Every Dead Thing - John Connolly

EVERY DEAD THING is the stunningly brilliant debut novel from best-selling writer, JOHN CONNOLLY. Every so often, a first novel will come along that blows you away and leaves you breathless; gasping for more. EVERY DEAD THING is just such a thriller and the book that first introduces us to Charlie "Bird" Parker and his two loyal companions-in-arms, Angel and Louis.

Parker is a cop with a troubled family life; his father was ...
...and a marriage that is rapidly descending into a series of countless arguments. After one paticular night on the booze, he returns home to find his wife and daughter not just murdered but arranged in a gruesome display for him to find. At first, briefly, Parker is considered a suspect but when he is soon cleared, he sets off on a quest for justice; determined to find the killer responsible for destroying his life. It is a journey that takes him across ... more

EVERY DEAD THING is the stunningly brilliant debut novel from best-selling writer, JOHN CONNOLLY. Every so often, a first novel will come along that blows you away and leaves you breathless; gasping for more. EVERY DEAD THING is just such a thriller and the book that first introduces us to Charlie "Bird" Parker and his two loyal companions-in-arms, Angel and Louis.

Parker is a cop with a troubled family life; his father was a murderer and Parker himself has a problem with drink and a marriage that is rapidly descending into a series of countless arguments. After one paticular night on the booze, he returns home to find his wife and daughter not just murdered but arranged in a gruesome display for him to find. At first, briefly, Parker is considered a suspect but when he is soon cleared, he sets off on a quest for justice; determined to find the killer responsible for destroying his life. It is a journey that takes him across the boundaries of the law and beyond and, by mutual consent, Parker is soon asked to leave the force. He has begun to gather a rather dark reputation and even his old friends have their suspicions as to how far over he has crossed the line but Parker will not be stopped until the killer known as "The Travelling Man" has known the full might of his vengance.

This is rather a lengthy book for a first novel and the story is split over two acts; the first act is made up mainly of Parker's investigation into a missing person's case as a favour to a friend that sees him involved in mafia gangland warfare, child abuse and a murder case that stretches back over two decades. The second act sees Parker finally coming up close and personal with his wife and child's killer. It is a clever spin on the usual standard thriller that really does work with some neat twists and turns that really knit the whole thing together. The decision to split the story over two halves in such a way comes across as a brave move for a debut author but, as seen in later novels in the series though, Connolly is a writer who likes to set the bar high and take a few chances. Parker too is not your average hero with plenty of character flaws and a temperement that barely keeps him on the side of the angels. The fact that his two most loyal companions are an ex-thief and a semi-retired hitman only go to strengthen the case further that this is not a guy you want to be messing with....

If you like your thrillers very dark, dour and depressing then this book is for you. Mixing in equal parts of goth and horror, this is far from your conventional thriller; especially when Parker begins to convince himself that he is able to still see his dead wife and child. Whether or not he actually does see them or whether or not it is all part of the greiving process is left almost entirely up to the discretion of the reader for now but it is a recurring theme that begins to make it's presence felt stronger as the series progresses; that just beyond our own world is a darker, supernatural one and, at any one moment, it threatens to break through into our own. In much the same way as Koont's hero, Odd Thomas, Parker is convinced he can see the spirits of the dead but that is about as much comparison as you can make. Where Odd Thomas is a kind-hearted soul forced into action reluctantly, Parker is a man with a very troubled and dark heart; a little too eager perhaps at times to face down the bad men, those sick individuals who walk amongst us and watch us like prey.

Trust me, theres very little else like this about and if you want a scary, utterly convincing thriller with equal amounts of horror and chills that is about as original and different as they come, then this is the book for you!!! With his eye for detail and his unfailing ability to spin a good yarn, Connolly is about as good a thriller writer as you are ever going to get!!!

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