Connolly's debut novel. (  ) xavierroy | Oct 1, 2008 | (  ) youthfulzombie | Jul 1, 2008 | My introduction to Connolly came in a rather roundabout way; I read The Book of Lost Things a while back, liked it but had no idea that he was better known for his Charlie Parker thrillers. I stumbled across him in the mystery section last Friday and decided to give the series a shot. This first book of the series introduces us to Parker, and ex-NYPD cop and reformed alcoholic whose life was shattered when his wife and daughter were killed by a mysterious serial killer known only as the Traveling Man. To compound his guilt, Parker was out drinking at the time of the murders following an argument with his wife about his addiction. Parker has been searching for the Traveling Man for close to a year, with no sucess. But when he returns to NYC to reconnect with old friends and tie up lose ends, the killer strikes again, leading Parker on a quest for vengeance that takes him down paths he never expected. As a series debut, this isn't half bad. Parker is a little hard to grasp in some ways; we know very little about him as a person, only that he's obsessed with finding his family's killer. I'd like him to be easier to relate to than he is here. But the supporting cast is strong and the book moves at a good pace with plenty of action. I'll keep reading the series and hope for more character development for Parker. ( ) bibliophool | Jun 12, 2008 |  no reviews | add a review
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| Book description |
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NYPD detective Charlie "Bird" Parker was busy boozing at Tom's Oak Tavern when his wife Susan, and young daughter Jennifer were mutilated by a killer called the Traveling Man. Consumed by guilt and alcoholism, Charlie soon lost his job, and almost his sanity. Several months on he is sober and ready to get his life back in order. Charlie takes up private investigating. One of his first cases involves the disappearance of a woman called Catherine Demeter. At first this puzzle seems unrelated to the Traveling Man--but Charlie has a gut feeling that the slayer is pulling the strings. "I dreamed of Catherine Demeter surrounded by darkness and flames and the bones of dead children. And I knew then that some terrible blackness had descended upon her."
The search for Catherine takes Charlie on a whirlwind tour of the South. First to the small Virginian town of Haven, where, some 30 years before, Catherine's sister Amy was murdered, along with other local children. But the trail turns cold--until a tip from a psychic leads Charlie to the swamplands of Louisiana. The subplots of Catherine's disappearance, age-old child murders, and the slaying of the Parker family finally unite in the hot, humid terrain. A showdown with the Traveling Man is inevitable.
Every Dead Thing is classic American crime fiction, and it's hard to believe that John Connolly was born and raised on the Emerald Isle. --Naomi Gesinger
(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:09 -0400)
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first line (of the first chapter): "The waitress was in her fifties, dressed in a tight black miniskirt, white blouse, and black high heels. Parts of her spilled out of every item of clothing she wore, making her look like she had swollen mysteriously sometime between dressing and arriving for work."
The mystery/crime/suspense genre isn't my normal cup of tea. Still, I really enjoyed the other Connolly books I've read -- The Book of Lost Things and especially Nocturnes -- so I thought I'd give his Charlie Parker series a go.
It's very dark, though if I couldn't have guessed as much from the title, then I deserved the many moments of squick. Unlike some genre fiction, the writing in Connolly's books is (with the exception of that "cold as the grave" bit) really strong, so I may continue with the series...now and again...when I want to feel horrified. (