Settles in your bones and lives there

John Connolly writes as though he knows his characters and has seen what they see, and felt what they feel. He has an insight that makes me wonder how much of what he writes comes from personal experience, being able as he is to set the scene in minute detail, enabling us to really see, hear and smell what we need to in order to live the words he writes.



The story of a man struggling with his addiction to alcohol when his wife and little daughter are taken from him is laid bare for us as if written through he grieving. Then Parker makes it his mission to bring to his form of justice the killers on his way to finding the root of this nightmare.



The narrator, Jeff Harding, is an absolute talent and was perfect for this read.



I am only glad John has written so many books in this series!

14 people found this helpful

good book if you like this kind of thing

This is the first in the Charlie Parker series and I'd listen to this before listening to any of the others as it's story is often referred to in the other books. The story is very much in the style of the Phillip Marlow books; lots of hard boiled patter and tough guy philosophising. This gives it an old fashioned feel so it just depends on whether you like your detectives macho and just a tiny bit cheesy; I do and so loved this book. It's also worth noting that the murders are truly gruesome so if you've got a weak stomach I'd avoid this title. Turns out I'd read this title years ago and remembered who the murderer was half way through listening but this didn't lessen my enjoyment. It does on the other hand make it difficult to assess the effectiveness of the red herrings and eventual twist but as I said before even knowing who did it didn’t spoil my enjoyment. The narration really fits the story; an inspired choice of reader

23 people found this helpful

A Strong Start to a Compelling Character

I stumbled onto this after wanting to read 'The Wrath of Angels' but felt I should do the groundwork and start Charlie Parker's story from the beginning. I'm glad I did, this is a great book and the narration by Jeff Harding is spot on. As other reviwers have mentioned the level of detail covering the Travelling Man killings is prety horrific but helps to set up Charlie Parker's character and motivations in later books. The hardboiled gumshoe thing is heavier in this book than later ones but suits the overall tone. Listen to this and then listen to all the other books in order. I did, and can thoroughly recommend all of them.

7 people found this helpful

A feeling of film noir.

I downloaded Every Dead Thing after a friend gave me the full collection of The Charlie Parker novels. Being unable to stay awake when reading anymore, I decided to listen instead.
I'll put no spoilers or synopsis and just say how I found the production and story. If I have any criticisms they are more to do with my tastes in stories than any problems with the book itself.
I don't read crime fiction very often so gave this a go on the recommendation of a friend who told me that it wouldn't be what I thought. Once engaged in the story I found that to be true with some, what I hope to be foreshadowing, of the tone of the stories to come.
The story is good, with some interesting twists and turns and the reveal at the end is well handled. It's tone, I felt, was very 'Film Noir', but that might have been coloured by the style of narration. It really put me in mind of a Spillane-esque PI and his shady associates.
It seemed quite cliched in characterisation at times. Although a small gripe, I actually enjoy that style, I'm just not sure that's what the author was going for.
There are a lot of characters and some location hopping which had me re-listening to some parts so that I remembered who was being referred to.
The narrator reads it well though his style, as I've mentioned, makes it sound like a Phillip Marlowe story at times.
All in all a good story that held my attention until the end, which doesn't happen much these days. I've downloaded the next in the set to see if the stories head in the direction I hope...

4 people found this helpful

Gripping from beginning to end. 10/10

This was my first introduction into Connolly/Parker through being an avid Jack Reacher fan, especially when read by Harding, so tried it on the strength of his gift for creating believable, solid characters alone. So very glad I did as I've now found another series which I'm confident I'll enjoy and regularly revisit. Really good stuff,

3 people found this helpful

Overcomplicated start

Some books lend themselves to becoming audiobooks better than others and initially despite Jeff Hardings excellent narration i gave up on this one.For me there were too many characters too many names many who were superfluous to the actual story. When i did restart listening i found that this became less of an issue later on and i did enjoy the story. I will try the next book in the hope the author concentrates more on the main characters rather than introducing too many unnecessary ones.

2 people found this helpful

Superb

This remains one of my favorite books. The story lines, there is more than one, the characters, the language and the depth detail make this book a compelling listen. I was a little dubious about the lack of originality with the alcoholic private eye but such a description would not do Charlie justice. The humor in some of the foul language and occasional crudities contrast nicely with the viscera on show.



This isn't a very good first book, this is simply a very good book first or otherwise.



As with all the Parker books the listening is much augmented by the narration of Jeff Harding. Thanks Jeff..



5 stars, easy.

5 people found this helpful

Gratuitous violence wrapped in stodgy prose

Where do you start with this one? Jeff Harding's reading is clearly the best feature of this audiobook: his gravelly voice lends some credence even to the most hackneyed prose and he is surprisingly good at female characters (also in Lee Child adaptations and Carl Hiaasen books). But even he cannot rescue this.
The book is far too long and rolls two barely connected stories into one. Or rather, you get one story about gruesome child killing and torture at the end of which everyone is left dead and then another one starts that involves live flaying and arranging of corpses into positions depicted in obscure Renaissance studies of anatomy. Their only connection is an improbable link between two different sets of perpetrator. Both are equally risible stories that might have had a semblance of originality before Patricia Cornwell and Thomas Harris wrote their books. And I do resent that nothing in the short plot synopsis on audible prepares you for the sheer salaciousness of the violence.
Do listen to this if you have low expectations of prose; if you fancy endless descriptions of guns and gun battles; if you don't mind spotting the killer three hours before the ploddy reveal; if your murders must be serial, horrific, involve children and women, torture and gratuitous detail; if you haven't yet had your fill of cliches in terms of melancholic, haunted ex-cops, pathology lab-speak, outlandish violence, cardboard serial killers with zero psychology and metaphysical twaddle about the nature of evil.
If I hadn't been on the longest motorway journey ever with the only alternative being a series of uninspiring radio programmes, I would have stopped. On reflection, Gardener's Question Time on a loop would have been less torturous than this. Awful.

12 people found this helpful

dark and brilliant

not for the faint hearted a mix of old time detective, and horror makes this a multi layered book with two key stories. incredible descriptions and great narration. best not listened to at night!

Brilliant & thrilling

I have read this book a few times but took great pleasure in listing to Jeff Harding fabulous reading. John Connolly makes his characters come to life as true people and you immediately get engaged with the story. Get it - you won’t regret it.