Synopses & Reviews
Now available in trade paperback, the first installment of the Charlie Parker series by internationally bestselling author John Connolly.Haunted by the unsolved slayings of his wife and daughter, former New York City detective Charlie Parker is a man consumed by guilt, regret, and the desire for revenge. When his search for a missing woman leads him to the killer who destroyed his family, Parker knows payback time has come at last.
Aided by a beautiful young psychologist and two career criminals, Parker soon becomes the bait in a trap set in the balmy bayous of Louisiana to catch a murderer unlike any other—a monster who believes himself to be an artist and uses the human body as his canvas. Driven by his visions of the dead and the voice of an old Creole psychic, Parker must seek—and win—a final brutal confrontation with the serial killer known as the Traveling Man.
Every Dead Thing is a richly textured, intricately plotted novel that probes the mind of a tormented man whose buried instincts—for love, survival, and even killing—awaken as he confronts a monster beyond imagining and relentlessly pursues justice for the murder of his family.
Review
"[A]mbitious, grisly, monstrously overextended....[Connolly is] extravagantly gifted....Beneath the unblinking carnage and grueling pace is a truly harrowing murder plot." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"[A] darkly ingenious debut novel....The prose rings of '40s L.A. noir, a' la Chandler and Hammett, but the grisly deaths, poetic cops and psychic episodes set this tale apart." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Every Dead Thing is intelligent, deep, and literate, and it is difficult to believe that this is John Connolly's first novel, so confident is the writing....Buy it and be scared." The Saturday Times (London)
Review
"The grim and grisly events are emotionally balanced by the book's dark humor and Bird's vulnerability. This is a highly intelligent and exciting novel, with almost enough action and story for two books. Recommended." Library Journal
Review
"[G]ripping....[T]he tale draws in an eclectic mix of characters...and the reader will find himself almost holding his breath in anticipation as Parker dances near to a solution..." Irish America Magazine
Synopsis
Hailed internationally as a page-turner in a league with the fiction of Thomas Harris, this lyrical and terrifying bestseller is the stunning achievement of an "extravagantly gifted" (Kirkus Reviews) new novelist. John Connolly superbly taps into the tortured mind and gritty world of former NYPD detective Charlie "Bird" Parker, tormented by the brutal, unsolved murders of his wife and young daughter. Driven by visions of the dead, Parker tracks a serial killer from New York City to the American South, and finds his buried instincts for love, survival, and, ultimately, for killing awakening as he confronts a monster beyond imagining...
About the Author
John Connolly is the author of The Wrath of Angels, The Burning Soul, The Book of Lost Things, and Bad Men, among many others. He is a regular contributor to The Irish Times and lives in Dublin, Ireland. For more information, see his website at JohnConnollyBooks.com, or follow him on Twitter @JConnollyBooks.