The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion

I'm creating this site as a forum to read and discuss John Connolly's Charlie Parker series starting with the first book, Every Dead Thing. This book has been on my nightstand for ages and several people have expressed interest in reading it.

So far the series has 12 novel length books plus Nocturnes, a story collection. The books are:
1 1999 Every Dead Thing - discussion link
2 2000 Dark Hollow - Discussion link
3 2001 The Killing Kind - • Discussion link
4 2002 The White Road - discussion link
4.5 2004Nocturnes - Discussion link
5 2005 The Black Angel- Discussion link.
6 2007 The Unquiet
7 2008 The Reapers
8 2009 The Lovers
9 2010 The Whisperers
10 2011 The Burning Soul
11 2012 The Wrath of Angels
12 2014 The Wolf in Winter

We’ll begin with book one here. Let us know below if you are interested in participating.

Yes Please! 8:D

Count me in!!

I have been a loyal fan of John Connolly's work for quite some time. It has been years since I read the first book, so I would be game to reintroduce myself to novels of which I have, for the greater part, forgotten the details.

VickiLee wrote: "I have been a loyal fan of John Connolly's work for quite some time. It has been years since I read the first book, so I would be game to reintroduce myself to novels of which I have, for the gre..."

You are more than welcome. As a relative Newbie to Connolly, I look forward to hearing what someone familiar with the series has to say.

I haven't read the series but would love to start with the first one. I'm new to this type of thing. How do I get back to this forum when I've finished a book?

Joan M.

Joan, make sure your notifications are turned on (on the app it's at the bottom of this thread). Otherwise, note what the topic is (John Connolly's Charlie Parker...) and check back here under this group's topics.
I've had book one ready to read for awhile. I would like to participate.

Joan, below is the topic url if you would like to bookmark it.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Joan wrote: "I haven't read the series but would love to start with the first one. I'm new to this type of thing. How do I get back to this forum when I've finished a book?"

Hi Joan, You can either follow the link that I sent you or go to Groups -> The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group -> Buddy Reads -> John Connolly's Charlie Parker series, Book 1 - Every Dead Thing. You may also, (depending on your settings) get an email whenever anyone posts to the discussion that contains a link to it.

I hope you won't wait until you finish the book to post your comments. I encourage readers to post their impressions, questions and ideas as they go along, so long as you be careful to avoid dropping any spoilers.

If you want to make a comment that you think may be a spoiler, please be considerate and put it in spoiler brackets. Instructions for spoiler brackets and other neat formatting tricks can be found in the "(some html is ok)" link found at the upper right side of the comment box. If you have any additional questions, feel free to ask them here or send me a personal message.

I'm in!

I have read most of this series and loved it. Would love to re-read them again. Good,solid writing and great characters.

SUSAN wrote: "I have read most of this series and loved it. Would love to re-read them again. Good,solid writing and great characters."

Great! We need some experienced Charlie Parker fans in the group.

A question for those who are interested:

Do you already have Every Dead Thing or do you need to get it? If you still need to get it, how long do you expect it will be before you can get it.

At this point, I'm thinking of suggesting we officially start reading the book next week. You're welcome to start reading it if you have it but please limit comments to general observations that don't risk giving away anything that others haven't read yet.

I have it on order with Amazon & am looking forward to the book & the discussion.

I've never really done a book club, what is the average pace? I don't have the book, but will likely just buy/download the E-book so it's not a big deal for me.

I am going to follow to decide whether I should get a copy: it sounds good.

Most structured book forums allow about a month per book. That takes into account that people read at different paces and some of us even have lives outside of GR. If it's a fairly small group we can be flexible and either speed up or slow down the rate we go through the books. The tricky part is that faster readers need to make sure they don't reveal any important spoilers to readers who are further back than they are.

Skye wrote: "I am going to follow to decide whether I should get a copy: it sounds good."

Glad to hear it, Skye. Here's the link to the author's homepage that has great descriptions to each book.

Charlie Parker Mysteries

Thanks Tom :)

Tom: I have it saved; I am interested.

I'll request the book ASAP :)

Perri wrote: "I'll request the book ASAP :)"

Excellent! How long will it take to get one out to the island?

Tom wrote: "A question for those who are interested:

Do you already have Every Dead Thing or do you need to get it? If you still need to get it, how long do you expect it will be before you can ..."

I have my copy now,so just let me know when you are starting. :)

Tom wrote: "Perri wrote: "I'll request the book ASAP :)"

Excellent! How long will it take to get one out to the island?"

It looks like our neighboring island has it, so it shouldn't take too long. Stupid President's day off ;)

Let's say that the official start time is next Monday. That said, you're welcome to start reading anytime you want but please be considerate of others when you post comments.

Feel free to make general comments and speculation as to what you think might happen but be very careful talking about events that are key to the plot or the mystery. Remarks like "Who would have guessed that Cain slew Abel?" should probably wait until most of us have finished the book whereas comments about the prologue, which describes events mentioned on the books cover, aren't likely to spoil anything. Bottom line: When in doubt, but your remark in spoiler brackets.

Perri wrote: "Stupid President's day off ;) "

Isn't Presidents Day the day the president walks out of the White House and if he sees his shadow that means we'll get another year of bull$#!+?

"Every Dead Thing" is next on my reading list after I finish my current book. I have a copy of the book at home.

Tom wrote: "Perri wrote: "Stupid President's day off ;) "

Isn't Presidents Day the day the president walks out of the White House and if he sees his shadow that means we'll get another year of bul$#!+?"

Right!?! I think we should have a groundhog/president face-off!

I would love to join in but may wait until book #2 as I have done a re-read on #1 recently but have not yet read #2. I have 2 questions. Are you somewhat firm on one per month? Also, are you planning to keep the same thread for the entire series?

Joni wrote: "I would love to join in but may wait until book #2 as I have done a re-read on #1 recently but have not yet read #2. I have 2 questions. Are you somewhat firm on one per month? Also, are you plann..."

If you have read EDT recently I hope you will check in from time to time and share your thoughts and impressions. As to your questions,

1: I intend to be fairly flexible with the timetable for the series, allowing readers enough time to finish the books and moving on to the next when the discussion starts to drop off. I’ll try to notify people who may be interested when we move on to a new book.

2: I expect to start a new thread for each book but new threads will be in the same Buddy Reads section and will follow a similar naming convention (ie: Buddy Reads > John Connolly's Charlie Parker series, Book 2 – Dark Hollow)

Thank you Tom! I will be checking back .

I was planning on reading this book next and came across this thread on my notifications. I would like to take part in this buddy read it thats ok. Not sure when I can start as I am about 70% through my current book.

Kieron wrote: "I was planning on reading this book next and came across this thread on my notifications. I would like to take part in this buddy read it thats ok. Not sure when I can start as I am about 70% throu..."

We're not officially starting our read until next week so you should be able to polish off Lynch's book. Let m e know what you think of it as I've been interested that series and McClellan's Powder Mage series as well.

I am currently reading Golden Son the 2nd book of the Red Rising trilogy, which is very good. I am listening to the 3rd book in Scott Lynch's gentleman bastard series, which I also highly recommend. Will try to get Golden Son finished in time for next week.

Count me in too! Thanks for the invitation!

Just finished The Wolf in Winter, the first John Connolly book I have read. I found the writing excellent, the character development interesting but I did not like all of the violence in the book. Are all of his books so violent?

Harold, yeah, the violence is there, but I read action thrillers and (and write them too) and for me the violence level is no different to that in other thrillers.

Wolf is the latest in the series. It is worth starting from the beginning.

A caution. Not every book in the series will be fabulous. When you have that many in a series, chances are some of the books will be flat.


However the overall series is very good and you'll also enjoy the two side characters.

Ty wrote: "A caution. Not every book in the series will be fabulous. When you have that many in a series, chances are some of the books will be flat.


However the overall series is very good and you'll also ..."

Ty wrote: "A caution. Not every book in the series will be fabulous. When you have that many in a series, chances are some of the books will be flat.


However the overall series is very good and you'll also ..."
Which ones would you suggest Ty?

Harold wrote: "Ty wrote: "A caution. Not every book in the series will be fabulous. When you have that many in a series, chances are some of the books will be flat.


However the overall series is very good and y..."

Unfortunately I tend to read all in a series. One reason why I read series is I like the continuity.


I remember the middle fee weren't as good as the initial and the latter.

Ty,

I think I would prefer that to it being flat at the beginning or the end, but thank you for warning us to stick through it. :)

Harold wrote: "Just finished The Wolf in Winter, the first John Connolly book I have read. I found the writing excellent, the character development interesting but I did not like all of the violence in the book...."

I have only read one and have just started Every Dead Thing so Ty is better able to answer your question than I am. Personally, the thing that does turn me off about some series is the introduction into each book of some freakishly clever serial killer. I figure if there were really so many of them out there, there wouldn't be anybody left to read books about them.

Tom wrote: "Harold wrote: "Just finished The Wolf in Winter, the first John Connolly book I have read. I found the writing excellent, the character development interesting but I did not like all of the violen..."

Tom wrote: "Harold wrote: "Just finished The Wolf in Winter, the first John Connolly book I have read. I found the writing excellent, the character development interesting but I did not like all of the violen..."

I read the synopsis of Every Dead Thing on Amazon and I think that I will pass on it. I will stick to writers like Lee Child who, in my opinion, writes entertaining books. I finished The Wolf in Winter because I was curious as to where it was going but I was not entertained by it.

Having read all of John Connolly, I can't recommend him enough. But to get the best from his books you should read them in order. As for "The Wolf in Winter", here is my review http://gutreactionreviews.com/2014/12...

Don wrote: "Having read all of John Connolly, I can't recommend him enough. But to get the best from his books you should read them in order. As for "The Wolf in Winter", here is my review http://gutreaction..."

Thank you Don. An excellent review. I will change my mind and read the first few books and see if I can get more out of them. In the meantime, I will watch the comments that will be coming for Every Dead Thing.

Got it from the library today, I will start it as soon as I finish reading Dracula

I have found Lee Child to be totally flat from 61 Hours onwards. Just flat, no more thrills.

But John Connolly is an acquired taste.

That's why his name doesn't come up as readily as Lee Child's in any thriller discussion.

Besides his books aren't really the all action kind that the Jack Reacher ones are.

They are more layered.

Don wrote: "Having read all of John Connolly, I can't recommend him enough. But to get the best from his books you should read them in order. As for "The Wolf in Winter", here is my review http://gutreaction..."

You mentioned literary in your review.

I use the word lyrical, but I think we both mean the same thing.

Ty wrote: "You mentioned literary in your review.

I use the word lyrical, but I think we both mean the same thing."


Lyrical is the word that comes to my mind as well. One paragraph towards the end of the prologue that was both dark and very poetic,

'I had a drunk’s alibi: while someone stole away my wife and my child, I downed bourbon in a bar. But they still come to me in my dreams, sometimes smiling and beautiful as they were in life and sometimes faceless and bloodied as death left them , beckoning me further into a darkness where love has no place and evil hides, adorned with thousands of unseeing eyes and the flayed faces of the dead.'

Started EDT today. Hardly into the book, but what a beginning!