You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by foolishcatalyst
A Game of Ghosts by John Connolly
4.0
If you like the more down-to-earth, personal tone of the early Charlie Parker books, then this is for you.
If you like the off-the-wall paranormal horror elements of the later Charlie Parker books, then this is ALSO for you.
This book does a lot. We see our boys dealing with custody battles and live-threatening illnesses at the same time that they're investigating actual honest-to-god ghosts.
As always, Parker, Angel and Louis are the strengths here. No Fulcis, sadly, but Ross is an ever-looming presense. We also have wannabe mobster Philip struggling to gain control of his deceased father's criminal empire while his mother, known only as Mother, seeks to dismantle it. We have the Collector, whose brief appearance in this book will undoubtedly have a lasting effect on Parker's world. Sam and Rachel continue to struggle with being associated with Parker. And finally, we the Bretheren, our primary antognists and I just... I didn't jive with the Bretheren.
A close-knit, incestuous family, deeply entrenched in the paranormal, the Bretheren are very similar to the people of the Cut. But while the Cut were sinister and gripping, the Bretheren felt very generic, with a sprawling network of individuals whose names you need to remember, whose relationships you need to keep track of, to really get the most out of the conclusion. I found myself constantly going back to the first appearance of most of the characters to check who was who and still kept getting lost. It's a shame, because this book would be so close to perfect otherwise.
This book did a lot to remind me of all the things I didn't realise I'd missed from the early Parker novels. While [b:The Black Angel|905563|The Black Angel (Charlie Parker, #5)|John Connolly|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1408925792l/905563._SY75_.jpg|890709] has always been my favourite, it marked a departure from the more relatable, provincial cares of Parker's every day life. A Game of Ghosts masterfully balances personal and the paranormal in the way that no other book in this series has quite managed.
If you like the off-the-wall paranormal horror elements of the later Charlie Parker books, then this is ALSO for you.
This book does a lot. We see our boys dealing with custody battles and live-threatening illnesses at the same time that they're investigating actual honest-to-god ghosts.
As always, Parker, Angel and Louis are the strengths here. No Fulcis, sadly, but Ross is an ever-looming presense. We also have wannabe mobster Philip struggling to gain control of his deceased father's criminal empire while his mother, known only as Mother, seeks to dismantle it. We have the Collector, whose brief appearance in this book will undoubtedly have a lasting effect on Parker's world. Sam and Rachel continue to struggle with being associated with Parker. And finally, we the Bretheren, our primary antognists and I just... I didn't jive with the Bretheren.
A close-knit, incestuous family, deeply entrenched in the paranormal, the Bretheren are very similar to the people of the Cut. But while the Cut were sinister and gripping, the Bretheren felt very generic, with a sprawling network of individuals whose names you need to remember, whose relationships you need to keep track of, to really get the most out of the conclusion. I found myself constantly going back to the first appearance of most of the characters to check who was who and still kept getting lost. It's a shame, because this book would be so close to perfect otherwise.
This book did a lot to remind me of all the things I didn't realise I'd missed from the early Parker novels. While [b:The Black Angel|905563|The Black Angel (Charlie Parker, #5)|John Connolly|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1408925792l/905563._SY75_.jpg|890709] has always been my favourite, it marked a departure from the more relatable, provincial cares of Parker's every day life. A Game of Ghosts masterfully balances personal and the paranormal in the way that no other book in this series has quite managed.