Rating: 
Summary: "Edge Of Your Seat Thriller"
Review: "Dark Hollow" by John Connolly, is an edge of your seat thriller, one that I had trouble putting down once I started reading the book. Excellent job by Mr. Connolly on this one, his characters are exciting and believable, the dialogue flows smoothly, and the plot is one to die for. "A Recommended Novel" (The theme cover design on this book is what got my attention, the compelling plot is what kept me eagerly turning the pages.)John Savoy
Savoy International
Motion Pictures Inc.
Rating:
Summary: DARK DOINGS IN THE WOODS OF MAINE
Review: "Dark Hollow" is Connelly's second adventure with private detective Charlie "Bird" Parker, and althougn not quite as intense or engrossing as "Every Dead Thing," the story is a haunting and well executed tale of murder and vengeance. Parker retires to his home in Maine after the savage deaths of his wife and daughter, and the dissolution of his romance with criminal psychologist Rachel Wolfe. Charlie is haunted by the ghosts of many people, including some of the newer victims in Dark Hollow. Parker's grandfather had been searching for the mysterious "bogeyman" Caleb Kyle, and died before ever finding him. Is Kyle still lurking in the dark woods of Maine? What does he have to do with the gruesome killings that have taken place and are continuing to take place? Will Parker rekindle his romance with his first love, Lorna Jennings, who just happens to be the wife of Sheriff Rand Jennings? Will Parker rekindle his romance with Rachel Wolfe, who doesn't want anything to do with him anymore? Will he find Billy Purdue and prove that he didn't kill his ex-wife and son? Will Louis and Angel ever get married? Ah, these are questions that may or may not be answered, but you will enjoy the mesmerizing writing of Connelly, whose descriptions of the winters in Maine are graphically chilling. A dark, but highly recommended, read.
Rating: 
Summary: Connolly's Second book: another entertaining story.
Review: A great book that, if you don't mind the cliche, you can't put down. Connolly's way of keeping you in suspence over Caleb Kyle, (does he exist?),how everything clicks into place at the end,makes for a fantastic climax. For fans of thrillers, this is simply a must. Jack Connolly will definitly be on my favourite authors list.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Of Mystery
Review: A nearly perfect suspense novel set in Maine, with a likable hero and his two funny/dangerous side kicks. Charlie "Bird" Parker has suffered a huge loss in the past, but is psychologically in touch with his anger and loss. The ex-NYC cop returns to his small Maine hometown, only to be pulled into solving the murder of a woman and her child. Great character development and one stays up the night to find out what happens next. I hope author John Connolly is a fast writer -- can't wait for his next opus.
Rating: 
Summary: Dull-dull-dull
Review: As an action mystery writer, Connolly is slow and dull. If you would like to read 60 pages of historical background on small New England townships before getting to any intrigue, this is the book for you--Truly, the book is 50% description of historical data or environmental and neighborhood description--but no action for a mystery buff.
Rating:
Summary: Dull-dull-dull
Review: As an action mystery writer, Connolly is slow and dull. If you would like to read 60 pages of historical background on small New England townships before getting to any intrigue, this is the book for you--Truly, the book is 50% description of historical data or environmental and neighborhood description--but no action for a mystery buff.
Rating: 
Summary: OnThe Edge Of Reality
Review: At the risk of incurring the wrath of Connolly lovers I didn't connect with DARK HOLLOW. It is a long death-filled story that takes the reader to the edge of reality and believability. Ex- NY detective, Charlie Parker becomes deeply involved in a manhunt for Billy Purdue, accused of killing his own wife and child. Charlie, whose sense of loss from the violent deaths of his own wife and child a year earlier drives him in the pursuit, doesn't believe Billy is the killer. Instead, an old man who haunts the woods of Maine and the minds and dreams of all the inhabitants there, becomes the object of Charlie's relentless search. There are some scary scenes and I can understand how some readers and critics believe this is a "stunning successor" to EVERY DEAD THING and a "terrifying and ingenious novel". However, for me, it stretched reality too far. Charlie survived too many gunfights, bullet holes, whacks on the head, chases through the woods, and swims in icy waters for me. This isn't to say that some readers won't enjoy DARK HOLLOW because they will. I'm just not one of them.
Rating:
Summary: "Can you hear me now?"
Review: Charlie Parker is an ex-NYPD cop on a self imposed exile in Maine. Charlie suffered the cruelest punishment of all, to be left alive after his wife and daughter were brutally murdered. It is now a year later, coming up on the anniversary of his family's death, and Charlie can't exorcise the demons, wants to try a new life with a lovely woman he met in a previous novel (Rachel), and generally wants to get some peace of mind. He's moved into his Grandfather's old home in Scarborough, Maine and is now refurbishing it. But as we learn after a few dozen pages, Charlie, an alchohlic who gives up the bottle, also gives up any moral restraint against the concept of killing criminals. He becomes overnight a one man angel of death with no desire to curb his bloodlust when faced with the possibility that a murderer or rapist could possibly be freed by a confusing, liberal, system that favors the rights of the accused over the rights of the victem. While this sounds like poor pulp fiction, several things occur that Mr. Connolly successfully weaves into the fabric of his prose to make it quite engaging. First of all, Connolly writes extremely well. There is an almost musical quality to his prose, heretofore only experienced (for this reader) with James Lee Burke in this type of novel. Additionally, Mr. Connolly introduces some oddities that seem to fit. Charlie is contacted by the dead, and while the body count rises, he seems to regret what he does while on the same hand he seems to listen to what his deceased wife and daughter tell him. That line from a Bruce Willis movie a few years ago comes true here: He sees dead people. Then, there is the presence of his two friends and quasi partners, the gay couple Louis and Angel. Strange, but it fits. Here he works as a private investigator working for a woman stalked by her ex-husband. The woman and her son are murdered, the ex-husband is suspected, and naturally Charlie "Bird" Parker is the only one that doesn't believe it. The mob is involved; a young arrogant mobster is investing money "borrowed" from his colleagues when his "sure fire" investment goes south. Cambodians from the Khmer Rouge make a brief appearance; an ex-lover pops up; a halting attempt that Charlie might make amends to the lovely Rachel, a criminologist/psychologist/forensic scientist; and certainly not last nor least, Louis and Angel. Not for the squeamish. Lots of violence. Very well written. Larry Scantlebury
Rating:
Summary: Very well written
Review: Connolly truly as a way with words and he is at the top of his genre with his second novel. The only reason I did not give it 5 stars was because it did not seem to grab me as much and hold my attention as well as Every Dead Thing, but it was still great and I have the 3rd book ready to be read.
Rating:
Summary: Very well written
Review: Connolly truly as a way with words and he is at the top of his genre with his second novel. The only reason I did not give it 5 stars was because it did not seem to grab me as much and hold my attention as well as Every Dead Thing, but it was still great and I have the 3rd book ready to be read.
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