The Lovers; John Connolly
It wasn't until I finished listening to this audio book did I realize this was book #8 of the series featuring PI Charlie Parker.
For newcomers like myself, Charlie Parker is a private investigator whose license to carry a firearm has been suspended. Charlie now spends his time as a bartender in Portland, Maine. While in Maine, Charlie does some reflecting on his past; life has not been kind to him. Charlie's wife and daughter were murdered (in an earlier installment), and even earlier when Charlie was just fifteen years old, his father a NYPD officer, had committed suicide after being haunted by the fact that he had shot and killed two unarmed teenagers. As Charlie begins investigating events of the past some startling facts surface.
My Thoughts -- Although I enjoyed listening to this audio book a lot, the reader was terrific, but I did find some of the story confusing at times. If you are a fan of psychological thrillers. and stories with elements of the supernatural and ghosts from the past, you would probably enjoy this series. I would recommend starting with book #1....Every Dead Thing, as I did wish I had done. I think everything would have made perfect sense, and I would have enjoyed this story even more than I did.
I read "Every Dead Thing" and two of the others after it ... it is a good series and I could see that it might be hard to start so late in.
ReplyDeleteI've listened to The Unquiet and enjoyed it, but agree that starting at the beginning would have made the experience better.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine loves John Connolly's books. I haven't had a chance to start the series yet. When I do, I'll be sure to take your advice and start with the first book in the series. :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you for your review of this audio book, Diane. I read The Book of Lost Things by this author not too long ago.
ReplyDeleteI highly recommend this series - it's one of the best ones I read. Connolly's a really great and interesting writer and his characters are just wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI loved Connolly's Book of Lost Things so much. And I really enjoyed Nocturnes, his book of Short Stories. The last story in the book was a Charlie Parker story. It's the first of anything about Parker that I've read. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the story, there was a lot of backstory I seemed to be missing.
ReplyDeleteConnolly is a great writer though.
I have had the pleasure of meeting Connolly twice and he's a very funny man who writes very dark thrillers.
ReplyDeleteThe series doesn't make a lot of sense unless it's read in order. Here is a Lismania! I did for just that purpose:
Charlie Parker in order
John is currently working on the 9th installment, The Whisperers.
Charlie...thanks so much for posting the order....much appreciated! Lucky you for meeting this talented author.
ReplyDeleteI've never read any of his books but this one sounds good!
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