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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
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:
Yes
This was both engaging and building to a big next book. Less violent than others. Charlie gets a bit obsessed with a case. Not sure why. But interesting and even more supernatural than usual.
given a copy by netgalley.opinions are mine
given a copy by netgalley.opinions are mine
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Dark, grim supernatural crime story. Plot and pace kept me turning the pages with a very satisfying denouement.
I don't know guys. I love Charlie Parker but this was just not that great. It's definitely not in my top five of this series. This is even more filler (why is Parker so important---the world will never know) and the main plot is just very unsatisfying. I just felt like there were too many holes and not enough people for me care about outside of Charlie, Louis, and Angel. We do get more of Charlie and his daughter Sam which I appreciated. I wonder if any other readers gets the idea that there may be a spin-off soon to Charlie Parker? I was getting those vibes.
"The Children of Eve" follows Charlie after he is hired by an artist he knows to track down her boyfriend who just bounced out of town without a letter, text, or email left behind. Charlie being Charlie, he starts to figure out that the guy may be in deep with some pretty bad people. Even though he is called off the investigation, he insists on still finding out what the guy was involved with and when he finds out children may be part of this mystery, he is determined to do whatever it takes to find them.
Since this is a hardcover, I can't estimate how much of the book was really about Charlie and the ongoing mystery with him, but not a lot it felt like. We spent a good portion of the book with Jennifer (Charlie's other daughter) in the place she has been for several books now. We get some additional context about this place, other people there, and what walks there, but I just didn't feel satisfied with that. I really wish that Connolly would just reveal all and quit dangling threads that go nowhere. Maybe I am annoyed because we even had a book getting into Charlie's birth, his mother, etc. and that went nowhere. At this point, I am getting some "The Rise of Skywalker" nonsense feelings and I just want to read a great book that involves mystery, horror, fantasy, and magical realism without me doing some crazed wall map of connections with red thread running around the whole thing.
The plot such as it was, drags down the whole book. I didn't care what was happening to the bad guys, who or what the senora was, etc. I guessed, was correct, and just didn't even understand the purpose of the main plot. It was all over the place. I mean I did applaud Connolly for talking crap about crypto because come on people, but everything else was too much. Too many side characters, too much murder, too much info spewing, etc. I just feel like Charlie is not central to these books anymore and that makes me sad.
The setting of Maine continues to be a dark place with ghosts. The action moves around to Mexico, Virginia, and I think I am forgetting some locations.
The ending though, I just want the mystery revealed or never brought up again. It's been several books now hinting at something bigger for Charlie. If Connolly doesn't reveal it soon, I can't see it mattering much to readers. But, I am officially over it at this point. I don't really care what it is since I doubt whatever Connolly reveals is going to trump what's in my head or used to be in my head about Charlie anyway.
Would suggest reading to keep up with Charlie and the gang, but for me, wish I had just borrowed via the library. I don't think it was worth the money I paid for it.
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Second experience with this series and my first experience was years ago.
I was confused at the beginning because I am unfamiliar with the series' characters and how they tie to one another. Because of this, the ghost sections were less interesting than the actual case Charlie worked on. The case I had no problems following.
I enjoyed it enough to look into the first book of the series.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes