Rating: 
Summary: "No grave deep enough to bury a bad death"
Review: "Bad Men" is a departure for the vastly talented John Connolly. Charlie "Bird" Parker, the ex-NYPD private investigator of Connolly's previous three novels (Every Dead Thing, The Killing Kind, The White Road) is "mostly" missing. (Parker, in an unusual twist for a novel, does indeed make a cameo appearance in "Bad Men".) But this is a departure of other sorts. Missing also in "Men" is the depth of Connolly's typically haunting prose - the lyrical quality of his previous works that made him so unique in the crowded field of popular crime fiction. But that in no way implies that "Bad Men" is a pedestrian effort. To the contrary, this is gripping fiction - a self-described thriller that is also a mystery - while at the same time a tale of the supernatural that rivals the master, Stephen King.The story takes place on the isolated Sanctuary Island off the coast of Portland, Maine - familiar territory for the Charlie Parker (or King) fan. Against the backdrop of a brutal massacre of the island's original settlers three centuries before, Connolly paints a fascinating story of King-like contrast: the boredom of rural Maine meets unspeakable evils, ancient and contemporary. While the characters may fall a bit sort of Connolly's vivid portraits in the "Parker" series, they are nonetheless interesting: the island's chief of police, Joe Dupree, is literally a giant, and an entire entourage of "bad men" (one bad woman) that make Peckinpah's "Wild Bunch" look like a Sunday School class. At the center of the storm are convicted felon Edward Moloch, whose Biblically inspired name foreshadows, and his estranged wife, hiding out on Sanctuary Island under the assumed name of Marianne Elliott. Five years prior, Marianne, in protecting herself and her infant son, had betrayed Moloch to the police, taken money that he had stolen, and fled under a false identity. After a particularly brutal escape from prison, Moloch assembles his team of despots and seeks out to find Marianne and reap his vengeance. As Moloch's gang tracks down the unsuspecting Elliott, they inevitably encounter "Melancholy" Joe Dupree. But as Moloch's boys find mistrust and jealously within the team a more formidable obstacle, the malevolent force lurking within the island emerges as the true deterrent. While perhaps lacking the passion and force of Connolly's previous words, "Bad Men" is a wholly enjoyable and engrossing work of fiction, sure to hold the reader's attention. Thriller, mystery, horror - take your pick - Connolly does it all in this one with highly satisfying results.
Rating: 
Summary: "Must Read Supernatural Thriller!"
Review: "Bad Men:A Thriller, by talented writer, John Connolly, is a Must Read supernatural thriller that had me swiftly turning the pages as fast as possible. The characters are great and has a plot that will please even the most die-hard thriller fan! Great Writer...Great Book! (Highly Recommended!)
Rating: 
Summary: Unnötig
Review: Angesichts der täglichen Gewalt in unserer Gesellschaft ein flaches Machwerk ohne literarischen Wert, mit dünner Handlung, die einzig mit widerlichen gewalttätigen Szenen aufgemotzt ist. Nicht empfehlenswert.
Rating:
Summary: A riveting thriller
Review: As in Mr. Connoley's previous novels, this one grabs you from the beginning and keeps you hooked to the very end. Missing are Charlie Parker and his cronies, although the Parker character appears briefly a couple of times in the story. Also, as in the previous novels, the plot is fast, violent and intriguing. The bad guys are really bad and a lot of people end up dead. There is a bit of a supernatural undercurrent to the story that is a bit ambiguous at times, but it adds to the mysteriousness of the plot. There really is no central "good guy" character here, just a group of people caught up in violent circumstances. I highly recommend this novel.
Rating:
Summary: adequate is the word
Review: Bad men are coming to the island of Sanctuary. These bad men, led by the vicious Moloch, are coming to seek out and punish Rita, his wife, who before running away to hide from him on the quiet, insular island, stole two important things from Moloch: his son and a substantial amount of cash. Sanctuary itself has a bloody history: in 1693 a group of settlers on the island were betrayed to their enemies and slaughtered. Since then, the island has rested in three hundred years of peace. But, now the Bad Men are on the way; the Bad Men with their violence and malintent, and strange things are starting to happen on Sanctuary. The inhabitants can sense them, sense the changes. The island is waking once more. It is restless now, and it will not tolerate the shedding of blood any longer. Yet still the bad men come. Clearly, this supernatural novel is a departure from Connolly's normal work. But is it? Well, actually, not really. His books have always been smattered with supernatural happenings among the violence, ghostly goings-on, and they have worked to brilliant atmospheric effect in his Charlie Parker novels. However, this one is a full-blown supernatural thriller (with, strangely, hints of a Western about it - as the bad guys breeze into town and the Sheriff stands up against them - which is odd but invigorating). He takes the horror and mystical elements, and puts them all in one book, underpinned by the traditional thriller template. Obviously it is a risk for any author to depart from their norm. The important question is: does it work? The answer is yes, partly. Without any doubt, Connolly writes with lyrical brilliance, as exemplified marvellously by the opening to the book: "Moloch dreams. In the darkness of a Virginia prison cell, he stirs like an old demon goaded by memories of its lost humanity," and nothing can take that away from him. Bad Men is a pleasure if only for the ethereal, vivid prose which bathes the descriptions in a sunset-like glow. It is also a pleasure for the presence of Melancholy Joe Dupree, the giant policeman who guards the island. He is a masterpiece of a character: gentle, damaged by the isolation caused by his physical difference, lonely, and yet prepared to go to great lengths of violence to do his duty, he will not be forgotten easily once the book is put down. The other characters, though, are nothing really special or very well well-drawn. The supernatural elements, too, are merely adequate. Personally, sometimes I felt that they actually took away from the power of the story in some instances. Sometimes, they contributed, along with the Western schemas, to the fact that the main plot thrust is, on occasion, pretty predictable, and bits dragged because of that. In others, though, the horror and supernatural influences do create a brilliant eerie atmosphere and some excellent paths for the story, and the haunting recurring image of those grey moths is not going to leave me for some distinct while. For those that lament the fact that this isn't a Parker book, he does make a brief appearance, even though I know that that is no real consolation. He will return (indeed, in 2005 I believe, with "The Black Angel"). And, I am sure that as Connolly stretches his literary wings in this fashion, he will be back all the better for it. If nothing else, this book will allow Connolly to grow and develop as a writer, which can only be to the benefit of his series. In the meantime, pick up Bad Men and enjoy. It's not excellent, but it's adequate, and the electrifying show-down finale is undeniably thrilling reading. Bad Men is just about worth its money.
Rating:
Summary: Forget what you know about thrillers!
Review: Forget what you know about thrillers or for that matter horror novels. Mr. John Connolly has re-written the book and broken all the rules. The result is a novel of exquisite horror and 'down to the bone' suspense.
Being a fan of the horror and thriller genre for more years than I care to say.....BAD MEN is the pinnacle of blending a story of revenge with a tale of redemtion and survival on a small island off the coast of Maine. Known many years ago as 'Sanctuary' this island is the home to ordinary people living out their daily existance unaware that a group of human demons are on their way to exact revenge and claim 'what is theirs' and no one will stand in their way.
The lead BAD MEN named Moloch is a creation from Mr. Connolly who in the past has brought readers villians such as Mr. Pudd from THE KILLING KIND and the evil Caleb Kyle from DARK HOLLOW. Both Charlie Parker novels.
BAD MEN is a departure for Mr. Connolly and a stand alone novel. But readers will note that Charlie Parker does make a cameo.
I don't want to give too much away. So, sit back forget all you know about 'what scares you' and delve into a novel that blends the best of everything.....the undead, cannibalism, adultery, compassion, honor and revenge.
As it has been said: "Sanctuary does not always mean safety"!
Rating:
Summary: skeptical at first
Review: I have really liked all of Connolly's books but was a little skeptical of this story line. Boy, am I glad I bought it. What a terrific movie it would make. The characters are all so complex but likeable.. Definitely worth reading...
Rating: 
Summary: NOT VERY GOOD
Review: I realize that the preceding reviewers have raved about this book, but I have to disagree. I don't want to ruin the plot for anyone who has not read the book yet, so I will just say that the most glaring problem is that the combination of hard nosed action and supernatural horror is not well done. So much time is spent in the first two thirds of the book convincing us that the bad men are such skilled, vicious killers that everyone should fear them. But,when the bad men finally reach the island, they are not up against human beings for the most part and their murderous ways become almost pointless, because they can't kill the supernatural beings that attack them. The author created a heck of a build up to a roaring cops and bad guys showdown, then started telling another kind of story.
This type of story can be done well, however. Dean Koontz combines the police, bad guys, mortal threat, and the supernatural in a splendid manner in "Odd Thomas." Unfortunately, Mr. Connolly doesn't pull it off.
Rating:
Summary: Edward Moloch and his bed men are coming to Sanctuary
Review: I suppose it is impossible to see similarities between John Connolly's "Bad Men" and the novels of Stephen King, not just because the main setting for this horror novel is an island in Maine, but more because the title characters really are bad men and they are joined in the festivities by some supernatural counterparts. But even with King's penchant for engaging in gross out gore, Connolly takes it to a level more akin to true crime books. The novel's heroine, Marianne Elliott, was married to a psycho-killer named Edward Moloch that she betrayed to the police. He is in prison back in Virginia and even though they have thrown away the key Marianne has taken a new name, changed her look, and found herself on a remote Maine island called Sanctuary. However, it seems that way back in 1693 the island was overrun by a gang of "bad men" who raped and pillaged before they slaughtered the entire community. There is a feeling in Sanctuary, articulated by "Melancholy" Joe Dupree, the 7-foot-2-inch gentle giant who is the island's only police officer, that the massacre tainted the land. This seems a reasonable interpretation of events since any one who ends up wandering around in the forest near where the bones of the settlers are buried tend to meet mysterious deaths. Now giant gray moths are appearing all over the island and the ghostly figure of a little girl has been seen. All the signs suggest that something wicked will be coming this way. Of course, that terms out to be Moloch. All these years in prison he has been spending his days obsessing about finding and butchering Marianne, but at night he is having dreams of the massacre on Sanctuary during colonial times. It also turns out that he has a fan club and in due course Moloch has his own gang of "bad men" that are moving north on a bloody killing spree taking heads and visiting other indecencies on their victims. The climax takes place on the requisite dark and stormy night on Sanctuary, where Marianne turns out to have some allies in welcoming her husband to her new home. Ultimately the comparison that comes to mind by the time you finish this blood-drenched book is not Stephen King or Thomas Harris but Laurell K. Hamilton. Like Hamilton, Connoly's book will probably never be filmed because to do it right would be to mandate at least an NC-17 rating. If you can stomach the blood and gore, then you will fine "Bad Men" a good late-night read. The pace is brisk and each of the characters is made memorable, although some of them in a way you might prefer not to remember. I have not read any of Connolly's other novels featuring the Portland-based private eye Charlie Parker, which makes sense to me because if they were anything like this one I surely would have heard about him and his work because when you have somebody who can carry off this sort of a bloodbath word gets around.
Rating:
Summary: Edward Moloch and his bed men are coming to Sanctuary
Review: I suppose it is impossible to see similarities between John Connolly's "Bad Men" and the novels of Stephen King, not just because the main setting for this horror novel is an island in Maine, but more because the title characters really are bad men and they are joined in the festivities by some supernatural counterparts. But even with King's penchant for engaging in gross out gore, Connolly takes it to a level more akin to true crime books. The novel's heroine, Marianne Elliott, was married to a psycho-killer named Edward Moloch that she betrayed to the police. He is in prison back in Virginia and even though they have thrown away the key Marianne has taken a new name, changed her look, and found herself on a remote Maine island called Sanctuary. However, it seems that way back in 1693 the island was overrun by a gang of "bad men" who raped and pillaged before they slaughtered the entire community. There is a feeling in Sanctuary, articulated by "Melancholy" Joe Dupree, the 7-foot-2-inch gentle giant who is the island's only police officer, that the massacre tainted the land. This seems a reasonable interpretation of events since any one who ends up wandering around in the forest near where the bones of the settlers are buried tend to meet mysterious deaths. Now giant gray moths are appearing all over the island and the ghostly figure of a little girl has been seen. All the signs suggest that something wicked will be coming this way. Of course, that terms out to be Moloch. All these years in prison he has been spending his days obsessing about finding and butchering Marianne, but at night he is having dreams of the massacre on Sanctuary during colonial times. It also turns out that he has a fan club and in due course Moloch has his own gang of "bad men" that are moving north on a bloody killing spree taking heads and visiting other indecencies on their victims. The climax takes place on the requisite dark and stormy night on Sanctuary, where Marianne turns out to have some allies in welcoming her husband to her new home. Ultimately the comparison that comes to mind by the time you finish this blood-drenched book is not Stephen King or Thomas Harris but Laurell K. Hamilton. Like Hamilton, Connoly's book will probably never be filmed because to do it right would be to mandate at least an NC-17 rating. If you can stomach the blood and gore, then you will fine "Bad Men" a good late-night read. The pace is brisk and each of the characters is made memorable, although some of them in a way you might prefer not to remember. I have not read any of Connolly's other novels featuring the Portland-based private eye Charlie Parker, which makes sense to me because if they were anything like this one I surely would have heard about him and his work because when you have somebody who can carry off this sort of a bloodbath word gets around.
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