CHARLIE PARKER Series

Every Dead Thing by John Connolly
Book 1 of Charlie Parker series
Genre: crime fiction

About Every Dead Thing:

Now available in trade paperback, the first installment of the Charlie Parker series by internationally bestselling author John Connolly. Haunted by the unsolved slayings of his wife and daughter, former New York City detective Charlie Parker is a man consumed by guilt, regret, and the desire for revenge. When his search for a missing woman leads him to the killer who destroyed his family, Parker knows payback time has come at last.

Aided by a beautiful young psychologist and two career criminals, Parker soon becomes the bait in a trap set in the balmy bayous of Louisiana to catch a murderer unlike any other — a monster who believes himself to be an artist and uses the human body as his canvas. Driven by his visions of the dead and the voice of an old Creole psychic, Parker must seek — and win — a final brutal confrontation with the serial killer known as the Traveling Man.

Every Dead Thing is a richly textured, intricately plotted novel that probes the mind of a tormented man whose buried instincts — for love, survival, and even killing — awaken as he confronts a monster beyond imagining and relentlessly pursues justice for the murder of his family.

Source: Info in the About Every Dead Thing was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/175242.Every_Dead_Thing on 08/09/2012.

My Thoughts:

I am not a crime fiction fan so why am I reading crime fiction? Good question! I don't know. Well, it all started when I attended a book signing at my local bookstore and the writer, which was John Connolly, was very nice. And the way he interacted with his readers/fans was so down to earth despite his fame and all that, I was impressed! So I decided to give his work a go and see for myself what the fuss is all about, thus Every Dead Thing got read. And imagine my surprise! I actually enjoyed it! A non-urban fantasy book?!? WTF!! So the story telling quality of this author must be compelling enough to lure me into the dark side... crime fiction!! So now I am an old die-hard fan of this series. Though there are some Charlie Parker books which I wasn't quiet ecstatic about but have to read anyway because there are events there that are pertinent to the main story arc. What I am ecstatic about is the emergence of the paranormal elements as the story unfolds and the more books comes out. Now, we're rocking! All in all, this series is a real keeper, I would give it a 4.5 out of 5.

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Charlie Parker Series:




Update:
03/08/2024 - Updated the books in the series.

ALL SEEING EYE

All Seeing Eye by Rob Thurman
Series: (N/A)
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: paperback

About All Seeing Eye:

Picking up a small pink shoe from the grass forever changed young Jackson Lee’s life. Not only did its presence mean that his sister Tessa was dead—murdered and stuffed in the deep, black water of a narrow well—but the shoe itself told him so.

Tessa’s death triggers an even more horrific family massacre that, combined with this new talent he neither wants nor can handle, throws Jack’s life into a tailspin. The years quickly take him from state homes to the streets to grifting in a seedy carnival, until he finally becomes the cynical All Seeing Eye, psychic-for-hire. At last, Jackson has left his troubled past behind him and found a semblance of peace.

That is, until the government blackmails him. Helping the military contain the aftermath of a bizarre experiment gone violently wrong, everything Jackson knows about himself will change just as suddenly as it did with his little sister’s shoe.
And while change is constant...It’s never for the better.

Source: Info in the About All Seeing Eye was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13260196-all-seeing-eye on 19/08/2012.

Review:

This book made me cry buckets! Specially towards the end. So make sure you got a box of kleenex handy, just in case. Rob Thurman brought into this book the fantastic story telling quality that I've come to know of her with the Cal Leandros series. And I think, because of that, this book is very fast-paced indeed! Read the book in one day. I got a few nitpicking issues with the reincarnation subject matter but I am willing to let it slide for now for the wonderful reading time that the book gives! I also like the twists in the plot. Things I never saw coming... That was a true bender! Just to add to the creepy factor, here is a screenshot of Jack's house where it all started (a still shot from the trailer)... No, this book is not horror, it's urban fantasy. And the bestest best thing about this book? You don't see any TSTL (too stupid to live) protagonists! The plot does not depend on the characters behaving stupidly in order to create a story! And that is a real gem indeed!! I am not having a dig at Charlaine Harris and other authors like her, because she is a wonderful story teller, am just appreciative of books that does not have TSTL characters in it. This is a stand-alone which I am kinda hoping would have follow-up books because I really like to read more of this world and of Jack! So am keeping my fingers crossed for more books in this series...
So after waxing poetic and all that gushing you might wonder why only 4.5 and not a 5? Well, it's the cover art that brought things down. What can I say? It's NOT a selling point...

Source: This review was taken from http://www.cherrymischievous.com/2012/12/review-all-seeing-eye.html on 11/09/2013.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 5
Story itself = 5
Ending = 4.5
World building = 4
Cover art = 3
Pace = 5
Plot = 5

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries


Book Trailer: