The White Road

Another outing with Charlie Parker and his cronies. This is book 4 in this stellar series. In it we meet a lot of old froends , and, most disturbingly, old enemies. We see a happier and more content Charlie living with his partner and expecting their first child. And then an old friend calls him for help way down in the Deep South. He wants help to protect a young black man from being charged with a murder that he didn’t commit, and to keep him safe from the rednecks in Charleston who want him dead just because he loved a white woman. Charlie says he’ll help and then finds himself on the wrong side of some very powerful white Crackers. A lot of old crimes are simmering beneath the surface of the southern swamps, and Charlie finds show more himself alone in a hostile land. That is until he calls on his friend Louis, the tall steel-hearted, black, dapper assassin. The atmosphere of these books is what captivates me, and nothing is more sinister than the Deep South with its swamps, muddy creeks and buried secrets. That, and the fabulous trio of Charlie, Louis and Angel who always seem to win against evil. This series is wonderful with its hint of the supernatural and the triumph of good over evil. I felt like picking up the next book in the series and reading it right away, but thought that would be too intense. I’ll wait a bit, and read something else until I can get back to Charlie, Louis and Angel. show less

I have to start this off with a word of caution. To truly enjoy this absolutely amazing series, you have to start at the beginning. Starting anywhere other than Book 1---All The Dead Things and reading each book in order---should be punishable by public flogging. Would you recommend watching the Star Wars Trilogy in reverse order? Didn’t think so. This series is thought out in the big picture and each book builds on and relates back to the ones that precede it. It would be a crime to read them out of order.

I am only on episode 4 in this series and am deliberately spacing out the books to prolong the enjoyment. I am glad that I came to this series late because I have quite a few volumes before I have to wait for Mr. Connolly to write show more new installments.

The White Road is a place. Well, maybe a location is a better word. A metaphysical highway leading to….not sure yet, that is probably a few books ahead. The White Road is traveled by the dead, some of the living with special talents, and others that were never alive, or at least never fully human. The supernatural elements that were only hinted at in Every Dead Thing and Dark Hollow and started to gather in the wings in The Killing Kind are making their presence known as we begin to travel down the White Road.

What sets this already amazing weird detective series apart from all others is Connolly’s skill. The man can write circles around 99% of the writers today. Alternating between poetic dark mysticism and savage crime fiction this series is spellbinding in the true sense. Every time I open one of these books I pretty much am no good to anyone for the couple of days it takes to read the story. You are under its spell and will think about it pretty much every minute until you finish. These are realistic detective stories with a dark undercurrent that whispers of demonic origins.

Add to this Connolly’s characters. A cast of villains that are so over the top, so savage and hateful, so downright creepy, that you feel their presence as you read. Each book brings a set of flawed characters that you will root for or despise, but never forget. And then there are Charlie Parker, Louis and Angel. Louis, a semi-retired assassin so deadly that the mob has decided to leave him alone because it is just too dangerous to try to kill him and risk pissing him off; Louis’ significant other Angel, a non-apologetic thief who will follow Parker to the end of the earth and beyond because, as he says, some debts can never be paid. Louis and Angel are the muscle, and at times the laugh out loud humor, behind Parker’s brains and passion for justice as he travels down the White Road, seeking out the Dark Angels who bring horror and devastation to the world and, hopefully, not losing all that he loves in the process. show less

"To invite me into their lives was to admit failure and allow death its provenance, for I was the one who arrived when all hope was gone, offering nothing but the possibility of a resolution that would bring with it more grief and pain and a knowledge that perhaps would make ignorance appear like a blessing. The only consolation in all that would occur was that some small measure of justice might begin to accrue from my involvement, that lives might continue with some small degree of certainty restored: the certainty that the physical pain of a loved one was at an end, and that somebody cared enough to try to discover why that pain had been visited on them at all."

Charlie Parker is still finding his way, but he is coming to understand show more that his form of justice has jagged edges. Louis, one of Parker's best friends, knows even more about Charlie's form of justice than he does: "He [Parker] had chosen his own first faltering steps toward some form of salvation over the wishes, perhaps even the needs, of his friend, and Louise could not find it in him to blame Parker for this. Even Angel did not blame him: he merely wished that it were otherwise."

The beginning is a bit like following a trail of breadcrumbs, as Connolly recounts the public lynching of a black man in 1964, Louis settling up old debts, a retired guard in the Carolina swamp plotting revenge and Parker trying to bring closure on the case of Cassie Blythe. Parker is back to his normal cases, leaving white crime behind, but still trying to stay close to home with Rachael pregnant with their child. He seems almost desperate for normalcy, but can't escape the ghosts of the dead and his feeling of obligation. To make matters worse, Faulkner, the evil preacher from the last story, is about to be freed from jail, and Parker, Louis and Angel know they'll be first on his list.

A lawyer friend from NYPD days calls from South Carolina, wanting Parker to find information exonerating his client, Artys Jones, a poor black man, from the rape and murder of a white woman. The woman, Marianne Larousse, is the daughter of a man who virtually owns the the area with tobacco, oil wells, mining and factories, so despite Marianne and Artys seeing each other, no one is inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"The history of these two families, the Larousses and the Joneses, the blood spilled and lives destroyed, meant that it could never be anything as pure as luck or coincidence that drew them together. Over more than two centuries they had bound themselves, each to the other, in a pact of mutual destructiveness only partly acknowledged on either side, fueled by a past that allowed one man to own and abuse another."

Wrapped around and threaded through the case in Carolina of the dead woman is the history of racism in the south. It was chilling coincidence that I read this as #45 talked about 'both sides doing wrong' at a white supremacist rally where a peaceful counter-protestor was killed. It was clear that Connolly did a lot of research about hate groups in the Southern U.S. as a connection develops between the Neo-Nazi movements, the white supremacists and the fringe. It is rare to learn so much from a thriller, but it gave a horrifying feel of realness about the story, that different kinds of crazy might align themselves together to consolidate a power base.

Much more would run the risk of spoiling. I thought that this was a much stronger book than the previous ones for me, with better balance between the evil and the philosophy. The setting was extremely well done, from an endless swampy wilderness, to a run down industrial area. The mystery had a couple of solid twists, making it satisfactory on that level as well. If anything, this reminded me of a more horrific Tana French (these Irish!). Definitely not one I read before bedtime, at the risk of adrenaline twitches. There's even a tiny bit of humor mixed in, as one of Parker's contacts is looking for help finding a date in return for a professional favor. My only complaint would be that the resolution to all the threads (but not the mystery) felt rushed and over convenient, with an odd switch into third person omniscient that contrasted uncomfortably with the Parker's first person and the occasional cut of third person limited used in the rest of the story. Overall, though, that was a minor complaint that only stood out because the rest of it was so interesting and full. I'll definitely move on to the next. show less

In South Carolina, a young black man faces the death penalty for the rape and murder of Marianne Larousse, daughter of one of the wealthiest men in the state. It's a case that nobody wants to touch, deeply rooted in old evil -- and old evil is Charlie Parker's specialty. It was easier to figure out the mystery behind this one. And there was a definitively supernatural element to this one... more so than the ones before. Generally, I liked it.

Loved it! This book really sets the stage for me for this series. At this point the supernatural parts become much louder in my head. The link back to other cases here’s great too. We have a changed Angel (I can see why) and Charlie realizing that sometimes certain people just don’t deserve to live. I was at the seat of my pants during the ending, but it surprised me and makes me wonder what is next for Charlie and Rachel.

“The White Road” has Charlie being asked by an old friend to help him with a case involving a black boy being accused of the rape and murder of his white girlfriend. We find out that this case also links two families (one white and one black) that have had dark encounters with each other for centuries.

The show more Reverend is back in this one hell bent on making Charlie pay for the deaths of his two children. A new player is on the board and one wonders how this person can cause harm to Charlie.

Angel is forever changed by what happened to him in the last book. He and Louis seem to be finding their footing, but still love each other.

Charlie is preparing for the birth of his unborn child with Rachel, but still being called to that honeycomb world. The things he sees and feels definitely sit with you.

The writing per usual is pitch perfect. The flow works. I was on the edge of my seat towards the end. Once everything is revealed I went wow.

One know wonders what’s up next for Charlie. show less

There's not a lot of supernatural in this one, but a hint that Charlie's world has hit a supernatural speed bump and things will never be the same again for him. He's asked to help investigate a murder of a well connected girl, but finds that when he starts investigating things the consequences are going to be interesting.

Meanwhile we learn more about Angel and Louis and how actions have consequences and how sometimes, just sometimes, killing someone is the best option. Charlie is finding himself drifting more and more from the straight and narrow. His life has diverged from where it was at the beginning of the series and he isn't unhappy with the path it's taken, just worried where it's taking him.

Former NYPD Detective Charlie Parker has relocated in Maine, where he's now living with criminal psychologist Rachel Wolfe, the woman he loves and who is expecting their child. When an old friend from Charleston, South Carolina, asks for Parker's help on a racially charged murder case, Parker reluctantly heads south. Of course, this isn't the South that draws tourists from around the globe, but a violent, racist and malevolent place near the Congaree swamp. We also get to see and learn more about Parker's guardian angels, gay killers Angel and Louis. They are interesting and humorous and we start to learn a lot more of their history, making them richer characters.

Charlie is still haunted by dreams of his former life. There is a show more supernatural element in these books but not one that strains the reader's credulity. The characters and themes of this series are quite violent and I wouldn't recommend it to a fan of cozy mysteries. In a series that normally can be read out of order, The White Road is a sequel to The Killing Kind, involving the same characters and a continuation of the story. I would not recommend reading it out of order.

Every year I pick out one of my favorite long running series and revisit it in the audio version. I'm definitely going to put this series into contention for 2017, starting with Every Bad Thing. show less