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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
dark
slow-paced
This felt like two books in one, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find the first half super confusing. There were a lot of characters introduced and I found it hard to keep track of them all. However as the book progressed, and narrowed down I found it hard to put down. When I got to the ending, I really wanted to re read it and see all the hints at the killer that I’d missed.
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
So well written...but so tough to make it through. It's dark, devastating, and so many cruel things are detailed so excruciatingly well. I loved the main character and his two companions, and the moments with them were the breath of fresh air in a story where no light and no air existed. It was an absolutely thrilling book and such a well woven story...but the ending of the huge, impactful plot was just a little wanting. After all that Charlie was put through, and me as the reader, I needed just a little more reassurance that everything could be okay again. The sadness it ended with was just another break in the heart.
When was the last time you had to look away from a page in the middle of a scene and take a deep breath?
Reminiscent of Thomas Harris's indelible classics Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs, Every Dead Thing sliced its way into my 'best thriller' shortlist by chapter III. Connolly's characters deliver dialog as sharp as his prose in a rich and prickly story brimming with dark action. Many meet their end in awesomely gruesome ways, but sequences unfold with the right amount of thoughtfulness to make scenes feel real. Connolly walks a perfect line between pitch-black grimness, and gripping, exciting mystery.
If you enjoy thrillers (and can handle violence) this is a must read! The grittiest, most white-knuckled ride I've been on in a long time.
Reminiscent of Thomas Harris's indelible classics Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs, Every Dead Thing sliced its way into my 'best thriller' shortlist by chapter III. Connolly's characters deliver dialog as sharp as his prose in a rich and prickly story brimming with dark action. Many meet their end in awesomely gruesome ways, but sequences unfold with the right amount of thoughtfulness to make scenes feel real. Connolly walks a perfect line between pitch-black grimness, and gripping, exciting mystery.
If you enjoy thrillers (and can handle violence) this is a must read! The grittiest, most white-knuckled ride I've been on in a long time.
Re-reading my absolute favorite thriller/crime thriller/whatever you wanna call it series.
I did forget how Connolly puts 983 side plots in the books, or at least the early ones. Never a dull moment.
I did forget how Connolly puts 983 side plots in the books, or at least the early ones. Never a dull moment.
This is my fist Charlie Parker book and I hope the series gets better . There were too many characters in the book and it seemed there were two books combined in one .The first part of the book concentrates on solving a missing person case and the other half in solving his wife and daughter's murder by a psychotic serial killer called the Traveling Man . Put in some sidekicks , organized crime and unnecessary shoot outs I lost track of what was going on in the book . It did pick up pace and was a little streamlined in the end so I am giving it 3 stars
There is nothing on this level of amazingness out there that can compare to my utter love and devotion for this series. I am 11 books in and have no plans of stopping. I want all the deep introspective broody vibes, science fact based tidbits, supernatural utter creepy shit and truly evil baddies getting what they deserve. And the best part are my three main guys.
Charlie - soft sad boy who can and will commit some crime to set the odds straight
Angel- the most fashionable motor mouth with emotional intelligence to spare
Louis- deadly badass with a heart of gold and no time to waste on negativity from others.
Did I mention some of the best lgbtq+ rep I have ever seen? Healthy partners, who are MC's and don't get buried. Virtually unheard of in the mystery section of bookstores.
Charlie - soft sad boy who can and will commit some crime to set the odds straight
Angel- the most fashionable motor mouth with emotional intelligence to spare
Louis- deadly badass with a heart of gold and no time to waste on negativity from others.
Did I mention some of the best lgbtq+ rep I have ever seen? Healthy partners, who are MC's and don't get buried. Virtually unheard of in the mystery section of bookstores.
I'm finally trying to start this series!
Well, I supposed I have officially started it since I read the first one. It'll take me a while to catch up though.
This was more graphic and gruesome than I expected, and less paranormal (why did I think this series had a paranormal element? am I crazy?), but I enjoyed it the way I enjoy the old Criminal Minds episodes, with a mixture of fascination, horror, and empathy.
More to come.
Well, I supposed I have officially started it since I read the first one. It'll take me a while to catch up though.
This was more graphic and gruesome than I expected, and less paranormal (why did I think this series had a paranormal element? am I crazy?), but I enjoyed it the way I enjoy the old Criminal Minds episodes, with a mixture of fascination, horror, and empathy.
More to come.
I picked this up because the later Charlie Parker books caught my eye, and I like to start from the beginning. If this is any indication of what I'll find in the later books, though, no, thank you. For a thriller, this was awfully tedious.
Charlie "Bird" Parker is a former NYPD cop who lost his wife and daughter to a brutal serial killer. Some months later, he's a private investigator hunting down Catherine Demeter, but still driven to find his wife's killer, who a psychic informed him is called "The Travelin' Man." His search takes him to the dying town of Haven, VA, which is only tangentially related to his personal search. Then it's back to NYC, and down to New Orleans to take in some culture, break up a gang war by slaughtering one of the leaders, and to discover a lot of gruesomely murdered bodies.
Along the way, we meet dozens of people, about half of whom die. By the second half of the book, I'd given up on keeping track of anyone, certain most of them would be dead before the book ended. I wasn't wrong. Charlie, himself, kills almost as many people as the serial killer. The biggest difference is that Charlie doesn't have a grandiose reason for doing so. He pulls a thin veneer of self-defense over it, and that's good enough for the local police.
Despite the needless complexity, I still figured out the killer long before the ending. I never figure out the killer. I couldn't remember the killer's name, granted, but I knew who it was. But then, I don't think Connolly could've made names harder to keep track of if he tried. There were far too many names that sounded similar.
If you're considering reading this book, be warned that it contains some rather graphic descriptions of mutilation, during which most of the victims are still alive. It's not something that normally bothers me, but I'm sure I was scrunching up my face while I read.
I realize this is a debut novel, and that writers often improve as they go. I enjoyed The Book of Lost Things greatly, and I'm going to give his Samuel Johnson books a chance. But I really had to drag myself through this book, and kept going days at a time without opening it.
Charlie "Bird" Parker is a former NYPD cop who lost his wife and daughter to a brutal serial killer. Some months later, he's a private investigator hunting down Catherine Demeter, but still driven to find his wife's killer, who a psychic informed him is called "The Travelin' Man." His search takes him to the dying town of Haven, VA, which is only tangentially related to his personal search. Then it's back to NYC, and down to New Orleans to take in some culture, break up a gang war by slaughtering one of the leaders, and to discover a lot of gruesomely murdered bodies.
Along the way, we meet dozens of people, about half of whom die. By the second half of the book, I'd given up on keeping track of anyone, certain most of them would be dead before the book ended. I wasn't wrong. Charlie, himself, kills almost as many people as the serial killer. The biggest difference is that Charlie doesn't have a grandiose reason for doing so. He pulls a thin veneer of self-defense over it, and that's good enough for the local police.
Despite the needless complexity, I still figured out the killer long before the ending. I never figure out the killer. I couldn't remember the killer's name, granted, but I knew who it was. But then, I don't think Connolly could've made names harder to keep track of if he tried. There were far too many names that sounded similar.
If you're considering reading this book, be warned that it contains some rather graphic descriptions of mutilation, during which most of the victims are still alive. It's not something that normally bothers me, but I'm sure I was scrunching up my face while I read.
I realize this is a debut novel, and that writers often improve as they go. I enjoyed The Book of Lost Things greatly, and I'm going to give his Samuel Johnson books a chance. But I really had to drag myself through this book, and kept going days at a time without opening it.
It must be over a dozen years since I first read this, and while some parts, have aged(technology) It's as fresh as when I first read this. I've no idea why I rated four stars as it's very much a five star read.
Top Read written by a top bloke
Top Read written by a top bloke