NINETOES VS. EVERY DEAD THING

Ninetoes dug up John Connolly’s first book in the Charlie Parker series, but did it leave him wanting more Charlie?

TITLE: Every Dead Thing (Charlie Parker Series #1)

AUTHOR: John Connolly

GENRE: Mystery/Thriller/Horror

PAGES: 512

FORMAT: Ebook

PRICE: $9.99

Hey there, book lovers! It’s your old pal, Ninetoes, coming to you from Ninetoes Loves Books Headquarters. Today, I am looking at John Connolly’s Every Dead Thing. I have coffee in my system and my thinking cap on, so let’s get to it!

Charlie Parker is a man tormented by the deaths of his wife and daughter. It is not so much that they died, but how they died. After an argument with his wife, Charlie went to tie one on. He came home, slipped in some blood, and found his wife and daughter posed on a chair. It was a gruesome sight, the least of which I will mention here: their faces were taken and their eyes were destroyed. You can only imagine what else Charlie saw. He is an immediate suspect but is soon cleared. He was a detective, but left the force. His former boss asks him to look into the disappearance of a woman. Charlie still wants to find the killer of his family, who soon becomes known as The Traveling Man. Unbeknownst to Charlie, the Traveling Man is hunting him as well, leaving a trail of bodies wherever Charlie goes.

This book took off like a house on fire on a windy day. I was immediately sucked in with the scene Charlie came home to. I was expecting a book of just the hunt for The Traveling Man. I got an additional mystery that became muddied with family drama, a small town’s dark secrets, a mob war, and some Cajun mysticism. The problem I encountered is that the book quickly became populated by too many characters, which made it hard to keep track of. I almost had to start a notebook to keep track of who was who and how they were related. When some of the characters started to use aliases, I almost threw in the towel. I wanted to see it through, so I knuckled down and carried on.

The writing ebbed and flowed. The action was tense; the in-between parts felt like walking through molasses. The characters were well developed. That being said, I had to compel myself to finish the book. We got a showdown that I thought was going to finish the book and push the hunt into a second book, but after that fight, we got the showdown between Charlie and The Traveling Man that was, in some ways, predictable.

This is a good book if you want a series starter, you like excessive blood and descriptive gore, and a whodunit to boot.

I give this book 3.5 bookmarks out of 5.

Until the next time, I bid you happy reading.

Darren “Ninetoes” Perdue is a book and media reviewer. When he is not reading, he is watching true crime shows, cooking for his family, or working on a plan for universal domination. If you see him on his porch, say hi. He does not bite…much.

PLEASE NOTE: The views and opinions of the staff of Memento Mori Ink do not necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or Crystal Lake Publishing, nor do the views or opinions of Crystal Lake necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or its staff. Thank you for understanding.