The Sisters Strange

by John Connolly

The Sisters Strange was a Charlie Parker novella released in 64 daily instalments during the first months of the COVID-19 lockdown, and translated into five languages: Spanish, French, Italian, Greek and Bulgarian. A revised edition of the novella will be published in print and e-book editions at a later date.

Genres: Fiction, Crime, Mystery, Horror

138 pages, ebook

Published April 1, 2020

About the author

John Connolly was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1968 and has, at various points in his life, worked as a journalist, a barman, a local government official, a waiter and a dogsbody at Harrods department store in London. He studied English in Trinity College, Dublin and journalism at Dublin City University, subsequently spending five years working as a freelance journalist for The Irish Times newspaper, to which he continues to contribute.

He is based in Dublin but divides his time between his native city and the United States.

This page is administered by John's assistant, Clair, on John's behalf. If you'd like to communicate with John directly, you can do so by writing to contact-at-johnconnollybooks.com, or by following him on Twitter at @JConnollyBooks.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See other authors with similar names.

Reviews

[Metodi Markov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Прилична новела към серията на Конъли за детектива Чарли Паркър, без да е нещо особено. Представлява интерес само за най-заклетите фенове на Птицата.

Публикувана е безплатно на сайта му, откъсите излизаха по време на карантината, април-юни 2020.

Пич е Конъли!

[Effie Saxioni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Γράφει Τσάρλι Πάρκερ στο εξώφυλλο,παίρνει 5⭐,ακόμα κι αν είναι το φυλλάδιο από το Σούπερ Σάββατο στα Lidl😂
Παρόλα αυτά,όμως,είναι όντως μια πολύ όμορφη ιστορία,που ήρθε ως τονωτική ένεση στον καιρό της καραντίνας,και ήταν ένα συμπυκνωμένο χάρμα οφθαλμών-όλοι οι λατρεμένοι ήρωες,σε απολαυστικά στιγμιότυπα.

[Димитър Цолов · Rating 4 out of 5]

Тази новела от Чарли Паркър-Вселената има доста любопитна история. Джон Конъли решава да я публикува онлайн, глава по глава, ден след ден в месеците на Голямата карантина 2020, заради забавянето на новия си роман и с цел да поразсее Н.В. Читателя. Излиза на шест езика - английски, френски, испански и италиански (всеки ден) и на гръцки и български (през две седмици). Откъсите на български са качени в сайта на издателство Прозорец, респект и уважуха за тях и адекватната им политика спрямо любимия на доста хорица, вкл. и моя милост, автор.

Фабулата се завърта около наскоро излязъл от пандиза тип, с когото Птицата и приятелите му, крадецът Ейнджъл, наемният убиец Луис и двамата братя Фулчи, психопати и хулигани, вече са си имали вземане-даване. Но ако преди въпросният е бил просто поредният кофти тъпак, изпречил се на пътя на шарената групичка, сега поведението му е доста по-премерено, видът му - по-спретнат, а в затвора явно си е направил нова татуировка - пентаграм - която често-често разчесва до кръв... Сестрите Долорс и Амбар Стрейндж (имената, става ясно, са изписани грешно от родителите им още при раждането) през годините са си поделяли въпросния гадняр в леглото, но напоследък нещо не му се кефят, едната дори е започнала връзка със солиден господин, наел Паркър да го следи изкъсо ...

Конъли отново е забъркал чудна смес от кримка и хорър, този път с окултен привкус, която, определено е адресирана предимно към дай хард фенове на поредицата, добре запознати с персонажите. Обаче краят ми дойде една идея по-претупан и неизпипан, отколкото ми се нравеше, сякаш с отпадането на карантинната ситуация благородните намерения на автора да ни радва онлайн изведнъж бяха секнали, хах, та... една звезда надолу :)

[Γιώργος Δάμτσιος · Rating 5 out of 5]

A small, but very good story with Charlie Parker, free to read through the authors' oficcial site.

[Don Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are a fan of John Connolly, then you probably already know that his latest book The Dirty South was initially due for release in April of this year (at least in Ireland anyway). Unfortunately thanks to a little thing we call Covid-19 it was (rightly) decided that it was best to wait and release it when bookshops could open once again.

John then kindly took it upon himself to bring us The Sisters Strange. The idea was an interesting one - a whole new novella which he would write and upload on a (mostly) daily basis. Every weekday us readers got a new chapter, every weekday we were left on tenterhooks to see what exactly would happen next. Do not get me started on the weekends, they were torturous! One thing is for sure though, this is a story that holds up very strongly in the Charlie Parker universe.

The Sisters Strange may be titled after two characters in the story but the real story lies in their connection to one Raum Buker who has suddenly turned up in Charlie's favourite hangout The Great Lost Bear, sporting a new occult tattoo. There is no love lost between Raum, Charlie and the infamous Fulci brothers so it does not take too long for things to kick off.

While wondering why exactly Raum may be back in town, and where the tattoo came from, Charlie is hired to keep an eye on the Sisters Strange. Why? Because of Raum. Charlie does a little digging to find out why Raum is back in town, he could leave it at that, but that wouldn't be like him, would it?

What follows is a story that fans of the series will be familiar with. Each chapter leaves us guessing and begging for more, with plenty of references to the occult and the darker side of history. Now that it is finished some of the suspense may be lifted from not having to wait for the next part, but I am sure that anybody who sits down to read this from start to finish is in for an excellent time.

Read it now HERE - before it disappears at the end of the month... (although John has hinted that this will be added to a collection later he has also said it may be changed in some way)

[Zornitsa Rasim · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5*

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit of a departure from his usual novels, as this novella was posted in serial form on his website. But the story was nonetheless excellent - as good as any of his novels. The very end felt a little rushed, but otherwise Connolly remains in terrific writing condition.

[Ευαγγελία Τσουκαλά · Rating 5 out of 5]

Έλεγα ότι δεν θα διαβάσω τη νουβέλα γιατί έχω τελειώσει το όγδοο της σειράς με τον Τσάρλι και φοβόμουν τυχόν σπόιλερ. Αυτός ο τίτλος όμως με ιντρίγκαρε πολύ και τελικά δεν κρατήθηκα. Λοιπόν, είναι ένα νοστιμότατο μπισκοτάκι που με έκανε να θέλω να διαβάσω τα υπόλοιπα της σειράς ακόμη περισσότερο! Ατάκες φοβερές, αδερφοί Φούλτσι και στο σύνολο μια μικρή μεν αλλά πολύ ωραία ιστορία. Δεν θα απογοητεύσει όσους αγαπούν τον κόσμο που έχει πλάσει ο Connolly

[JoJo Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Due to the delay in the release of his 18th Charlie Parker novel, JC released this novella in small chapters over a couple of months. The novella chapters were written and published quickly, which meant that JC didn’t know where the story was going to go and how it was going to end.

Written as a thank you to his loyal fans, this novella brings back Charlie Parker who is called to assist with an unusual case involving a shady character called Raum Buker and two local residents known as the Sisters Strange. A past crime by Buker has a spooky character arriving in town, searching for him. This character is happy to threaten anyone who Buker has a relationship, which is how the two sisters Dolors and Ambar Strange are drawn into it.

I loved reading this. It allowed me to be a close part of JC’s writing process. Because of the short turn around (5 days from writing to publishing, allowing enough time for translation), this isn’t the most polished piece of writing that JC has done, but the rough and ready style does not detract from the story.

Whilst I would say that you don’t have to have read the 17 previous Charlie Parker novels, you won’t have a full understanding of the characters without this prior knowledge, and their personalities are what makes these novels so wonderful.

Whilst this is only available on line until 30th July 2020, there are apparently discussions to get this published at some point in the future and I will definitely read this again then.

[aplace_inthesun) · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Australia The Sisters Strange and The Furies have been released in a compilation from John Connolly (the book is called THe Furies). It was published in August 2022.

I’m not sure how closely The Sisters Strange is to the chapter by chapter releases during COVID-19, but have to say I enjoyed it. There’s always an interesting mix of the evil/unreal/paranormal stuff with the mystery/investigative stuff.

This one is about some missing coins and how they are tied to one man. There’s the involvement of a cult, some sisters, and a half-dead evil man seeking retribution.

This one was wrapped up pretty quickly, with only a couple of pages where my favourites Louis and Angel made a cameo. Parker was as always intelligent, making enemies all over, and melancholy at best. The big buildup doesn’t end with a bang for mind, but I reminded myself it is a novella.

I love these books.

Thanks Hachette for sending me a copy of this book to read and review.

[Camilo Guerra · Rating 3 out of 5]

-ERES UNA BUENA PIEZA,BOBBY
-ESO ME DECIA SIEMPRE MI MADRE
-PROBABLEMENTE JUSTO ANTES DE INTENTAR AHOGARTE

Charlie Parker esta intentado investigar un robo de unas monedas ultraantiguas, un asesino que esta escondido y otro que parece que tiene secretos mágicos y oscuros.

LO BUENO: Muy divertido, pasan mil cosas de las que quieres saber mas, con los diálogos mas cortantes e inteligentes que he leído en mucho rato, y aunque es de una saga de muchos libros, puedes leerlo sin ningún lio, te recibe de brazos abiertos y te deja disfrutar todo y cuando se pone oscuro y criminal lo hace de una manera intensa y atrapante.

LO MALO: El final es algo...abrupto, unos disparos por fuera de los párrafos y ya ,zan se acabo.

[Pamela Paterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Firstly this is my favorite title ever. This was a lovely little novella featuring our favorite PI and his cohorts. The cast of characters in this novella make the Fulci brothers appear almost normal to say the least. While we didn’t get full book sinister from our usual ‘bad’ guy the eek factor was still there and described with Connolly’s usual style, I’m not sure I ever want to smell rose water again. I especially liked Charlie’s interactions with Bobby Wadlin of the Braycott Arms. It was also great to be back in the Great Lost Bear and to see the Fulcis and Dave Evans again.

All in all a nice little interlude until the release of The Dirty South which we don’t get till October.

[Colin Murtagh · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the release of the latest novel delayed due to the pandemic, Connolly decided to do a shortish story on his web site. It will eventually be released in a more polished form, but this is interesting, if for no other reason than the fact it is a rough diamond. It feels a bit rushed at the end, and the addition of Angel & Louis feels a bit crowbarred in, but it's still an unexpected pleasure to have another Parker story added to the list

[Zala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, thank you! Finally we got a Parker novel which has Parker in it more than 50%! I have to say I've missed him in the last few books. I also love that Connolly returns to writing in the first person for his detective in this novella. The plot was novella appropriate as well and all in all, a very enjoyable read which makes me remember why Parker is such an amazing character and want to reread the books yet again.

[Hilary Mccarthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novella by Connolly written during the pandemic .
Another easy to read not always so easy to understand featuring Charlie Parker , such a good character , his friends Louis and Angel notreallly featuring .
An intriguing story of dishonesty , betrayal and with a touch of the unexplainable .
Love these books so glad to come across these two novellas .

[EO · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re a Parker fan this is a great little side story from his POV, (a cool twist). A fun read during bizarre times. Thank you John Connolly!

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

An online short(ish) Charlie Parker available free online.

[Audrey Shaffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the regular Charlie Parker books, but that may be because it was short. Still, I liked it.

[Ewan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I'd had the patience to read this as intended, but just got frustrated reading the first couple of chapters daily. So I waited until it was complete.

[Jane Vincent · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful free gift to fans over the lock down.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felt a little rushed to the end, but otherwise classic Parker.

[Pakkap · Rating 4 out of 5]

tremendously enjoyable return for charlie parker, even more so given the rushed manner in which 'a book of bones' seemed to finish.

[Heidi de Goede · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this!

[Chuck Ledger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good read. Interesting characters.

[Mailmanr5 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parker stories are all very good. This one just a little less so. Not enough Louis and Angel. Need more Jennifer, too. The story is good and the writing, as always, is exceptional.

[Keith Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

Last three books going down from a peak

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite bleak characters but a good enough story

[Severin Cullagh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fab

[John of Canada · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhere along the way I got the impression that John Connolly wrote courtroom dramas. None here, but really good writing.