Reviews - The Instruments of Darkness

109 reviews for:

The Instruments of Darkness

John Connolly

4.28 AVERAGE

maunsell_18's review against another edition

4.75

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

jen_meds_book_reviews's review against another edition

4.75

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I do love a John Connolly book, and nothing beats being back in the company of Charlie Parker and his unusual collection of friends and colleagues. As readers might expect from a Private Investigator themed novel, our wonderful protagonist is not exactly a stranger to operating on the very fringes of what might be considered legal, but only ever in a worthy cause, and only where Parker knows that he has right on his side. It's fair to say that his companions take things to the limits as well, and none of them are averse to the odd exploration of violence in the course of the their investigations. Perhaps good news for their clients, and by extension us as readers, just as long as they are being straight with Parker. Less so for those that they may come up against.

The Instruments of Darkness is what I'd probably class as a 'classic' Parker investigation. Fans of the series will probably guess what I mean by this, but for anyone who is not acquainted with the books, I'd perhaps recommend starting at the beginning. You don't really need to know Parker's full life story to enjoy this book - it is a self contained mystery - but it certainly helps. On the surface, this is a straightforward(ish) missing child case, where one parent, in this case the mother, Colleen Clark, stands accused of her sons murder. Colleen's lawyer, Moxie Castin, has Parker on retainer, calling on him to find the evidence the Police have thus far failed to uncover. If this is a murder, where is the body? And if Colleen Clark, is guilty, what is her motive? The prosecution would have people believe that it is a gross case of postnatal depression or psychosis. Moxie, and Parker, are not so convinced. And if Parker thinks you are innocent ... well, for the most part he's a pretty astute judge of character. Twenty previous books stand as testimony to that fact.

What I love about these books, apart from John Connolly's unrivalled ability to take readers into the heart of the story, creating imagery so vivid that you can feel the atmosphere seep from the page (or in my case, the speakers), it's that each case takes us beyond the corporeal into a twisting stream of otherworldliness. Now, if you know anything about this series it is that there is often something more lurking in the shadows, something that extends beyond the evil that mankind does unto mankind. The Instruments of Darkness, almost in spite of the title, may now quite take us as far into the shadows as some of its predecessors, but there is still that kind of chilling tension that suggests we should come to expect the unexpected. Parker himself has a unique gift, but he meets another in this book who shares a similar inclination, if I can term it that way, that helps to establish, for us readers first and foremost, where the true guilt in this case might lie.

That element of the book is perhaps more understated than some of the earlier books as well, and much of the action happens as you might expect for in a P.I. novel. Investigator - Parker - follows leads, speaks to witnesses, chases up alternate suspects. So far so typical. But John connolly has a brilliant way with words, and Charlie Parker's dry, sardonic, sometimes ironic, often cynical, humour, particularly when dealing with the bad guys, really makes these books for me. Add in a healthy dose of Tony and Paulie Fulci (who I am loving more with every book) and a nice, if somewhat late in the story, appearance from series stalwarts, Louis and Angel, and I am a very happy bunny.

I listened to the audio book version, very brilliantly narrated by Jeff Harding. He drew me into the story, engaged me in the characters, and really brought John Connolly's prose to life. I know it is a strange thing to say seeing as how the books are set, by an large, in Maine, but I still have to take a moment when hearing the story read in an American accent ( I don;t read it like that in my head if that makes sense), but I settled into the narration really quickly and found it so easy to focus on the audio when I can often find myself distracted by the 'real world'.

The Instruments of Darkness is a story packed with mystery and suspense, a vein of chilling, atmospheric tension and characters to both love, and hate and I loved it. I'd forgotten how much I missed these guys. So nice to have them back. Definitely recommended.

abookishtype's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Charlie Parker returns in The Instruments of Darkness, by John Connolly, the twenty-first book in the series. Parker has been bruised and battered by his work as a private investigator, but he can’t stop when there’s a chance that he can take a measure of evil out of the world. Evil is absolutely real for Parker. He can sense the presence of supernatural evil when it begins to infect our world. It’s a wonder Parker can still joke. This entry in the series sees Parker taking on two evils: a child murderer and a pack of neo-Nazis...

Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.

cassiecat's review against another edition

4.0

mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Loveable characters: No

4⭐️ 🎧

Book 21 Charlie Parker series

I had the audiobook read by Jeff Harding, I didn’t gel with the narrator, his female voices are cringy. His tone didn’t hold my attention well

This is my first delve into this author’s work, so deep into the series it’s probably a big mistake! It seems that’s there’s history between the characters, which I’ve obviously missed out on, so I feel this is a series that needs reading in order as it’s rich in character depth. I do like a series that’s very character driven when I’m invested in the characters. I didn’t really like the characters with the exception of Sabine, I thought she was great.

Colleen Clarke is accused of kidnapping and possibly murdering her child. Moxie Castin is defending her with PI Charlie Parker.

The writing style is very descriptive and it’s a long book. It’s well written but the writing style isn’t for me, I prefer a shorter snappier writing style, I enjoyed the humour. It’s got good character depth and I’ve missed out on the development to date.

I know it’s a very popular series but I don’t think I’ll be catching up with the rest. If you are considering this but haven’t read any of the series, I’d recommend starting at the beginning.