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317th out of 3,368 books
—
7,793 voters
Every Dead Thing (Charlie Parker #1)
by
John Connolly (Goodreads Author)
Hailed internationally as a page-turner in a league with the fiction of Thomas Harris, this lyrical and terrifying bestseller is the stunning achievement of an "extravagantly gifted" (Kirkus Reviews) new novelist. John Connolly superbly taps into the tortured mind and gritty world of former NYPD detective Charlie "Bird" Parker, tormented by the brutal, unsolved murders of...more
Paperback, 467 pages
Published
July 1st 2000
by Pocket Books
(first published 1999)
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I am a dilettante when it comes to my tastes. I like to read here and there, delve into some genres deeply, take a break with a shallow dip in another genre, and just in general approach literature like it is a buffet of options. It keeps things interesting, but at times I wonder if it means I am losing the ability to be truly critical when it comes to such things as ‘clichés of the genre’. I’m not an expert in any genre, so things that seem fresh and fascinating to me may come across as clichéd...more
"O Viajante Assassino" é o primeiro livro da série de Charlie Parker. Podia também ser o último, mas infelizmente há mais.
Tudo do que existe de pior e de mais horrível no mundo em que vivemos, com o seu lado mais obscuro, frio e desprezível, envolve o protagonista Charlie Parker, também conhecido por Bird. O antigo detective da polica de Nova Iorque viu a sua mulher e filha assassinadas após uma noite de galhofa com os amigos. Após o sucedido passou de viúvo, a suspeito, a vitima e finalmente ca...more
Tudo do que existe de pior e de mais horrível no mundo em que vivemos, com o seu lado mais obscuro, frio e desprezível, envolve o protagonista Charlie Parker, também conhecido por Bird. O antigo detective da polica de Nova Iorque viu a sua mulher e filha assassinadas após uma noite de galhofa com os amigos. Após o sucedido passou de viúvo, a suspeito, a vitima e finalmente ca...more
Ah, you never forget your first.
When I was surfing around on the interwebs trying to find a new book to pick up, someone suggested John Connolly’s The Book of Lost Things. I nabbed it shortly thereafter and upon finishing it, I knew I had just read something special. I immediately needed more Connolly and upon realizing he had an entire mystery/thriller series featuring a private detective named Charlie Parker, I was filled with optimism and excitement.
Former New York City cop, Charlie Parker, h...more
When I was surfing around on the interwebs trying to find a new book to pick up, someone suggested John Connolly’s The Book of Lost Things. I nabbed it shortly thereafter and upon finishing it, I knew I had just read something special. I immediately needed more Connolly and upon realizing he had an entire mystery/thriller series featuring a private detective named Charlie Parker, I was filled with optimism and excitement.
Former New York City cop, Charlie Parker, h...more
I’ll tell you straight-up what I liked about Every Dead Thing: the fact that John Connolly crammed every wild idea he could think of into this, his first novel. There’s enough plot, character and action to fill about three novels, but Connolly somehow manages to make it work—maybe not always in the most plausible or coherent fashion, but work it does.
This is the first in a series starring Charlie “Birdman” Parker, a former New York detective turned private eye with a haunted past. Not necessaril...more
This is the first in a series starring Charlie “Birdman” Parker, a former New York detective turned private eye with a haunted past. Not necessaril...more
This really hurts. My mother bought me this for my birthday, on a recommendation from a local bookstore here. I know she's going to feel badly if she reads this but I must maintain the integrity of my reviews by sticking with the Brutally Honest program. So here goes.
I have to rip Every Dead Thing. Ready? Sorry Mom. It's not your fault; you didn't write it, and I likely would have bought it myself.
On to the review: Those who read my review for Messiah know how I feel about blurbs that compare no...more
I have to rip Every Dead Thing. Ready? Sorry Mom. It's not your fault; you didn't write it, and I likely would have bought it myself.
On to the review: Those who read my review for Messiah know how I feel about blurbs that compare no...more
I first encountered Charlie Parker in John Connolly's short story collection Nocturnes. The novella featuring the former cop alone made me give the collection four stars, so I was eager to read the rest of the series.
Every Dead Thing did not disappoint. Serial killer thrillers are a dime a dozen, and it's always nice to find an author who can stand out from the pack. Charlie Parker left the police force following the brutal murder of his wife and child, and the book opens in bleakness as he's g...more
Every Dead Thing did not disappoint. Serial killer thrillers are a dime a dozen, and it's always nice to find an author who can stand out from the pack. Charlie Parker left the police force following the brutal murder of his wife and child, and the book opens in bleakness as he's g...more
Brutal, brutal story that's hard to classify. I tend to stay away from mysteries or crime novels because they're just not as interesting to me as what I encounter in horror, but this one effectively merges the two into one bloody package. Extremely bloody.
The story follows an ex-police detective as he attempts to track the killer of his wife and young daughter, who may also be linked to a series of gruesome murders in the Louisiana swamps. Intertwined within this is a separate plot concerning c...more
The story follows an ex-police detective as he attempts to track the killer of his wife and young daughter, who may also be linked to a series of gruesome murders in the Louisiana swamps. Intertwined within this is a separate plot concerning c...more
I have fallen in love with this whole series of books, you think that Charlie Parker is going to be just another detective series but John Connolly has taken his stories to a whole new level, the supernatural element to the stories is fantastic & some of the characters that the birdman goes up against are genuinely the stuff of nightmares, thus i do not joke about, how this author has came up with these creatures is beyond me, they truly are horrible, This story is about Charlie finding the...more
For unknown reasons I read this book under the impression that it was the first in a series of supernatural thrillers. At about 30% I was thinking, it's clever how he withholds the supernatural until you already believe in his world; at about 50% I was confused; at about 70% I thought, that's it, too late, introducing the supernatural now is a technical error. And so it turns out I ploughed through wife murder (that crime fiction classic), child torture, flaying, and innumerable mafia crime lord...more
There is too much going on. There are just too many storylines and characters for me. I used a cheat sheet to refer to regarding characters. I read for enjoyment, but at times, I felt like I was studying for some kind of exam.
There is a lot of action and the story/stories is/are always moving, which is great, but this could have been (maybe should have been) 2 to 3 separate books. I would have enjoyed each, but with all the storylines and characters it was simply too much to truly enjoy.
I will r...more
There is a lot of action and the story/stories is/are always moving, which is great, but this could have been (maybe should have been) 2 to 3 separate books. I would have enjoyed each, but with all the storylines and characters it was simply too much to truly enjoy.
I will r...more
3.5
Bought and read in Dublin, yay. An Irish writer...who sets his mysteries in America; this one in New York City and New Orleans. If you, like me, have British relatives and friends who get completely BENT OUT OF SHAPE when some American writer sets their books 'cross the pond and gets little details wrong... Yeah, I kind of had to shake my head and laugh at seeing the opposite occur. (Not that he's "British" being "Irish" but the correlation is there regardless.)
In some ways, it's a mystery se...more
Bought and read in Dublin, yay. An Irish writer...who sets his mysteries in America; this one in New York City and New Orleans. If you, like me, have British relatives and friends who get completely BENT OUT OF SHAPE when some American writer sets their books 'cross the pond and gets little details wrong... Yeah, I kind of had to shake my head and laugh at seeing the opposite occur. (Not that he's "British" being "Irish" but the correlation is there regardless.)
In some ways, it's a mystery se...more
This is the first John Connolly novel I have read and I was a little disappointed, because the author was so highly recommended to me by those whose favourite authors I usually agree with.
Every Dead Thing is a big, unruly beast of a novel. It is dark, bloody and quite depressing in parts (actually, more like a large part of the novel...).
The story is a wild mix of characters and tales, all overshadowed by Connolly's Charlie Parker character's tragic past. I was reading this on a kindle, so it w...more
Every Dead Thing is a big, unruly beast of a novel. It is dark, bloody and quite depressing in parts (actually, more like a large part of the novel...).
The story is a wild mix of characters and tales, all overshadowed by Connolly's Charlie Parker character's tragic past. I was reading this on a kindle, so it w...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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I found this to be a really interesting and intriguing mystery - marred by too much writing! The story is fascinating - and there's lots of background to give credence to the dénouement.
However, it just never stops! Over 100 pages could easily have been edited out of this book - and at times I felt I was reading Dostoevsky - so many, many, many characters!!!!! Admittedly, all were unusual and memorable. I just wish he had saved about twenty five of them for the next book.
I highly recommend "Eve...more
However, it just never stops! Over 100 pages could easily have been edited out of this book - and at times I felt I was reading Dostoevsky - so many, many, many characters!!!!! Admittedly, all were unusual and memorable. I just wish he had saved about twenty five of them for the next book.
I highly recommend "Eve...more
I love John Connolly's children's books. I think they are brilliant and I had heard great things about his crime thrillers but this book took me forever to read, because it is all over the place and only half of the story I found particularly interesting. I honestly couldn't tell you who all the characters are and how they relate to each other in the story. The story is just that uneven.
The opening of the book with the gruesome murder of the main character's family was graphic but necessary for...more
The opening of the book with the gruesome murder of the main character's family was graphic but necessary for...more
As any character worth writing a saga for, ex-detective Charlie Parker is immediately likable. Yet, as any character worth writing literature for, he has lots of issues. He lives in the gray zone of morality where modern anti-heroes dwell. And the world around him seems to shape itself to fit his issues better. This is a novel full of disturbing images of violence, that could seem gratuitous at first, but are quickly justified by the overall plot and, mainly, by the general meaning of the book.
P...more
P...more
Before I read this one, saya sudah baca bukunya John Connolly yang The Book of Lost Things, and I love it. Tapi bukunya yang itu bergenre fantasi, sementara buku yang ini genrenya thriller.
Charles “Bird” Parker, mengundurkan diri dari kepolisian setelah istri dan anaknya dibunuh secara mengerikan. Kasus pembunuhan tersebut tidak terungkap, dan Charlie terus menyimpan rasa sakit akibat kematian tersebut. Salah seorang koleganya di zaman dia masih menjadi polisi dulu menghubungi Charlie, meminta...more
Charles “Bird” Parker, mengundurkan diri dari kepolisian setelah istri dan anaknya dibunuh secara mengerikan. Kasus pembunuhan tersebut tidak terungkap, dan Charlie terus menyimpan rasa sakit akibat kematian tersebut. Salah seorang koleganya di zaman dia masih menjadi polisi dulu menghubungi Charlie, meminta...more
A good writer will improve with each successive book, and that is the case with John Connolly’s debut novel. I am glad I read book 11 first, otherwise I might have passed on what became a fantastic series. While the writing was good, a lot of the plot points and general structure screamed first novel.
It was as if the author had three distinctive stories he wanted to tell, but couldn’t get any one of them to last over 200 pages. So instead of reworking it he just told all three over the course o...more
It was as if the author had three distinctive stories he wanted to tell, but couldn’t get any one of them to last over 200 pages. So instead of reworking it he just told all three over the course o...more
When NYPD detective Charlie Parker comes home from a night of binge drinking to find his wife and child murdered and skinned by a sadistic serial killer, his life is turned upside down. Leaving the police force and bottle behind, he takes on some under the table private eye work, but his real mission is to track down the killer. When a lead in the case takes Parker to the swamps of Louisiana, he is accompanied by his lethal friends Angel and Louis and the brilliant criminal psychologist Rachel....more
Sep 04, 2011
Rebekkila
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Kiptrix
Recommended to Rebekkila by:
Nora
Shelves:
thrillers
At my nephew's birthday party this summer buy BIL's aunt overheard me talking to my aunt and grandma about some thriller's that we had been passing around with each other. She recommended John Connolly and I told her that had two of his books but hadn't read them. She sent me all of them because she said you need to start with the first. I can see why.
This book was good. Charlie "Birdman" Parker fights with his wife, storms off to the bar and returns home hours later to find that his wife and da...more
This book was good. Charlie "Birdman" Parker fights with his wife, storms off to the bar and returns home hours later to find that his wife and da...more
Charles "Bird" Parker wife Susan and daughter Jennifer have been gruesomely flayed and tortured to death by a sadistic murderer. Parker, a homicide cop decides to leave the force to chase and find the elusive offender, following leads that takes him first to an old Virginian small town called Haven and then to the swamps of Lousiana where most of the action finally takes place
INTERESTING BUT TOO LONG AND OVERWHELMING
As the tale progresses the author adds a large array of characters, everyone of...more
INTERESTING BUT TOO LONG AND OVERWHELMING
As the tale progresses the author adds a large array of characters, everyone of...more
As another reviewer stated, this felt like 2 books in one. The first half was the pursuit of one type of serial killer, and the second the pursuit of another - the one the protagonist was most intent on finding.
The author managed well, especially given this was his first novel. He added characters at times and I found myself backtracking to place them, but otherwise, I thought this book was well-written and intense.
I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series.
The author managed well, especially given this was his first novel. He added characters at times and I found myself backtracking to place them, but otherwise, I thought this book was well-written and intense.
I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series.
You can tell it's a bad mystery when you have to stop reading so you can roll your eyes.
Read "Every Dead Thing" and you'll be rolling your eyes a lot.
Poor Charlie Parker. He never meets a single normal person. Everyone he runs into has a back story of violence: their brother was shot at the grocery story, they killed some guy with a broken bottle in a bar, they kidnap and torture children by crushing their hands, they're a hit man for hire (including his best friends--a sympathetic gay couple),...more
Read "Every Dead Thing" and you'll be rolling your eyes a lot.
Poor Charlie Parker. He never meets a single normal person. Everyone he runs into has a back story of violence: their brother was shot at the grocery story, they killed some guy with a broken bottle in a bar, they kidnap and torture children by crushing their hands, they're a hit man for hire (including his best friends--a sympathetic gay couple),...more
I had been going through a phase of reading downbeat murder mysteries, and saying after each one was finished that I would move on to something humorous, but didn't feel compelled to. After I finished this novel, however, I needed a lot of light and laughs. I definitely would not recommend it to everyone, because of the brutality and body-count of the murders that take place, several towards young children. It is an excellent thriller though, and ranks up there with Thomas Harris' best work.
It'...more
It'...more
Oct 24, 2009
Wendell
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
trash-horror-guilty-pleasures
The good news is that Connolly only got better at the Charlie Parker series. This first installment had the potential to be a terrific story, but there are long sections in which Connolly is moving so many characters and so many plot elements around that the book just bogs down while you go back and try to remember who's who and why they're doing what they're doing. It isn't a question of wanting a simpler plot (the complexity of the plot is one of its strengths) but rather that it gets out of C...more
Dah.
Saya jujur ni, buku ini dibaca dengan melompat2 beberapa bagian dalam halaman2nya. Walau demikian saya telah menangkap ide dan jalan ceritanya. Alurnya adalah alur maju-mundur (semoga anda tahu tentang ini :p) tapi punya benang merah kok di setiap pengkolan cerita.
Seperti review banyak pembaca lain, saya sangat setuju bahwa buku ini memang memamerkan kesadisan tiada tara sang pembunuh yang membuat "every dead thing" bergelimpangan di mana2. Bukan hanya banyak, bahkan dengan detail yang belum...more
Saya jujur ni, buku ini dibaca dengan melompat2 beberapa bagian dalam halaman2nya. Walau demikian saya telah menangkap ide dan jalan ceritanya. Alurnya adalah alur maju-mundur (semoga anda tahu tentang ini :p) tapi punya benang merah kok di setiap pengkolan cerita.
Seperti review banyak pembaca lain, saya sangat setuju bahwa buku ini memang memamerkan kesadisan tiada tara sang pembunuh yang membuat "every dead thing" bergelimpangan di mana2. Bukan hanya banyak, bahkan dengan detail yang belum...more
May 22, 2012
Mark
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
everybody who likes a better than average thriller.
The duskjacket reads the quote: "The most terrifying thriller since Silence of the lambs". Which I find a bit funny since of the four novels I found the 1981 Red Dragon easily superiour to TSOTL. But I guess the one who came up with that quote got the book and the film mixed up. So not a great advertisement to begin with.
This being the first tale about Charlie Parker and the 4th book in the series I read I kinda knew how it would end.
But still this debut did deliver surprises galore. It was two...more
This being the first tale about Charlie Parker and the 4th book in the series I read I kinda knew how it would end.
But still this debut did deliver surprises galore. It was two...more
Jan 25, 2013
Linda Steers
added it
The first book in the Charlie Parker series. I read the second one first and then the every single one since then - that's how good I think is writing is.
This one establishes the main characters: Charlie, Angel & Louis; while chasing a serial killer who slaughtered his wife and daughter Charlie meets an old, blind women who tells him she can hear and see the spirits of the dead. She touches Charlie and either shares her abilities or simply opens up his own talents but he uses these tools to...more
This one establishes the main characters: Charlie, Angel & Louis; while chasing a serial killer who slaughtered his wife and daughter Charlie meets an old, blind women who tells him she can hear and see the spirits of the dead. She touches Charlie and either shares her abilities or simply opens up his own talents but he uses these tools to...more
It took me a few chapters to really get into this book, but once I did it was near impossible to set it down. John Connolly has a way of building tension that is almost palpable and of describing details so that every scene is vividly painted in your mind. Charlie "Bird" Parker, the lead character, is more of an antihero with lots of issues than a true hero, but likable all the same. The bad guys are evil, intelligent, and overly sadistic examples of everything that can go wrong with being human...more
As a rule I don't like mysteries and I don't like series. Having than been said, if more mysteries were like this one, I'd read more mysteries. This book is great in so many ways and to think, this is Connolly's debut novel, does that mean he gets better? Back to singing Every Dead Thing's praises...the plot is taut, there are sort of two mysteries in one book, it's long at almost 500 pages, but the pacing is great. The characters are terrific, interesting and immensely likeable (or hate-able),...more
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John Connolly was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1968 and has, at various points in his life, worked as a journalist, a barman, a local government official, a waiter and a dogsbody at Harrods department store in London. He studied English in Trinity College, Dublin and journalism at Dublin City University, subsequently spending five years working as a freelance journalist for The Irish Times newspaper...more
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“She was plump, with dyed red hair and a face so caked with cosmetics that the floor of the Amazon jungle probably saw more natural light...”
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“For a moment they still lived and I experienced their deaths as a fresh loss with each waking, so that I was unsure whether I was a man waking from a dream of death or a dreamer entering a world of loss, a man dreaming of unhappiness or a man waking to grief.”
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6 people liked it
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