Customer Reviews

The Killing Kind: A Thriller

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John Connolly is one fine writer: not only are plot and characters exceptionally well done, but his prose style is close to poetic. I re-read sections simply because the style was so grand. And he improves with each book. His protagonist in all three books is Charlie Parker, an ex-cop who left the force when his wife and child were brutally murdered in Connolly's first book, "Every Dead Thing". Characters introduced in this book follow through all three, so while "The Killing Kind" can be read on its own, many of the references to Parker's past can be better understood by a reading of the previous books. Which ain't all bad, folks, because, as I've said, this is one fine writer. Here, Parker is investigating the death of a young woman who was conducting research into a religious cult. No plot giveaways from your friendly reviewer, but be advised that the bad guy, "Mr. Pudd" is REALLY scary, and the uncertainty of the outcome persists to the very last page. I cannot recommend this book too much or praise Connolly's skills too highly. It's a "great read". And for fans, be advised that the fourth Parker novel, "The White Road", is available now from Amazon.com.uk. Trust me on this one, guys; enjoyment is guaranteed.

The first two Charlier Parker novels, by Irish journalist John Connolly, were violent and very disturbing, pocked with gunfire and dead bodies, and visions of horrors from the afterlife. Parker himself is a strange, tortured soul, who can see those who have been killed violently, so that he can't ignore them and return to his quiet life. This third Parker book is even nastier in some ways: the author has managed to make things even more sinister by making the violence more dramatic, more creepy, more hidden.

In this installment, Parker's relegated himself to watching wayward husbands and doing boring industrial security work. He imagines that his presence somehow makes violent people worse, or perhaps brings them out of the woodwork. He's patched up his relationship with Rachel and made peace with the world, and now is trying to make ends meet without killing anyone. This reverie is disturbed by Jack Mercier, a retired senator who is wealthy and wishes to hire Parker to investigate a murder. Initially reluctant, Parker becomes engrossed in the case and those who quickly become suspects, largely a strange, reclusive cult of religious fanatics called The Fellowship. They appear outrageous and silly, not particularly dangerous if repugnant in their beliefs (which range from anti-abortion to anti-semitism) and somewhat nuts. Parker suspects something deeper, and soon discovers that he's right.

The book travels from there, with a plethora of wonderful characters, from a mob boss to a very different porn producer to a Jewish assassin with no face to a bad guy with a strange fascination for spiders. All are drawn interestingly, with wonderful dialog and mannerisms, and prose that makes you think this might even be poetry.

I enjoyed the first two Charlier Parker novels a great deal. This third one isn't anywhere near as violent and bloody as the first two, but given the haunting images that the author paints as he writes his books, the shootouts aren't really needed. Instead, the murky atmosphere almost makes this into a Clive Barker novel, without the supernatural nasties. Instead, your skin crawls from spiders and strange characters who've been killing for decades. For me that's more affecting, not less.

I have a confession to make. I am a murderer. I killed my love for the detctive story by reading too many novels that were just too bad. I never thought I'd appreciate a crime novelist the way I did Ed McBain when I was younger. And then along came John Connolly, creeping up on me, hiding in the shadows, lurking, and then attacking without warning.

This is the best crime novel I have read in years, for two reasons. First of all, the language is exquisite. Connolly writes like a poet, and the first few pages where he described the "honeycomb world" is worth the price of the book alone.

Second of all, Charlie Parker, the main character. With a dry cynicism as sharp as his wit, he delivers one-liners one after one. I found myself going back to re-read passages many times during the course of this book, for the humour alone. But this is not a funny book, not at all.

I won't tell you any more about the story, as it deserves to develop on its own when you read it. Let me just warn you that the ending is not at all as good as the rest of the book, and that did make me sad. The last ten or so pages are standard Hollywood-drama, and lack the originality the reader has been spoiled with during the course of the novel.

Still, Connolly pulls it off.

"The Killing Kind", approved!

If W.B. Yeats had written crime fiction, it might have looked something like John Connolly's novels. This latest installment in Connolly's Charlie Parker series explores faith, guilt, sorrow and evil. Parker's investigation into the apparent suicide of a graduate student turns up the secret fate of a religious group in Maine, decades earlier; both events are tied to the mysterious and terrifying Mr. Pudd, a character who still haunts me. These books get better and more frightening, even as Parker himself seems to get more comfortable with the hand life has dealt him.

This is another amazing book by John Connolly. He builds on the characters once more, again revealing greater depth to Bird Parker's character. He gives us slightly more insight into Angel and Louis and because of the darkness of this book, the scenes in which they appear serve as some great relief.

Connolly's writing is sheer beauty. His manner of description evokes, with seeming ease, any atmosphere he wishes to create. His prose is lyrical, and his descriptions may stop you in your tracks just for a second while you roll them over in your mind, picturing the image perfectly.

In this novel, Connolly has created a wonderful plot, which seethes with an omnipresent, and almost omnipotent, evil and darkness. Also, he give us two of the best villains fiction has ever produced. Mr Pudd, the enforcer of a shady organisation known as "The Fellowship" who is violent, scary, completely without a drop of humanity, and The Reverend Aaron Faulkner, an egotistical religious maniac, head of a group known as the Aroostook Baptists. Faulkner is a completely venemous characters who just oozes poison from every action. Over the course of the novel, Parker, Angel and Louis, will come into contact with both these men, and this contact will try to drag them down into the depths of an equal hell.

The plot is much less complicated than his debut, Every Dead thing, and the entire novel is much more refined and focused, which adds immense power to the book. It's completely chilling and very scary (an effect aided by the way Connolly likes to blend in subtle elements of the supernatural in with his books) and, almost certainly, the best thriller that will be published in the US this year.

Since I read John Connolly's first novel, EVERY DEAD THING, I've quickly become an avid fan of his. His second book, DARK HOLLOW, confirmed my belief that here was a gifted writer who deserves a much larger "fan" base than he currently has in the United States. Now, having read his third novel in the "Charlie `Bird' Parker" series, I know that this is an author who's on his way to the "bestseller" lists. He's simply that good! Mr. Connolly knows how to create in-depth characters that stand out, weave intricate plots and subplots that keep the reader guessing, and has a style of prose that is almost poetic in its sheer elegance. In THE KILLING KIND, Charlie Parker returns to investigate the death of a young college student, Grace Peltier, and her connection to a religious organization in Maine known as the Fellowship. It seems that she was writing a thesis on small group of religious zealots, the Aroostook Baptists, and their mysterious disappearance in the year of 1963. Her search for information eventually led her to the Fellowship and its founder, Carter Paragon. Shortly there after, she was found in her car alongside a dirt road with a revolver in her hand, a bullet in her head, and a Bible at her side. Grace's father, Curtis Peltier, doesn't believe that his daughter committed suicide, and he wants our New England P.I. to find the killer. As Charlie begins his investigation, however, a mass grave containing the skeletal remains of the Aroostook Baptists is accidentally discovered along a riverbank in northern Maine, and this also seems to be somehow tied in with the Fellowship and Carter Paragon. When Charlie starts to probe a little too deeply into the workings of this supposedly religious organization, Mr. Pudd (a man who is the very essence of evil and loves to kill his victims with deadly spiders) and his mute, female assistant are sent to warn him off the case. Since Charlie has never been one to heed the warnings of other people, he continues to plow ahead and soon people start dropping dead around him. Even when Louis and Angel arrive to offer their help, they prove to be barely a match for our illusive Mr. Pudd, and come to know the true meaning of terror on a first-hand basis. No one will ever be the same again once the evil Mr. Pudd gets his hands on them. THE KILLING KIND carries the writings of John Connolly to a much higher level of expertise than his earlier two novels. Like the first two, it has several plot lines coming from different directions that join together into a smoothly written, utterly satisfying ending. Both the familiar and new characters in the book ring true to the ear, especially the terrifying Mr. Pudd and the Jewish assassin known only as the Golem. Mr. Connolly has a remarkable skill in being able to create killers that stand out in ways other authors can only dream about. That's one of the things that make this series so much fun to read. Another aspect is the main character of Charlie Parker. This is a unique individual trying to make amends for the life he's lived by righting the wrongs done to other people. It also helps that he has friends like Louis and Angel who aren't afraid of doing a little killing, if the situation calls for it. As the series continues to develop, Charlie and the love of his life, Rachel, are drawn closer and closer to each other, and there's a wonderful surprise on the last page of this novel that makes me extremely eager to read the next one when it comes out. What makes this book stand out from EVERY DEAD THING and DARK HOLLOW is the sheer craftsmanship that Mr. Connolly displays as a writer. It's evident that he's now much more comfortable with his characters, plus I love reading his prose out loud. His sentences are written with skill of a poet, and the magic and power of his words continously transport me to a different world that's often difficult to leave. All in all, the three novels in the "Charlie Parker" series are great reads in every sense of the word that leave you starving for more from this extremely gifted author. John Connolly is definitely a writer on his way to stardom!

Charlie Parker, ex NYPD homicide detective, is living a relatively subdued life, for him, in Scarborough Maine. He has started to put the brutal deaths of his wife and daughter behind him. His impressive exploits in the Traveling Man and Dark Hollow cases have carved him a reknowned reputation as an investigator. He prefers now to merely to pursue the more sedate private investigation of white collar crime.

Against his better judgement to decides to take a case presented to him by wealthy local bigshot and ex Maine senator Jack Mercier. Mercier, acting on behalf of ex business partner Curtis Peltier, implores Parker to explore the apparent suicide of Peltier's daughter Grace. Grace Peltier, a long ago lover of Parker's, had been working on a Phd. thesis concerning the Aroostook Baptists at the time of her demise. The Aroostook Baptists were a cult like religious group led by the extremely sketchy and fanatical Reverend Faulkner. Faulkner mobilized a number of families to establish a colony at Eagle Lake, in the backwoods of Maine in 1963. By 1964 the colony was abandoned and the inhabitants had disappeared.

Grace Peltier's research led her to a present day religious group, the Fellowship, led by TV evangelist and charlatan, Carter Paragon. This is where Parker's investigation began. At the same time, a construction project at Eagle Lake uncovered a mass grave, the apparent final resting place of the Aroostook Baptists. Parker soon learns that others have been inquiring about the Fellowship only to suffer untoward consequences. He eventually collides with Elias Pudd, the apparent enforcer and guardian of the Fellowship. Pudd, a ruthless red haired insect looking arachnophile prefers using poisonous spiders to dispatch his victims. Parker soon mobilizes his criminal friends Angel and Louis and his lover psychological profiler, Rachel Wolfe to assist him.

Parker, who frequently has visions of the dead, including his family, fashions himself as a protector of the departed. He is determined to relentlessly track the quandry established by Grace Peltier's death.

John Connolly is an utterly fantastic and riveting crime drama author. I am anxiously awaiting his next effort, as he is already on my list of favorite writers.

Graduate student, Grace Peltier is working on her Ph.D. thesis centering on religious zealots the Aroostook Baptists and their unexplained disappearance in 1963. Her research takes Grace to Carter Paragon, founder of the Fellowship. Not long after meeting Carter, Grace is found dead in her car parked on an isolated dirt road. All evidence points towards a suicide.

Grace's father Curtis rejects the notion that his daughter killed herself. He hires New England private investigator Charlie Parker to make inquiries and find out what really happened to Grace including as Curtis expects the identity of her killer. While Charlie works on the case, a mass grave containing the remains of the Aroostook Baptists has been discovered that ties back to Carter and his Fellowship. Charlie notices a link between the Aroostook, the Foundation, and his client's daughter that leads to malevolent beings informing him to drop the case or die.

Two things make THE KILLING KIND a lot better than most private investigative stories. Rarely is a villain seemed to be as humanly evil as Mr. Pudd is, so much so, that his nasty cohorts appear like choir children in comparison. Then there is Charlie trying to atone for all the wrongs he committed in his past. The investigation engages the reader and the rest of the cast is powerfully written as John Connolly continues the climb to soaring higher than birds fly with this strong novel that never eases up until the final paragraph is read.

Harriet Klausner

John Connolly deserves to be a household name...at least in the houses that enjoy crime novels. He has to be one of the most overlooked novelists in the genre. The Killing Kind was my favorite of the series so far. His use of words is superb. The visual images he paints are unbelievable. Great novelist....great novel. I recommend it to anyone.

This third novel from John Connolly maintains the same frenetic pace of his earlier two books. Parker and his cohorts confront another evil foe and manage to come out on top once again. This is a great series and each book grabs you from page one and keeps you hooked until the finish. Connolly continues to produce some of the most evil characters you will find anywhere. I just hope his imagination doesn't run dry. Parker is something of a cross between Lew Archer, Philip Marlowe and Travis McGee. Unique in his own way he manages to get the job done with the help of his two rather odd friends, Louis and Angel. These books have lots of action, great characters and a fast paced story line. If you are a fan of this genre, you won't find anything better.