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brettt's review against another edition
3.0
Irish-born John Connolly was the first author from outside the United States to win the Shamus Award for Best First Private Eye Novel, for 2000's Every Dead Thing. He also picked up a Bram Stoker award for Best First Horror Novel, which should tell you that his private eye fiction is just a leetle different from some of the usual product on the shelves.
The Black Angel is the fifth novel in the series that began with Thing, focusing on former NYPD detective Charlie "Bird" Parker, whose cases don't always involve purely natural elements. It seems supernatural forces of several kinds are at work in the world, and for some reason Charlie and his clients are often caught up in their work. In Angel, we start to get a hint of why that might be.
Although he is trying to make a new life for himself with his infant daughter and her mother, Charlie gets pulled back into a case when a young woman important to one of his friends is missing. The case will involve some truly terrifying criminals and supernatural beings who may number among the angels who fell with Lucifer.
Connolly excels as a writer and a storyteller, and uses the events of Angel to highlight the conflict within Charlie's life. He has in mind some commentary and consideration of some important issues in human life, like salvation, redemption, morality and compassion. But those same gifts make the bleakness of that life and sordid details of the crimes almost too vivid. In the end, Charlie Parker novels are probably an acquired taste, and might be best read with a lot of other, lighter-toned and more hopeful books in between them.
Original available here.
The Black Angel is the fifth novel in the series that began with Thing, focusing on former NYPD detective Charlie "Bird" Parker, whose cases don't always involve purely natural elements. It seems supernatural forces of several kinds are at work in the world, and for some reason Charlie and his clients are often caught up in their work. In Angel, we start to get a hint of why that might be.
Although he is trying to make a new life for himself with his infant daughter and her mother, Charlie gets pulled back into a case when a young woman important to one of his friends is missing. The case will involve some truly terrifying criminals and supernatural beings who may number among the angels who fell with Lucifer.
Connolly excels as a writer and a storyteller, and uses the events of Angel to highlight the conflict within Charlie's life. He has in mind some commentary and consideration of some important issues in human life, like salvation, redemption, morality and compassion. But those same gifts make the bleakness of that life and sordid details of the crimes almost too vivid. In the end, Charlie Parker novels are probably an acquired taste, and might be best read with a lot of other, lighter-toned and more hopeful books in between them.
Original available here.
amysaura's review against another edition
4.0
Oh my God, the ending broke my heart. Poor Parker :( This man really deserves a break!
I haven't reviewed any of the books in this series, but I think most people know by now that I love these books (by the fact that I've read 5 of them in such a short time!). The characters are what keeps me reading from book to book, because I want to know what's going to happen to them. Parker is a great main character here, and identifying with him is very easy. His action aren't always what we might call 'morally right' but we can never fault him for any of it. I was worried that his girlfriend Rachel would end up taking the role as the damsel in distress, but that only happens once and for good reason, IMO. She's as strong as any of the other characters, though she is against much of what Parker and his friends, Louis and Angel, do. And that is one of the conflicts in this book.
The mysteries are great, and many of them are very chilling. The writing is superb and so rich with beautiful details.
I haven't reviewed any of the books in this series, but I think most people know by now that I love these books (by the fact that I've read 5 of them in such a short time!). The characters are what keeps me reading from book to book, because I want to know what's going to happen to them. Parker is a great main character here, and identifying with him is very easy. His action aren't always what we might call 'morally right' but we can never fault him for any of it. I was worried that his girlfriend Rachel would end up taking the role as the damsel in distress, but that only happens once and for good reason, IMO. She's as strong as any of the other characters, though she is against much of what Parker and his friends, Louis and Angel, do. And that is one of the conflicts in this book.
The mysteries are great, and many of them are very chilling. The writing is superb and so rich with beautiful details.
booksfromboxes's review against another edition
2.0
I'm tired of writers who can only use female characters as either victims, cold hearted bitches from hell or bitter hags.
In all the Parker books you can count the number of women who aren't one or more of the above (and who actually survive) on one hand.
The story itself is not half bad (even if the supernatural aspect falls flat yet again) and there is still a hint of the humour that made the first book so enjoyable...it's just not enough anymore.
In all the Parker books you can count the number of women who aren't one or more of the above (and who actually survive) on one hand.
The story itself is not half bad (even if the supernatural aspect falls flat yet again) and there is still a hint of the humour that made the first book so enjoyable...it's just not enough anymore.
aubreysmith9412's review against another edition
1.0
This was not my favourite Charlie Parker book. Honestly, I think it's the weakest of the series so far. It wasn't all bad, but the few parts (and they were very, very few) I did enjoy didn't make reading the whole book very enjoyable.
There were just too many moving parts. Too many people, too many subplots, too many weird little details. It was all just way too much to keep track of all the time. By the time we get to the end, it's all so anticlimactic, that all the hyper-intense leadup was just epically let down.
The paranormal aspect is definitely ramped up this time around. I'm usually a fan of magical realism, or normalized paranormal elements. But I really, really don't like where they're going at the moment.
All in all, there was A LOT to take in and digest, for a lackluster finish, and a general sour taste as the book came to a close.
I'm a fan of this series, and I'm going to keep going with it. But this installment is definitely the weakest of the series so far. We can only move forward from here. Hopefully.
There were just too many moving parts. Too many people, too many subplots, too many weird little details. It was all just way too much to keep track of all the time. By the time we get to the end, it's all so anticlimactic, that all the hyper-intense leadup was just epically let down.
The paranormal aspect is definitely ramped up this time around. I'm usually a fan of magical realism, or normalized paranormal elements. But I really, really don't like where they're going at the moment.
All in all, there was A LOT to take in and digest, for a lackluster finish, and a general sour taste as the book came to a close.
I'm a fan of this series, and I'm going to keep going with it. But this installment is definitely the weakest of the series so far. We can only move forward from here. Hopefully.
debshelf's review against another edition
3.0
Fifth Parker novel. We learn a bit more about Louis’ background and Parker’s new relationship falls apart. This is one of the Parker novels that take the story out of New England (I think) and plunk it into the deep south, an area that Connolly depicts just as easily as the eastern seaboard. I think this one might be my least favorite.
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