#17 in the anti-hero Charlie Parker series.
Sequel to the excellent Woman in the Woods.
I should say the sequel is not as good. It should have been much shorter.
John Connolly has the skill to write multiple story lines from multiple characters — and still keep the story easy to follow.
Respect.
Some might compare his books to Stephen King. Set in Maine. Often a supernatural element.
But John Connolly is more murder mystery. King more horror.
Connolly is more literary. King a pure story teller with simpler dialogue.
John Connolly is a BIG FAN of King. And might well have been influenced.
… A Book of Bones draws to a close the most recent mini-arc within the Parker series, one that involves a shadowy lawyer named Quayle, his murderous accomplice Mors, and their efforts to reassemble – and awaken – a book known as the Fractured Atlas, which might be able to plunge the Earth into a nightmare world populated by entities only known as the “Not-Gods”.
As ever with Connolly, it hardly matters whether these events are truly happening or only a matter of zealotry within the minds of those committing horrific acts; either way, people are dying, and tensions are rising. …
… a relentless crime thriller in which women are being killed at ancient sites of worship and being staged to look like hate crimes to inflame anti-Muslim hysteria.
Meanwhile, Parker and his comrades are trying to understand what role the Atlas plays in all of this, track down Quayle, and deal with the re-emergence of a religious sect which nearly cost them their lives once.
In other words, there’s a lot going on here, but Connolly weaves all of his threads seamlessly, building the pace and tension constantly until a finale which teeters on what might be the literal apocalypse with genuine suspense and dread. …
Rick McCharles 