The Whisperers

Me gusta cómo escribe John Connolly. Me gustas sus historias, que aunque pueden encuadrarse dentro del género negro, van un poco más allá, incluyendo ese "toque Connolly" tan característico, es decir, el añadir unas ciertas gotas de elementos fantásticos o paranormales. Connolly sabe construir historias. Su pulso narrativo es estupendo; a partir de una idea central (la madeja) va deshilvanando otra serie de tramas, llegando a confluir perfectamente al final. Y las historias no son complejas, aunque lo parezcan, ya que Connolly es tan buen narrador que las sigues sin ningún problema. Con el añadido, nada despreciable, de que leer su prosa es todo un disfrute por lo buena que es.

En 'Voces que susurran', volvemos a reencontrarnos show more con el detective Charlie Parker, en la que ya es la novena novela de la serie. Pero no es imprescindible (aunque sí recomendable para saber de todo el bagaje de Parker) haber leído las anteriores para disfrutar de ésta. En este caso, un padre, Bennett Patchett, acude a Parker para que investigue el suicidio de su hijo, veterano de la guerra de Iraq. Durante la investigación Parker se encontrará con un grupo de ex combatientes involucrado en actividades demasiado sospechosas; así como también con sus fantasmas del pasado, entre ellos cierto siniestro personaje. Y, por supuesto, no faltan esos secundarios de lujo, Louis y Ángel, colegas y amigos de Parker, sin los cuales no sería lo mismo.

El primer tercio de la novela es perfecto, y lo he disfrutado enormemente. El segundo tercio no está mal, pero he echado de menos algo más de profundidad. Y el último tercio, encuentro que está resuelto con demasiadas prisas. Aunque tal vez si hubiese tenido más páginas podría haber ido en detrimento de la historia. En general, es una muy buena novela. show less

This seemed like two books to me. One is a mystery/suspense novel that incidentally deals forthrightly and courageously about the effects of war on soldiers (especially Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), and the breach of faith by veterans’ agencies that are supposed to help treat these problems.

But in addition, there is a paranormal strain that underlies the plot, consisting of: ghouls; whispering voices that command self-destruction; ancient demons locked away in secret boxes; and contemporary demons that roam around - chiefly in Maine, it appears – bestowing pain and causing havoc.

Oh how I wish there were only the one book, and that it was the one described in the first paragraph. Because the fact is, I don’t think the plot show more needs the paranormal aspect at all. It still would have been compelling – (more so, in my opinion), and actually would only require a slight adjustment to make the plot work without the Beings from Beyond.

But as it happens, Charlie Parker, the private investigator who is featured in this series, is no stranger to communication with other worldly beings, as evidenced by references not totally clear to me about enigmatic events and characters from earlier books. In fact, he’s not all that “embodied” himself – I’m not sure who (or what!) he is, because the reader is kept at a distance. He narrates only some chapters, and we don’t really find out much about him. He’s just an occasional voice, but one apparently familiar to the paranormal beings.

The story concerns a group of soldiers from Cape Elizabeth in Maine who had served together in Iraq, and are now smuggling antiquities stolen from Baghdad and shipped to Canada. Maine, as the author explains, has 400 miles of land border with Canada, much of it wilderness. In addition, it has 3,000 miles of seacoast, and some 1,400 small islands. He labels it “a smuggler’s paradise.”

But the operation is not edenic. One by one, the boys involved are committing suicide. Charlie Parker is hired by one of their fathers to find out why, if he can. In the process, he looks into the nature of combat stress, the mental state of veterans when they return home, and what help they can (or cannot) expect from the government to help them readjust to “everyday life.” As the author argues, "you can't simply train a human being to fight and kill, expose him or her to sustained periods of deep stress, then expect an easy return to civilian life." Yet, in addition, Parker suspects something “hinky” is going on, but he can’t quite nail it down. What he does know, however, is that if he doesn’t find out, his life, and the lives of the remaining boys from the same squad, are in danger.

Evaluation: I liked the fact that the book integrated the problem of returning vets into the plot, and I liked the attention to the Canadian border problems. In general, however, I’m not a big fan of demons and ghouls and things that hang out in basements. As I have indicated in previous reviews, I think there are plenty of unsavory, violent characters in real life without having to conjure up purported emissaries from hell and whatever place “The One Who Waits Behind the Glass” is from. [Consider, for example, the story of In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Is not this much scarier than the idea of ancient demons in a secret box?]

The addition of Indiana-Jones-type ghouls to reality is not my cup of tea, but it’s not a bad book otherwise. I would, however, recommend that if this appeals to you at all, you begin earlier in the series, so you pick up all the references. show less

John Connolly once again balances the fine line between suspense and the paranormal in his ninth Charlie Parker novel, The Whisperers. This book explores a group of soldiers who served together in Iraq who are dying off, seemingly by their own hand. They are also involved in smuggling antiquities looted from the Baghdad Museum (chief among these is a mysterious box from which ghostly whispers emit; hence, the title); at the head of this ring is one particular soldier, the ruthless Joel Tobias. Peripheral characters abound, from other soldiers involved in the operations to collectors of antiquities who are at the buying end of the smuggled goods operation. Parker is drawn into the situation when the father of one of the dead soldiers show more contacts him regarding one of his female employees, who he suspects of being physically abused by Tobias, and also because he, deep down, suspects that Tobias had something to do with his son's death. Parker quickly finds himself drawn into a much more complex web than he could have imagined at the outset.

Connolly's novel is quite timely. It deals with the war, neither condemning nor condoning it, simply treating it as an ongoing facet of contemporary existence with consequences on U.S. shores that must be dealt with. It also deals with the very real issue of PTSD, hearkening back to the Vietnam era and seeking parallels there. Furthermore, it deals with an economy deep in recession and the effects it has on the actions of everyone, from desperate waitresses who stay with abusive boyfriends, to PIs who take cases they normally wouldn't have, to ex-soldiers who get involved in criminal operations. For these reasons, the novel is very fresh.

As always, Connolly's villans are chilling. The deformed Herod, seeking treasure, is decidedly creepy and ruthless, as is his supernatural counterpoint, the Captain. The Collector is back, and Connolly hints that he and Parker will have yet more complex dealings in future novels, something to look forward to. Joel Tobias is an excellently drawn portrait of a ruthless, greedy man with a strong capacity for violence and a certain remorselessness. The smuggling soldiers are all taunted by the supernatural whispering to which the title alludes, the psychological devastation that ensuses causing sympathy even for these crooked characters.

One thing that makes Connolly stand out from the pack of suspense writers is his fine writing style, here, as always, on display. He is extremely talented, with nuanced and expertly-crafted prose. No sentance is a throwaway, and there is no stale dialogue. Angel and Louis, always welcome additions to a Parker novel, provide some situations for some very snappy exchanges, and Parker's dry wit never deserts him. But there are also elegaic passages, beautifully written studies of landscape, psychology, and people. Connolly keeps several narrative styles juggled in the air at once and never drops a ball.

Nine novels into the series, and the endings have yet to get predictable. The book is quite suspenseful, with its blend of soldiers, hired guns like Angel and Louis, the police, and the supernatural. Connolly puts all these elements into a box (no pun intended on the mysterious box that is at the center of the plot), shakes it up, and leaves the reader to guess at what will come out, where the bodies will fall, who will end up allied with whom.

Highly recommended, as is this whole series. show less

With Connolly's Charlie Parker series you never know where the story will take you but it's guaranteed to be a hazardous, headlong ride and to have something really, really, strange happen along the way.

Something "hinky" is going on in Maine with the vets who have recently returned from Iraq. They are dropping like flies and the circumstances of their deaths, all suicide, bring up more questions than answers. There is a bit too much money floating around, a few too many border crossings, and the vets all seem to have known or served with each other. Parker is left to sort out the clues, settle an old man's mind, and save the world from an ancient evil.

Can some authors be ‘too big to fail?’ Is John Connolly one of them? I’ve had my ups and down with the series to be sure, but I found that this book felt particularly disconnected, like Connolly was allowed to take everything he had written in his word processing application and turn it in, without thought to transitions, flow, plotting or narrative voice. Am I being harsh? Perhaps. But that’s the trouble with reading some really great books–of which his prior book, [b:The Lovers|6145714|The Lovers (Charlie Parker, #8)|John Connolly|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1314485291s/6145714.jpg|6324602], was one–and avoiding chaff. Standards get raised. My rating, therefore, reflects the book in context of both Connolly’s show more writing and the series; like the English teacher with almost impossible standards, I know he is capable of better. Much better.

A pity, really, because the characters in the book are primarily veterans, and it gives the reader a chance to peek at some of the issues that surround those that sign up to fight in the nation’s ongoing wars. Connolly clearly believes the issues are complicated, and I admire him for it. If only he hadn’t felt the need to info-dump the obvious in the middle of the book, losing both plot flow and narrative sense. Again, capable of much better. There’s some character viewpoint switching that almost facilitates the understanding of the issue, except it is too little, too late (mild spoiler), usually switching as part of building some sort of tension or sympathy right before the person begins to descend into a terrible situation.

So what happens here? It opens with a scene in the Iraqi Museum, where an employee is discovered by an American who helps him look for a particularly troublesome object, normally buried in the unlabeled archives. We jump to the soldier walking his dog. We jump again to Parker meeting an older man in a diner, the father of the soldier. It’s the father of the soldier. Parker then investigates an ex-soldier boyfriend of a woman who works for that older man and who seems to be able to make payments on a very expensive semi without doing much work. Parker goes to talk to a drug kingpin who controls much of the Canada-US drug-trade (who knew?) and things escalate quickly.

There’s a few scenes that are extremely evocative. When Connolly gets it right, it’s beautiful and eerie and scary. Scenes where Parker is threatened, on the truck route and in his meeting with the drug kingpin at the ruined waterfront dive were particularly rich in imagery. The end scenes with the Collector were perhaps horrific beauty, and I had to read it twice.

Do I recommend it? If you are a serious fan of the series, sure. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great. The plot veered all over the place. I would have liked to see the dead soldier actually play more of a role in the investigation. I enjoyed parts a lot, but out of most of his books so far, I felt like I was reading an inferior product. It is probably worth it for the last 25%, which contains a (spoiler of a minor character appearance) a development with The Collector, the mysterious, perhaps supernatural, killer who has been dogging Parker’s footsteps. But temper expectations. show less

“‘Oh, little one,’ he whispered, as he gently stroked her cheek, the first time he had touched her in fifteen years. ‘What have they done to you? What have they done to us all?’ ”

The border region between Maine and Canada becomes a dark and dangerous place in John Connolly’s latest thriller featuring private detective Charlie Parker – The Whisperers. But there seems to be more at work among the cool forests than just treacherous former solders as voices of a paranormal nature are said to be directing things. While this adds additional tension to the story, The Whisperers is first and foremost a detective novel. Charlie Parker has become a well-worn detective by the time of this ninth installment in the series. Even so, show more the book reads well as a stand-alone work, with only minor references to the previous stories. Connolly never lets the tension slack from the first paragraph to the last sentence. His writing wastes no momentum with clean imagery and engaging characters throughout. The entire story feels very realistic as the allegiances of the characters are never completely clear, leading to one dramatic scene after another as the story builds to its startling climax.

Some readers of detective novels might balk at the idea of the paranormal in the story. However, Connolly does a wonderful job of ensuring reasonable doubt from beginning to end. The characters are the drivers of the action and there is plenty of it. The dialogue is crisp and authentic and many of the characters are as genuinely interesting as the protagonist – at least until they meet an untimely end. There is no letup in the story and I cruised though it from start to finish. In the end, I wanted even more. I finished the book and began looking to find copies of the first eight books in the series –a fitting compliment for any work.

Read more of my reviews at www.chadaaronsayban.blogspot.com show less

You can almost see the headline this was inspired by, the fact that looting happened in Iraq is a matter of fact, not conjecture, but the idea that one of the items was a demon box is interesting and different. I enjoyed this story. Charlie Parker is beginning to realise that his job as detective is more to fund his actions as a supernatural investigator and that he has a role in the world investigating those things that go bump in the night.

He has a specific set of skills that allow him to fight the things that prey on humanity and while sometimes humanity is a festering pile of poo, there are people who should be saved.

In this story Parker is drawn in to the missing items by a rash of suicides among some former Iraq combatants, show more disillusioned and disenfranchised they are dealing in some items that they found in their travels and now something has gone wrong.

It's an interesting read that I found hard to put down. show less