Rating: 
Summary: Men Behaving Badly "Bad Men" by John Connolly
Review: In 1693 a horrific massacre occurred on the small island of Sanctuary, Maine. An outcast returned with a group of cutthroats to rape and pillage the settlement before killing all. In modern times, Moloch, as he restlessly sleeps in a Virginia prison cell dreams of the massacre as if he were there.
On modern day Sanctuary, now known as "Dutch" Officer Joe Dupree senses something is not right with his island home. At seven feet two inches and known to the residents affectionately as "Melancholy Joe" he is the island's resident policeman and is assisted by a rotation of officers from the coastal city of Portland, Maine. Dupree knows the legends and the history of the island and he knows that something is wrong. Something is stirring on the island having been awakened from its long slumber.
Joe isn't the only one on the island sensing something. Vincent "Jack" Giacomelli is aware also. As the island's landscape painter, he isn't very good but he does make money selling to the tourists. He spins a tale about his past as well for the tourists and soon another painting is sold. But his paintings are changing and he isn't aware of the changes until the painting is finished. Small black shapes are appearing in the paintings. Small black shapes that he did not paint and almost look human.
There are other signs as well. The birds are gone, the marsh in the center of the island at the massacre site is rapidly expanding and vegetation is growing even in the dead of winter, and the animals are acting strange. Then there are the moths that are appearing. Hundreds of them are appearing, sometimes a solitary moth, sometimes large clouds of them, even though it is the middle of winter and these kind of moths never appear on the island. The signs of something strange continue to accumulate while Moloch escapes and leads a group of hardened evil men in search of his ex-wife, a child he cares nothing about and more than $800,000 of his money.
Like the blizzard that is bearing down on the small island, Moloch and his men bear down on the island leaving a trail of torture and executions in their wake. They seek vengeance and retribution while also seeking the pleasure they derive from inflicting pain and death on others. They are led by a man, Moloch, whose reality slips more and more back to 1683 than in the present. They aren't the only ones seeking vengeance however. So too is the presence on the island as the blood debt from 1863 must once again be repaid.
Blending themes of fate/destiny and the nature of pure evil, the author has created an intense read that highly entertains for the nearly 400-page novel. The work moves back and forth from supernatural events to the mystery components and along the way numerous characters are killed. Often very graphically and in very violent ways. As such, the read is intense, dark, and very disturbing at times.
At the same time, watching the slow psychological collapse of several of the characters was interesting. As were the ways the author weaved the many storylines and character viewpoints in such a way to draw the reader in all the while suggesting a possible rational explanation for events. This is a book that crosses genres between horror and mystery and for those readers so inclined, a very good book.
Book Facts:
Bad Men
By John Connolly
www.johnconnolly.co.uk
Atria Books
2004
ISBN # 0-7434-8784-2
Hardback
Rating: 
Summary: A winner
Review: In the 1600's, the colonists, tired of the Indian raids, settled on Sanctuary Island off the coast of Maine. For a time life was good until one of the settlers was suspected of various crimes and fled to the mainland. He returned with a gang of criminals killing all the settlers. In the present day, Sanctuary Island, now called Dutch Island, contains a thriving community but from time to time inexplicable things happen to evil men.The island is preparing for the coming of Bad Men including Edward Molloch, a sociopathic predator who is coming to Sanctuary to kill the wife who betrayed him and retrieve the money she stole from him. In his need for revenge, he leaves a trail of destruction that begins when he escapes from his prison guards and ends on the island he dreamed about during his last year in prison. Accompanying him is groups of fellow sociopaths who do not believe the laws of society apply to them. Dutch Island will once again flow in a sea of red with no one being safe. John Connolly, the author of the Charlie Parker mysteries, has written a very dark gothic crime thriller that will frighten readers because the fear comes from real people, not imaginary monsters. Written in the third person from both the viewpoints of the islanders and the criminals, the audience sees that the true monsters wear the mask of humanity to hide an evil core. In many ways, the predators are more interesting than the heroes of this book because their thought processes are so alien to what makes people human. BAD MEN (a very appropriate title) is as terrifying as a novel gets. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: "Now, something was awake."
Review: John Connolly delivers an impressive thriller, which I found almost impossible to put down after jumping into its exquisitely elaborated plot. He switches back and forth between the past and the present with ease, demonstrating his skills. Dutch Island is situated at a one and a half hour ferry ride from Portland, and it has been the setting of mysterious and unsettling events throughout its history. This is the setting for the marvelous story presented by Connolly. In the late seventeenth century Indians consistently raided the various islands in the area outside of what is known today as Portland, pushing the white settlers away. But in 1691 thirty individuals arrived to Dutch Island, which at the time was also known as Sanctuary, and decided to give it a try. Bauer, one of the men that formed part of the group, was justly accused of attempting to rape another man's wife. When he asked his own wife for shelter against his pursuers she did not comply and he was captured. However, he was able to escape and he returned years later with renegade Indians as his "hired help" bringing mayhem to the village. After the horrible events that developed in the island, the ghosts of the dead were left behind to cohabitate with the living. Usually, they do not interact much with humans, but now something is growing, and some people in the island can feel it. Connolly creates interesting and well-developed characters, like the giant Joe Dupree, seven feet two inches and three hundred and sixty pounds, who is in charge of the police department in Dutch Island. He is courting Marianne, a woman who has some secrets in store, but he also has some secrets of his own. Moloch is sitting in jail awaiting his forced appearance before the Grand Jury, and knowing that when that happens he will be facing charges that deserve the capital punishment. When he sleeps, he has disturbing dreams, in which he leads a gang of renegade Indians into an island in search for his wife who had betrayed him. Finally, there are a couple of other characters that add flavor to the mix: Jack, a painter with little talent, but whose paintings evolve after he is done with them, and Richie, a twenty-five-year-old "kid" who has the ability to see unnatural events unfold. It is reinvigorating to find authors that besides creating exciting stories that keep you reading all night, possess the gift of writing. This is the case of John Connolly, who not only leads us towards the end of the story with a fast-paced plot full of suspense, but who also knows how to make us enjoy the ride to get there.
Rating:
Summary: Connolly delivers again!
Review: John Connolly has consistantly written unputdownable novels that keep me reading through the night. I have been addicted from his first, but after reading The Killing Kind and The White Road - I consider him The Master of the Craft. Now - with Bad Men (a stand alone novel) - I was a little worried that he would take the road of a lot of great writers. Move away from his Charlie Parker series of books and write a novel completely in a different vein of his previous. Where in most cases - I have been completely disappointed with other authors (example - Dennis Lehane's "Shutter Island") - Connolly comes through with flying colors. Bad Men creeped me out and his characters were exceptional (the "Giant").
I look forward to The Black Angel due in June (another in the Charlie Parker series) - keep on keeping on John! Fantastic work!
Rating: 
Summary: A Disappointing Waste of Talent
Review: John Connolly is emerging as one of the boldest, freshest and superior novelists of our time. BAD MEN is a brutal, gut-wrenching, mesmerizing, violent and excellently penned thriller. Connolly wastes no time in getting us introduced to the bad men of the title, and they are definitely BADDDDD!
Edward Moloch lies in prison having dreams of a seventeenth century bloodbath on a remote island north of Maine. Moloch wants revenge on the wife who betrayed him and took off with almost a million dollars of his money. He recruits some really cold-blooded, despicable associates to help get his wife and his money.
The wife has moved on to Sanctuary Island, the very island of Moloch's dreams. She has a new name for both her and her son, and she has fallen in love with the island's sheriff, Joe Dupree. Joe is an enormous man, considered a "giant" and maybe even a freak by the islanders, but he is a gentle, kind man, and despite his size, is respected and admired.
A lot of corpses accompany the escaped Moloch and his crew as he slowly winds his way to the confrontation with his wife.
Connolly creates a terrifying mood of suspense, and even adds the supernatural in that the slaughtered villagers from the 17th century are hanging around and thousands and thousands of moths, too! In less competent hands, this addition would be preposterous. In Connolly's, however, they only add to the sheer terror of this breathtaking thriller.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Rating:
Summary: BAD IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT
Review: John Connolly is emerging as one of the boldest, freshest and superior novelists of our time. BAD MEN is a brutal, gut-wrenching, mesmerizing, violent and excellently penned thriller. Connolly wastes no time in getting us introduced to the bad men of the title, and they are definitely BADDDDD!
Edward Moloch lies in prison having dreams of a seventeenth century bloodbath on a remote island north of Maine. Moloch wants revenge on the wife who betrayed him and took off with almost a million dollars of his money. He recruits some really cold-blooded, despicable associates to help get his wife and his money.
The wife has moved on to Sanctuary Island, the very island of Moloch's dreams. She has a new name for both her and her son, and she has fallen in love with the island's sheriff, Joe Dupree. Joe is an enormous man, considered a "giant" and maybe even a freak by the islanders, but he is a gentle, kind man, and despite his size, is respected and admired.
A lot of corpses accompany the escaped Moloch and his crew as he slowly winds his way to the confrontation with his wife.
Connolly creates a terrifying mood of suspense, and even adds the supernatural in that the slaughtered villagers from the 17th century are hanging around and thousands and thousands of moths, too! In less competent hands, this addition would be preposterous. In Connolly's, however, they only add to the sheer terror of this breathtaking thriller.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Rating:
Summary: Modern day ghost story
Review: John Connolly's compelling novel "Bad Men" is unique in that the setting of the story has a personality and therefore plays much like any of the main characters. "Bad Men" is actually a juxtaposition of two stories, the history of the setting, Dutch Island and a life and death struggle among the characters. Dutch Island, also known as Sanctuary is a smallish island located in Maine's Casco Bay with access by boat from Portland. Dutch Island was the site in 1693 of a brutal massacre of it's original inhabitants, memorialized in a remote area called the Site. Around the Site spectres and spirits of the slaughtered colonists have been observed lurking about and causing mayhem, unwilling to allow more violence to desecrate Dutch Island. Dutch Island happens to be the home of both Joe Dupree and Marianne Elliott. Dupree, a 7 foot 2 inch giant and descendant of the original colonists of Sanctuary is head of Dutch Island's police force and unofficial keeper of the history of the island. Marianne Elliott and her son Danny are recent inhabitants. Elliott unwittingly married Edward Moloch who turned out to be a sadistic, homicidal sociopath presently incarcerated on death row in a Virginia prison. She unearthed his ill gotten cache of some $800,000 and after ratting him out to the police, fled with the loot and her young son to the remote Dutch Island. Moloch aided by a crew of murderous, blood thirsty felons escaped from prison. They are presently combing the country leaving behind a trail of dead bodies trying to determine the whereabouts of Marianne, Danny and the money. That path inexorably leads them to Dutch Island. Connolly, an exceeding talented purveyor of the eerie and the macabre in his work does an excellent job in his first departure from his usual hero, Charlie Parker (Parker actually makes a cameo appearance in "Bad Men"). His wonderfully descriptive novels delve deeply into the aberrant personalities of his characters. "Bad Men" is a shining example of exactly that.
Rating:
Summary: Lots of good in Connolly's 'Bad Men'
Review: Nashville City Paper April 29,2004
Charlie Parker, the ex-cop turned private detective, is the usual protagonist in the popular mystery series by author John Connolly that includes The Killing Kind (Pocket Star), Dark Hollow (Pocket Books) and The White Road (Pocket Star). Connolly's books featuring Parker have developed a loyal following because of the author's ability to write a great story and his distinctive style of writing which includes a wry sense of humor. Although Parker does make a very brief appearance, Bad Men (Atria Books) introduces us to Joe Dupree. Joe's job is to protect the small island called Dutch Island once called Sanctuary in Maine, where most of the book takes place. As the story begins, the reader learns that something terrible happened in Sanctuary more than 300 years ago. There are bad people who want to murder and wreak havoc in the present and spirits who may or may not be helping them. Edward Moloch is as evil as bad men come and he plans to escape from prison and find his wife Marianne who is hiding on Dutch Island with their son. It is up to Dupree and rookie police officer Sharon Macy to protect the citizens of Dutch Island from the horrors, which are often unexplained, along with preparing for Moloch's arrival. Did you think this book was too violent? Parts of it made me squeamish and were hard to read. How does Connolly compare to Dean Koontz, Stephen King and Thomas Harris as far as scaring you? Is Bad Men to be read late at night or in the safety of daylight? As for me, I will read the next book by Connolly that features Parker with joy and relief. Larry's language The pace never slows in Bad Men as author Connolly, not to be confused with Los Angeles mystery writer Michael Connelly, takes us on a murderous journey from a Native American Indian attack 300 years ago to a jailbreak today to a cross country killing spree. Each of these events seems to happen in isolation, both in reference to each other and in terms of being cut off from the rest of society. For our book club questions, this kind of writing is meant to evoke things that go bump in the night. Do you ever awaken suddenly thinking that you heard an unusual noise? Do you ever wonder if some stranger or alien presence is in your home? If so, this is not the kind of book to read when you are alone. Connolly tightly weaves this story of a young mother, Marianne Elliott, fiercely protecting her young son Danny by moving across the country to a desolate island off the coast of Maine. Elliott completely changes her life and a good thing considering what a mess she had made up to that point. Every good story needs a classic villain. The father, Edward Moloch, escapes from prison in a bloody rampage and, with his band of merry killers, Moloch sets out to trace his missing wife and child. Connolly's most endearing character is Joe Dupree who serves as the sole island police officer and whose father and grandfather held the same job. Because of his huge physical size and gentle manner, Dupree is isolated from the other folks on the island but this only strengthens his resolve to serve and protect. This book succeeds in establishing the insecurity and sense of fear that is necessary primarily by emphasizing the island's lack of connectedness to the mainland and by carefully creating a sense of place and a 300-year history of evil as Connolly describes the island. This book confirms Connolly, who will sign his books at Davis- Kidd Bookstore on May 3, as one of our best thriller novelists along with authors Dean Koontz, Lee Child and Stephen King. Much like these other authors, Connolly succeeds in each of his books because of his sharp characterization, distinctive plotting and his writing instills a deep sense of unease and suspense in the reader.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and recommended but problematic
Review: On sanctuary Island off the coast of Maine lives an odd assortment of characters. Joe Dupree, a physical giant is head of the local police. He has his eyes on Marianne, a single mom of a six year old boy. There is a retarded youth, as well as a crusty old painter among many others. The island, however, is haunted with spirits from centuries ago when a settlement on the island was wiped out by a crazed maniac with a group of local Indians. What the islanders don't know is that the island will be attacked once again. This time by Moloch, an fugitive killer hell bent on killing his wife, Marianne, after she turned him into the police while stealing his money. Can the islanders hold them off?
Surprisingly John Connelly has drifted off into the occult. True, the basic essence of this very well written novel is a crime. However, the solution lies well into the realm of the occult. Consider this, perhaps, a Stephen King type of work that lacks Mr. King's ability to convey ordinary life. The book is a bit too long and the ending predictable and easily seen several hundred pages before it occurs. The intermingling of ghostly spirits removes quite a bit of the realism, yet, there are some interesting characters created such as the giant, Joe Dupree. Moloch is a stereotypic madman way out of control as is the length of this book. Worth reading however, in that it is quite entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Bad Men Packed With Action
Review: Saralee says Charlie Parker, the ex-cop turned private detective, is the usual protagonist in the popular mystery series by author John Connolly that includes The Killing Kind (Pocket Star), Dark Hollow (Pocket Books) and The White Road (Pocket Star). Connolly's books featuring Parker have developed a loyal following because of the author's ability to write a great story and his distinctive style of writing which includes a wry sense of humor. Although Parker does make a very brief appearance, Bad Men (Atria Books) introduces us to Joe Dupree. Joe's job is to protect the small island called Dutch Island once called Sanctuary in Maine, where most of the book takes place. As the story begins, the reader learns that something terrible happened in Sanctuary more than 300 years ago. There are bad people who want to murder and wreak havoc in the present and spirits who may or may not be helping them. Edward Moloch is as evil as bad men come and he plans to escape from prison and find his wife Marianne who is hiding on Dutch Island with their son. It is up to Dupree and rookie police officer Sharon Macy to protect the citizens of Dutch Island from the horrors, which are often unexplained, along with preparing for Moloch's arrival. Did you think this book was too violent? Parts of it made me squeamish and were hard to read. How does Connolly compare to Dean Koontz, Stephen King and Thomas Harris as far as scaring you? Is Bad Men to be read late at night or in the safety of daylight? As for me, I will read the next book by Connolly that features Parker with joy and relief. Larry's language The pace never slows in Bad Men as author Connolly, not to be confused with Los Angeles mystery writer Michael Connelly, takes us on a murderous journey from a Native American Indian attack 300 years ago to a jailbreak today to a cross country killing spree. Each of these events seems to happen in isolation, both in reference to each other and in terms of being cut off from the rest of society. For our book club questions, this kind of writing is meant to evoke things that go bump in the night. Do you ever awaken suddenly thinking that you heard an unusual noise? Do you ever wonder if some stranger or alien presence is in your home? If so, this is not the kind of book to read when you are alone. Connolly tightly weaves this story of a young mother, Marianne Elliott, fiercely protecting her young son Danny by moving across the country to a desolate island off the coast of Maine. Elliott completely changes her life and a good thing considering what a mess she had made up to that point. Every good story needs a classic villain. The father, Edward Moloch, escapes from prison in a bloody rampage and, with his band of merry killers, Moloch sets out to trace his missing wife and child. Connolly's most endearing character is Joe Dupree who serves as the sole island police officer and whose father and grandfather held the same job. Because of his huge physical size and gentle manner, Dupree is isolated from the other folks on the island but this only strengthens his resolve to serve and protect. This book succeeds in establishing the insecurity and sense of fear that is necessary primarily by emphasizing the island's lack of connectedness to the mainland and by carefully creating a sense of place and a 300-year history of evil as Connolly describes the island. This book confirms Connolly as one of our best thriller novelists along with authors Dean Koontz, Lee Child and Stephen King. Much like these other authors, Connolly succeeds in each of his books because of his sharp characterization, distinctive plotting and his writing instills a deep sense of unease and suspense in the reader.
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