The Book of Lost Things, John Connolly
The Book of Lost Things, John Connolly
5 Rating(s)
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The Book of Lost Things

Author: John Connolly

Narrator: Steven Crossley

Unabridged: 10 hr 59 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 05/23/2008


Synopsis

High in his attic bedroom, twelve-year-old David mourns the loss of his mother. He is angry and he is alone, with only the books on his shelf for company. But those books have begun to whisper to him in the darkness, and as he takes refuge in the myths and fairytales so beloved of his dead mother he finds that the real world and the fantasy world have begun to meld. The Crooked Man has come, with his mocking smile and his enigmatic words: "Welcome, your majesty. All hail the new king." With echoes of Gregory Maguire's Wicked and C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, author John Connolly introduces us to a cast of not-quite-familiar characters. Like the seven socialist dwarfs who poison an uninvited (and unpleasant) princess and try to peg the crime on her stepmother. Or the Loups, the evil human-canine hybrids spawned long ago by the union of a wolf and a seductive girl in a red cloak. As war rages across Europe, David is violently propelled into a land that is both a construct of his imagination yet frighteningly real, a strange reflection of his own world composed of myths and stories, populated by wolves and worse-than-wolves, and ruled over by a faded king who keeps his secrets in a legendary book.The Book of Lost Things.

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 Felicia on May 12, 2015

This is kind of a deceptive book. It seems like it could be young adult in tone at first but it is NOT young adult. It's an adult urban fantasy starring a child. Very cool and immersive, and a bit dark. Hell, a LOT dark sometimes, haha. The lore is very cool, you can tell that the author really love......more

Goodreads review by Lisa on January 27, 2008

Part fairy tale and part psychological study, I found this to be an engrossing and powerful book. Recommend to everybody, particularly those who have used reading and books to get themselves through difficult times, especially in childhood. I don't look at this book the way some readers apparently ha......more

Goodreads review by Shelley's Book Nook on September 04, 2023

My Reviews Can Also Be Found On: The Storygraph and The Book Review Crew Blog My reading resolution this year was to read more books out of my comfort zone so when I saw an ARC for The Land of Lost Things (The Book of Lost Things #2) I decided to request it. When my request was approved I immedia......more

Goodreads review by Robotkarateman on January 16, 2015

NOTICE (Please read this first): I'm happy to discuss my opinion of this book with you if you had a different take, but if your intent is merely to attack my opinion, I'm not interested. Since I posted this way back in 2008, a (very) small minority of this book's fans have taken my review personally......more

Goodreads review by Rosh on November 15, 2017

*Didn't like this book as much but it did motivate me to sketch* Take all your favourite fairy tales from your childhood(from odd mixture of Wizard of Oz to Labyrinth to The Never Ending Story to the most sadistic part of Grimm's Fairy Tales), now throw in some well known poems and mix together with......more