Every Dead Thing, John Connolly
Every Dead Thing, John Connolly
16 Rating(s)
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Every Dead Thing

Author: John Connolly

Narrator: Titus Welliver

Abridged: 4 hr 24 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/01/1999


Synopsis

Tortured and brilliant private detective Charlie Parker stars in this thriller by New York Times bestselling author John Connolly.

Former NYPD detective Charlie "Bird" Parker is on the verge of madness. Tortured by the unsolved slayings of his wife and young daughter, he is a man consumed by guilt, regret, and the desire for revenge. When his former partner asks him to track down a missing girl, Parker finds himself drawn into a world beyond his imagining: a world where thirty-year-old killings remain shrouded in fear and lies, a world where the ghosts of the dead torment the living, a world haunted by the murderer responsible for the deaths in his family—a serial killer who uses the human body to create works of art and takes faces as his prize. But the search awakens buried instincts in Parker: instincts for survival, for compassion, for love, and, ultimately, for killing.

Aided by a beautiful young psychologist and a pair of bickering career criminals, Parker becomes the bait in a trap set in the humid bayous of Louisiana, a trap that threatens the lives of everyone in its reach. Driven by visions of the dead and the voice of an old black psychic who met a terrible end, Parker must seek a final, brutal confrontation with a murderer who has moved beyond all notions of humanity, who has set out to create a hell on earth: the serial killer known only as the Traveling Man.

In the tradition of classic American detective fiction, Every Dead Thing is a tense, richly plotted thriller, filled with memorable characters and gripping action. It is also a profoundly moving novel, concerned with the nature of loyalty, love, and forgiveness. Lyrical and terrifying, it is an ambitious debut, triumphantly realized.

About John Connolly

Dublin, Ireland born author, John Connolly, like many other authors, has held many jobs before solely dedicating his professional career to writing. He worked as a journalist, a barman, a local government official, a waiter, and a department store (Harrod's) gofer. His studies included English and Journalism, and spent five years as a freelance journalist for The Irish Times newspaper. He wrote his first novel, "Every Dead Thing", which was published in 1999. This began the introduction of his now famous main character, Charlie Parker. Charlie is considered to be a sort of anti-hero type, a former police officer who was forever hunting the killer of his wife and daughter. A total of fourteen books were written (through 2016) with Charlie Parker as the main character. The last three books made a change from being told in the first person of Parker, to being told by a third party person's point of view.

Connolly also published other thriller novels outside the Parker series. One such novel was about a young boy's coming-of-age journey through a fantasy of life during World War II England. Film adaptations of some of his works have been procured and will be made for film in the future. The first to appear to audiences was somewhat based on one of his short stories, "The New Daughter", and starred Kevin Costner and Ivana Bauquero.

In 2009, Connolly wrote his first novel geared specifically to younger readers, "The Gates", followed in 2011 by sequels, "Hell's Bells" (UK), and "The Infernals" (US), and "The Creeps" in 2013.

John Connolly's home base is still in Dublin, but he does divide his working time between there and the United States, which is where the Charlie Parker series takes place.


Reviews

Goodreads review by mark on July 20, 2014

I am a dilettante when it comes to my tastes. I like to read here and there, delve into some genres deeply, take a break with a shallow dip in another genre, and in general approach literature like it is a buffet. It keeps things interesting, but at times I wonder if it means I am losing the ability......more

Goodreads review by Meredith (Trying to catch up!) on February 27, 2017

To say there is a lot going on in Every Dead Thing (book #1 in the Charlie Parker series) is an understatement. There are numerous subplots and characters that at times make it hard to keep track of who’s who and what’s what. However, the constant is Charlie Parker. His character grows and evolves i......more

Goodreads review by Arah-Lynda on February 19, 2017

All things decay, all things must end, the evil as well as the good. This is not your average run of the mill detective story.  It is so much more than that and if you will bear with me I will attempt to explain why. The story opens with the horrific slaying of Detective Charlie (Bird) Parker’s wife a......more

Goodreads review by David on October 02, 2019

This is my favorite book of his. It's the start of the series. The writing is absolutely wonderful, the craft excellent. I read it a long time ago when it first came out but I highly recommend this book. It's a little rough for the faint of heart though. d.......more

Goodreads review by Francesc on July 25, 2022

La historia está muy bien. Los personajes son convincentes. Las descripciones son geniales. Hasta ese punto mágico le va bien al libro. Un autor muy famoso a seguir. The story is fine. The characters are convincing. The descriptions are great. That magical point is good for the book too. A very famou......more