Rating: 
Summary: Stylish & Gritty
Review: Tightly written, strong characters and good plot continuity. For a first novel, this is an excellent effort. The story has everything, brutal murders, mafia, shady acomplices and really is a page turner. The only criticism is that Connolly is prone to inculding what are obviously his own observations & experiences of America in the text. Often, this is superflous to the story and can be a touch heavy handed - as if he wanted to cram too much into the book. Not quite Silence of the Lambs but a superior slice of the genre.
Rating: 
Summary: Readers will consider locked doors futile after this novel.
Review: John Connolly has entered SILENCE OF THE LAMBS territory with his debut novel. Thomas Harris's novel is a benchmark for serial killer stories and most writers are just "slumming in blood" while trying to approach that status. Connolly has thrown us into the middle of incredible evil that includes teeth-gritting torture, child abuse, and echoes of ancient pain. Charlie Parker is an ex-NYPD detective whose wife and child were horrendously murdered by an unsub who will turn out to be a serial killer. After quitting the force, Parker pulls on strands of clues that begin to unravel the answer as to who committed this heinous crime. He becomes entangled in these strands as they lead him on a convoluted chase from Ny to Louisiana to Virginia. Parker's allies in this chase include criminologist Rachel Wolfe and two gay criminals (one of them a killer for hire) that he has learned he can trust. The novel twists and turns and the reader will be well advised not to take anything for granted. Connolly ties together many seemingly disparate people and places. Along with Thomas Harris, his story has echoes of Andrew Vachss writing about Burke and James Lee Burke writing about Dave Robichaux. One hopes that this will be the beginning of a long career for Connolly. He has gotten started with a great thriller.
Rating:
Summary: A great new approach
Review: This novel was released in Dublin a few weeks back, and having seen John Connolly on a TV programme here I decided I would give it a whirl. I really only bought the book because the Author is Irish, and I thought it might be interesting to see how he coped with writing a book set in the U.S. Well, he's come up trumps, to say the least. This book is a tremendous read for any avid crime fans. A series of complex occourances gel neatly together, with some of the most frightening characters I've yet to come accross. If you like a read that leaves the hair on the back of your neck standing, this is a must. It's only a matter of time before Hollywood ransacks this novel, so get it quickly!!!
Rating:
Summary: This was the best BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: This book will keep you reading. It is one of the best books I have read this year besides The DaVinci Code.
Rating: 
Summary: two for the price of one
Review: This truly is one of those books that deserves the label "compulsively readable." If you are a fan of the gory thriller genre, it will keep you turning the pages so fast that you will miss most of its flaws until you have finished it. That said, it is an immensely flawed piece of fiction. The writing is above-average (although not the "literature" that the author occassionally seems to pretend it is), the characters rise above the level of comic-book characters, and the plot is not entirely full of holes. However, there are problems with both plot and characters, for instance Parker's relationships with both law enforcement and organized crime, which strain credulity beyond the breaking point, even for crime fiction. Also, unlike the best of this genre (Red Dragon or Darkness, Take My Hand, for example), we never really truly learn anything about what makes the serial killer tick, despite Connolly's attempts to dress him up with obscure references to poetry and art, and the attempt to make him out to be "pure evil." That is a major flaw. However, the overarching problem with this novel is it is painfully clear that Connolly wrote two debut novels, and then simply pasted them together. Although both are good, they have nothing to do with one another. The story which actually commences on about page 240 is not connected with the earlier story, despite the feeble attempt at page 459 to do so. The only relationship between the two is the back story, which anyone reading the Charlie Parker series sequentially would know anyway. There was no need to join two novellas together into a rather long 467 page mini-opus. But perhaps one should not complain, and simply treat the book as a two for the price of one.
Rating:
Summary: Every thing did die! Yikes!
Review: After being constantly assaulted with graphic violence in the novel Every Dead Thing, you will feel like you are dead as well. Err.. emotionally dead that is.
The protagonist is Bird Parker, an emotionally disturbed alcoholic detective on the trail of a serial killer that murdered his family. His quest for revenge leads him into a convoluted web of corruption that tests his wits, strength and ultimately his humanity. The twisting plot takes him from Miami to New Orleans as he discovers a constant stream of murder victims and even creates a few of his own.
Will you like this? You will if you are looking for a violence-filled murder mystery with a fast-paced plot and cartoonish characters. The realism is underwhelming, but the characters and scenes are colorful and interesting. The villains in particular lack psychological depth. The violence is not particularly gruesome, but it is frequent. The novel is basically a long string of deaths linked together by a cool plot.
Rating:
Summary: Intense Reading!!
Review: I don't normally read much crime drama, but this book has turned me into a fan! Great plot twists, interesting and believeable characters, and a story that just won't quit. It was wonderfully gory and horrifying and I couldn't put it down. I am excited to read more of Connolly and see him advance as a writer.
Rating:
Summary: extremely disturbing book - a must read
Review: This is the rare book that I had to put down mid-read. It was not that it was boring, or poorly written, but that it was so well written, and so vividly described that I actually had to stop and bawl like a baby. It took two days before I could pick it up again. An OUTSTANDING thriller. Read this one first, and John Connolly will become a must read author on your reading list. Top rate.
Rating:
Summary: This was the best BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: This book will keep you reading. It is one of the best books I have read this year besides The DaVinci Code.
Rating:
Summary: The best author I have read in a long time!
Review: The writing brought this mystery up to three stars. Unfortunately, the book was way too full. There easily could have been two books made of what is packed into this novel. There are two major threads with several sidelights thrown in as well.The first portion is mostly introductory and plods. The narrator hero then finally gets on the scent of one of the killers he is out to find and the story flows very well. The plot then moves from New York to New Orleans and again the reader is subjected to some plodding introductory information and some sidelights that seem superfluous. The New Orleans portion dragged again until the narrator is directly on the scent. Another weak point is that the real killer was pretty obvious - or at least easy to guess at. All that having been said, Mr. Connolly is a terrific writer and the writing keeps the reader in the book through the times it gets bogged down. This book was recommended to me by a friend with the cautionary words that all of his books are not this gory and the others are better as the character develops. A warning - this is very gory, it is nearly impossible to keep count of how many gruesome murders are described in this book. I reluctantly recommend this book. The two plots are good, even though so unrelated they probably should have been in two books. The writing, as I've noted is very good. The narrator character seems as if he could be interesting if and when developed more. The writing and character is enough for me to read Mr. Connolly's next books since I've been told this is the foundation to better enjoy the others.
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