The Burning Soul (Charlie Parker, #10)

Sep 15, 2011 Lou rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: september-list

It has been a long time since I have read a book from the Charlie Parker PI series. I used to really love Connolly's books with Parker as the main protagonist I have read the first four on successive release dates then i drifted away while waiting the next title to be released. Over time like, many books that are part of a series by authors, that dark excellence lost it's edge a bit. In this novel you have Charlie revisiting the memories of his Child's death and all that comes with those feeling...more It has been a long time since I have read a book from the Charlie Parker PI series. I used to really love Connolly's books with Parker as the main protagonist I have read the first four on successive release dates then i drifted away while waiting the next title to be released. Over time like, many books that are part of a series by authors, that dark excellence lost it's edge a bit. In this novel you have Charlie revisiting the memories of his Child's death and all that comes with those feelings, another murder has re-earthed as a 14 year old girl goes missing. Writing about missing children is a ground covered well in the past and written about so frequently I feel it's a hard story to write about, you need to really work hard at making it an immersing story that grips the reader. This story had elements in it that wanted you to keep turning but as time progressed it missed that something that I could say really confidently that i definitely liked it which gets four stars. If it wasn't for Connolly nice words he put together in parts of this story I would have struggled to give it four. It is a cerebral story, that is not the best of Charlie Parker's cases I loved so much his first few books Every Dead Thing, Dark Hollow and The Killing Kind. When you read the excerpts you can see how well he can write.
http://more2read.com/?review=the-burning-soul-charlie-parker-10-by-john-connolly
"Every fall brought the same realization: this was the best of it until March, perhaps even April. As bad as this was, with sodden leaves, and cold drizzle, and darkness in the mornings and darkness in the evenings, the winter would be so much worse. Oh, there would be moments of beauty, as when the sunlight scattered the first snows with gems, and the world in those early daylight hours would seem cleansed of it's ugliness, purged of it's sins, but then the filth would accrue, and the snow would blacken, and there would be grit in the soles of her shoes, and on the floor of her car, and traipsed through her house, and she would wish herself to be one of those huddled sleeping creatures that find a warm, dark cave or the hollow of a tree trunk, there to wait out the winter months."

"I had witnessed the blurring of worlds, watching as elements of what once was, and what was to come, seeped into this life like dark ink through water. I knew of the existence of a form of evil that wad beyond human capacities, the wellspring from which all other evil sipped. And I knew that I was marked, although to what end I did not yet understand. So I had kept my distance from my child, for fear of what I might draw upon her."

"I might have begun by arguing that when one encounters enough strangeness, what is strange ultimately becomes familiar. The mind can accommodate itself to almost anything, given time: pain, grief, loss, even the possibility that the dead talk to the living. And I understood, too, that this was all part of a larger pattern, a signpost on a journey whose ultimate destination I could not know. I had resigned myself to what was to come, whatever it might be, and that resignation brought with it a kind of peace. So I slept, and I was grateful for sleep. When I could no longer sleep, then I would know that I was going mad."(less)

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Oct 20, 2011 Melissa rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I don't think earlier Charlie Parker books were better because I was a less discerning reader back when I read them. I think that the newer books are just not as good. Everything about Parker's life feels so obligatory these days. There's the requisite visit from his ex-wife and daughter, never to be repeated, complete with Rachel's admonition that he spend more time with his daughter, which he never does. Angel & Louis show up; I was actually kind of hoping that they would sit this one out...more

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Oct 22, 2012 Angela rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I hate to give this only two stars, but to me, this was a worst story in the Charlie Parker series to date, and I LOVE this series to bits. Somehow, Connolly missed the mark on this one. WAAAYYY too much going on as usual, and I found myself skimming all the extra background characters, three pages describing the current weather, or wretched state of a bad neighborhood, as opposed to gritting my teeth and getting through it as in previous novels, because at least in those novels, much of that in...more

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Sep 26, 2012 Oscar rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: misterio-suspense, novela-negra, míos, literatura-fantástica

’Cuervos’ (The Burning Soul), es el úndecimo título de la serie del detective Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker, del escritor irlandés John Connolly. Esta serie es una de las mejores del género negro que se escriben actualmente, tanto por su calidad literaria como por sus argumentos y protagonistas. Connolly rompe las reglas del género negro clásico, introduciendo en sus novelas lo sobrenatural, la presencia del mal. Al detective Charlie Parker le rondan los muertos en su afán de venganza; un atormentado Pa...more ’Cuervos’ (The Burning Soul), es el úndecimo título de la serie del detective Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker, del escritor irlandés John Connolly. Esta serie es una de las mejores del género negro que se escriben actualmente, tanto por su calidad literaria como por sus argumentos y protagonistas. Connolly rompe las reglas del género negro clásico, introduciendo en sus novelas lo sobrenatural, la presencia del mal. Al detective Charlie Parker le rondan los muertos en su afán de venganza; un atormentado Parker que ha convivir con las terribles muertes de su mujer y su hija.

En cuanto a ’Cuervos’, Connolly comienza directamente describiéndonos la localidad de Pastor’s Bay (decir aquí a quien no conozca la serie, que está ambientada en Estado Unidos, aunque Connolly sea irlandés), donde transcurrirá casi toda la novela, con la inquietante imagen de unos cuervos posados en un viejo roble, y transmitiéndonos así, desde el principio, ese ambiente de desolación. En Pastor’s Bay, una niña de 14 años ha desaparecido, disparándose todas las alarmas. Al mismo tiempo, uno de los vecinos de esta comarca está recibiendo unas fotografías acusatorias, que le obligarán a desvelar un oscuro secreto de su pasado, antes de verse relacionado con el secuestro. Es aquí donde entra en juego Charlie Parker, que deberá averiguar quién es el acosador. Pero el argumento es más complejo y las tramas se irán cruzando, por lo que Parker requerirá de la ayuda de sus amigos Louis y Angel.

Las novelas de Connolly son estupendas, nunca me defraudan y siempre encuentro satisfacción con su lectura. Tal vez sean novelas que ya no sorprendan, porque ya llevamos once títulos (y una nouvellette), pero lo que se ha perdido en sorpresas, se ha ganado en calidad. ’Cuervos’ mantiene la esencia del resto de la serie, y en ella Connolly continúa su particular lucha del bien contra el mal. Sin duda, el detective Charlie Parker se está convirtiendo en todo un clásico del género.(less)

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Jan 17, 2012 Tim rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the tenth novel in the Charlie Parker series and once again i was reminded why this is one of my favourite series.
If you have read the whole of this series you will know that there are strong supernatural elements, with The Whisperers & The Black Angel being the most heavy uses of the supernatural theme in the series (in my opinion). In the burning soul we do get a bit of the said supernatural element, but it is expertly done and does not take away anything from the thrilling storyl...more This is the tenth novel in the Charlie Parker series and once again i was reminded why this is one of my favourite series.
If you have read the whole of this series you will know that there are strong supernatural elements, with The Whisperers & The Black Angel being the most heavy uses of the supernatural theme in the series (in my opinion). In the burning soul we do get a bit of the said supernatural element, but it is expertly done and does not take away anything from the thrilling storyline.

Connolly’s writing is once again superb and anyone who has read the series will welcome the smartarse-y voice of Charlie Parker back with open arms, because let’s face it, the guy can stir the pot with the best of them. As always we do spend a bit of time with other POV’s (Randall Haight, Dempsey, Ryan and Tommy Morris) and I thought there individual voices were very clear and amazingly well done. Looking back on the series I would say - with exception to the Reapers - that in The Burning Soul we do not spend the most time in Charlie’s shoes and although that is a little disappointing (because he is such a wonderfully cynical and tortured character), it did allow the stories of Randall Haight and Tommy Morris to shine. The setting of Pastor’s Bay is incredibly well detailed and as always Connolly’s research is top notch and makes you feel like you really know the state of Maine and it’s beautiful yet rugged and ruthless terrain. As far as villains go in this series, I thought that Randall Haight was not the most vile and sinister of all Charlie has had to face, but when all is revealed you will have a very different opinion of Randall.

The pace is a lot slower in The Burning Soul and I felt that a little bit of tension that is so expertly built in other books of the series was absent here. The Burning Soul felt more like a mystery novel to me and not a grip the edge of your seat thriller that past books in the series have been. But I think this actually added to the reflective nature of the novel, as Parker questions his motives in helping a child killer when he himself has lost a child and the grip that Jennifer and Susan still hold on his life. Parker would have to be one of my favourite characters in any novel and I was hoping for the case in The Burning Soul to affect his life a little more like it did in previous novels. It didn’t seem to me that Parker had moved any closer to exorcising his demons or to find out the nature of the “honeycomb world”. While this was a minor disappointment I still thought this was a fantastic read and a great addition to one of my favourite series.
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Nov 10, 2012 Tomerobber rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-2012

This is the first time reading this author's works . . . and though a bit long kept my interest with all it's twists and turns. It starts with the premise of a child gone missing from a small town in Maine and during the investigation, the discovery of the hidden history of one of it's other citizens.
The twin story lines are handled by the use of two different narrators George Guidall and Tony Ward . . . Guidall is one of my favorites and this is my first listen to Ward. Both did a great job ....more

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Aug 09, 2012 Cornelia rated it 5 of 5 stars

I don’t usually read mysteries but this book happened to be the choice for a library book club so at the meeting the librarian also read information to us about John Connollly, who is from Ireland, single, and use to drive a taxi in New York City. The most interesting was that a murder, which he covered as a freelance reporter in Ireland, inspired him to write mysteries. The way public opinion changed when it came to light that the victim worked as a prostitute as if murder is more or less impor...more

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Feb 29, 2012 Lakis Fourouklas rated it 4 of 5 stars

The hero in this novel is Charlie Parker, the author’s favorite. Parker, who works more or less as a private investigator, is hired to help an ex convict to prove he is innocent as far as a recent crime is concerned. Even though his customer has a less than perfect record when it comes to his dealings with the law, his lawyer is more than certain that this time around he’s innocent of any wrongdoing, so he asks Parker to step in, not only to investigate the current case, but also to protect his...more

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Jan 21, 2012 Gloria Feit rated it 5 of 5 stars

John Connolly’s Charlie Parker Thrillers usually combine an element of the supernatural with basic detective work. In this, the tenth in the series, the eerie aspects are slight, while the hard work of solving a case winds its way through the pages with realism and power. It is a twisted story that begins when an attorney asks Charlie to assist a client, and unfolds with a ferocity of dynamic proportions.

It appears that the client, Randall Haight, as a 14-year-old, and with a friend, murdered a...more

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Oct 15, 2011 Ben Jackson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: top-shelf, detective-series, new-england-based

John Connolly is a man who knows how to craft a sentence. His vivid prose makes the outside world disappear within seconds of passing one's eyes over the first words, and the world passes by unnoticed and unobserved until the reading stops - either with a shudder and the terror contained within the pages, or with great reluctance as the final pages are turned and the book closed.

This may be the second-best of all of the Charlie Parker novels. The characters and the story are so vivid, and ring s...more

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Sep 25, 2011 Ian Young rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Burning Soul is the tenth full-length novel from John Connolly to feature Charlie Parker as the central character. The books could best be characterised as thrillers with supernatural overtones. Towards the beginning of the series (which started with Every Dead Thing), the novels were characterised by extreme and graphic violence, but, as the series has evolved, Connolly has more and more relied on fine descriptive prose to build tension and a sense of menace which only occasionally explodes...more The Burning Soul is the tenth full-length novel from John Connolly to feature Charlie Parker as the central character. The books could best be characterised as thrillers with supernatural overtones. Towards the beginning of the series (which started with Every Dead Thing), the novels were characterised by extreme and graphic violence, but, as the series has evolved, Connolly has more and more relied on fine descriptive prose to build tension and a sense of menace which only occasionally explodes.

Like several other books in this series, The Burning Soul is set in the far north of the United States. A young girl has disappeared from the town of Pastor's Bay, a remote community in a far-flung and isolated part of Maine. Randall Haight is worried, because as a young boy he was involved in the rape and murder of a child of the same age and subsequently served a long jail sentence. Now someone seems to have found out about his past at the same time as another girl has disappeared. Charlie Parker is called in to find out who is attempting to blackmail Haight, and becomes involved in a complex story which drags in Irish Gangsters from Boston, the FBI and his old friends Angel and Louis.

The Burning Soul is a book which is full of atmosphere. There is a strong plot which keeps the reader’s attention until the end, and more than a few unanticipated twists and turns along the way. However, it is Connolly's prose which really makes this book work. It would have been easy for him to continue to rely on the extreme violence which characterised his early novels, but having established the events of these stories as the background he has moved on to a point where his books remain just as troubling through subtle hints and glimpses of supernatural evil rather than direct confrontation. It helps that his minor characters are so interesting, and that we are able to see many of them age and change as the books mature. This is a series that shows no signs of tiring or running out of steam. A reader could start with The Burning Soul, but I suspect that most will want to start from the beginning of the series and this would certainly be time well spent.
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Sep 25, 2011 Colin Leslie rated it 4 of 5 stars

With The Burning Soul, John Connolly once again takes us into the dark and tortured world of Charlie Parker. For those unfamiliar with the series (and if that applies to you, get hold of a copy of Every Dead Thing as soon as possible and brace yourself), Charlie Parker is a private detective who is haunted both psychologically and supernaturally by the brutal murder of his wife and daughter at the hands of the Traveling Man.

In The Burning Soul, Parker has been hired to help a convicted child kil...more With The Burning Soul, John Connolly once again takes us into the dark and tortured world of Charlie Parker. For those unfamiliar with the series (and if that applies to you, get hold of a copy of Every Dead Thing as soon as possible and brace yourself), Charlie Parker is a private detective who is haunted both psychologically and supernaturally by the brutal murder of his wife and daughter at the hands of the Traveling Man.

In The Burning Soul, Parker has been hired to help a convicted child killer prove his innocence when local girl Anna Kore goes missing. The plot soon thickens as we get embroiled in all manner of local gossip, gang warfare and general small town disputes as things spiral to a conclusion.

Initially a slow burner, this book builds tension and mystery right to the final few pages but it differs from previous Parker books in a couple of crucial ways. John Connolly has never been afraid to inject his “crime” novels with an adrenaline pumping dose of supernatural horror. In books like The Lovers the supernatural elements were right at the forefront, kicking away the genre boundaries and producing writing that was all the better for it. This book holds back on the supernatural aspects, it’s still there in the ghostly messages and apparitions, but it’s used sparingly and with a light touch.

Secondly, Parker and his redoubtable allies, Angel and Louis have always been complex characters who frequently wear their hearts on their sleeves. This element has been significantly reigned back in this novel. Here the characters are much more matter of fact, there is an expectation that the reader will understand their dark history, the darkness is still there but is explained through actions rather than exposition.

All of which is probably because the plot, or rather the themes of this novel are, and must be, the prime focus. The complex morale issues at play here intertwine among the plot and characters to ask questions of the readers. Can a former child murderer be forgiven? Would you help such a person if your own family had suffered? Can time redeem mistakes carried out by youngsters? These are complex, difficult questions and in asking them John Connolly also relates them to real life cases such as the tragic James Bulger case. Only a writer of Connolly’s skill could pull this off but he does it with aplomb.

The lack of supernatural horror is a disappointment for me, Connolly has the skill to challenge the likes of King and Koontz with his mix of small town characters, engrossing plots and complex issues. This is still an excellent book though, thrilling, emotional and thoughtful, it once again proves that John Connolly is one of the most important genre writers around with whatever genre he chooses.(less)

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Sep 14, 2011 Tim Niland rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-reads

Private detective Charlie Parker is retained by a local attorney in Pastor's Bay, Maine to look into the affairs of a man named Randall Haight, who many years ago was complicit in the rape and murder of a young woman. Another young Maine woman has disappeared and Haight is worried this his past will be exposed and he will fall under suspicion despite an alibi. But as Parker digs deeper and deeper into the small town's facade, he finds that things aren't as cut and dried as they seem. The missing...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Jessica Bronder rated it 4 of 5 stars

The story begins with the disappearance of a 14 year old girl from a mall. But we soon learn that Randall Haight along with a friend, Lonny, killed a 14 year old girl. Randall and Lonny did 18 years in prison but were offered that chance to start new when they got out with new identities.

Randall has been living quietly in Pastor’s Bay as a reclusive accountant. But someone has learned about his past and is starting to send him pictures and video. Charlie is asked by Randall’s attorney to find ou...more

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Dec 02, 2011 Chris Bauer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Charlie Parker is back and as good as ever in this latest installment. Connolly has a unique talent for wrapping hard-core "hard boiled" fiction in a shroud of genuinely creepy prose with elements of the supernatural peeking from the folds. Don't get me wrong - this is NOT a paranormal, urban fantasy novel. It is simply an excellent thriller / mystery with plenty of red herrings, curves, twists and "Oh s$#!" moments, populated by vivid and rich characters with subtle, shadowy hints of the supern...more

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Aug 21, 2011 Miles rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviews

Randall Haight has a secret: when he was a teenager, he and his friend killed a 14-year-old girl.

Randall did his time and built a new life in the small Maine town of Pastor's Bay, but somebody has discovered the truth about Randall. He is being tormented by anonymous messages, haunting reminders of his past crime, and he wants private detective Charlie Parker to make it stop.

But another 14-year-old girl has gone missing, this time from Pastor's Bay, and the missing girl's family has its own secr...more Randall Haight has a secret: when he was a teenager, he and his friend killed a 14-year-old girl.

Randall did his time and built a new life in the small Maine town of Pastor's Bay, but somebody has discovered the truth about Randall. He is being tormented by anonymous messages, haunting reminders of his past crime, and he wants private detective Charlie Parker to make it stop.

But another 14-year-old girl has gone missing, this time from Pastor's Bay, and the missing girl's family has its own secrets to protect. Now Parker must unravel a web of deceit involving the police, the FBI, a doomed mobster named Tommy Morris, and Randall Haight himself.

Because Randall Haight is telling lies . . .

I’ve always maintained that cover art is incredibly important, perhaps not so much for established authors like John Connolly, but an attractive cover certainly invites new readers to explore the unread delights hidden within and a poor one will have you putting the book back on the shelf, moving swiftly on to the next title that catches your eye. John Connolly’s The Burning Soul book jacket is both impressive and alluring and includes an image of a young girl, ravens and a blazing fire adorning front and centre. However, despite a good first impression, I have to say I was slightly confused having never read any of the Charlie Parker series – this being the 10th outing – I wasn’t sure if this was a supernatural thriller, plain crime/detective book or mixture of both!.

The Burning Soul is a thoroughly entertaining and intelligent novel and although I was expecting a polished title when I began reading, it did take me by surprise – always a bonus when that happens. With a multi layered plot and intelligent unhindered narrative I was blown away by the astonishing amount of depth the book had. The majority of the book is set in Pastor’s Bay in Maine and although I’m still not sure if it exists in real life (yes I did search google!) I found the town history fascinating. Whether talking about being founded in 1787, the illegality of hunting on Sundays in Maine, Amber alerts or the fact that police officers consider the first three hours of a child abduction crucial – if not found within the three hours the child is presumed dead – everything is covered in great detail and yet somehow maintains a fluidity throughout.

Given this is the 10th novel in the Charlie Parker series I was slightly concerned that I would struggle jumping head first into a well-established series. With so much water under the bridge – Charlie’s relationships, career, trouble with the law, Angel and Louis’s partnership - I wasn’t quite sure if my lack of understanding and knowledge would hold me back. Although past events are briefly mentioned in The Burning Soul (won’t mention them here for fear of spoilers) I didn’t find my lack of reading held me back too much but as with any long standing series, more background history would have increased my already satisfied fulfilment.

Full review on the blog:- http://www.milorambles.com/2011/08/21...
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Apr 07, 2013 Bernice Chan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is my first Charlie Parker book, to set the standard.
I quite liked the plot, and the way the story was told, because it intertwined science and the paranormal. I also liked how it was delicately weaved, to put it poetically, in that it was just this simple crime but it went from mobsters to psychotic killers to weird needs and finally to a very direct, very simple, very stable end.
But that ending was also why I cannot give this piece 5 stars. The ending was too... abrupt, I suppose. The boo...more

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Sep 01, 2011 Idris rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the first book I read by John Connolly so when I started reading I didn't know what I was going to find out in it's pages. I must say I was pretty excited, specially after reading a comparison of Connolly's writing style with Stephen King! Yes! Stephen King! Even though I have only read one book by Stephen King, I know perfectly what his stories are about; and because I'm a huge fan of mystery stories with a little bit of paranormal and strange stuff, I was, like I said before, thrilled....more
This is the first book I read by John Connolly so when I started reading I didn't know what I was going to find out in it's pages. I must say I was pretty excited, specially after reading a comparison of Connolly's writing style with Stephen King! Yes! Stephen King! Even though I have only read one book by Stephen King, I know perfectly what his stories are about; and because I'm a huge fan of mystery stories with a little bit of paranormal and strange stuff, I was, like I said before, thrilled.

And, what can I say? Well, the first part of the book was really good, I mean, the beginning of the story when we have the opportunity to meet the principal characters and the main topic of the story, was amazing, and yes I felt in some moments that I was reading a book, which was something more than a simple thriller/mystery book. It was much more, and I'm sure readers who have had the opportunity to read this book or any other book by this author know exactly what I'm talking about.

And that is when the Stephen King stuff appeared just for a while. Some of those scenes will make readers think that they mistook this book for a horror novel. I'm not saying it's a horror story or something like that, but some situations were not normal and not usual in this kind of books.
They were kind of paranormal. But hey! Don't get me wrong, this is a thriller, not a paranormal one!

This is a book with some killers, blackmail, a Private Investigator… and that kind of stuff, just with a few little weird things…

What I didn't like too much was that the rest of the story the author was all the time talking about other characters, and my big question was: Who are they? Why are they here? And why are they so important? Of course, like any mystery book, you can't know everything! But it was a little bit exasperating reading about other characters, which didn't seem important or that they didn't seem to affect the main story directly. But, well, I'm glad to say that I really enjoyed the ending, and after I finished it I wanted to read more.

Like I said at the beginning, this is the first book I read by this author, and even though I was waiting for a little bit more, I enjoyed that lightly mix of two genres with a great result. Maybe some readers will not think the same, but if you're an open-minded person, who doesn't care about that kind of thing, I'm sure you will loved it.

Happy Reading!(less)

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Feb 02, 2012 Bob Kavanagh rated it 4 of 5 stars

One of the best if not the best from John Connolly. The return of the intrepid Charlie Parker the damaged and otherworldly private detective. He is called into a case of a missing teenager in a small Maine town, but there is a twist, a client of the retaining solicitor is a convicted child killer who lives in the town and is receiving blackmail correspondence. The killer was a teenager himself when the murder was carried out, and he was released from jail with a new identity. Charlie has to unco...more

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Oct 16, 2011 Carole Tyrrell rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is the 11th Charlie Parker novel and it took me a while to get into it. A tortured, haunted man, forever on the run from something or someone, Charlie has been one of the great detective characters. In a world populated by mavericks with dark murky secrets t I’ve always felt that Charlie’s aren’t just a lazy shorthand to make him more saleable.

An Amber alert has gone out in Pastor’s Bay after the disappearance of a 14 year old girl, Anna Kore. It will be classed as a homicide after 72 hours...more This is the 11th Charlie Parker novel and it took me a while to get into it. A tortured, haunted man, forever on the run from something or someone, Charlie has been one of the great detective characters. In a world populated by mavericks with dark murky secrets t I’ve always felt that Charlie’s aren’t just a lazy shorthand to make him more saleable.

An Amber alert has gone out in Pastor’s Bay after the disappearance of a 14 year old girl, Anna Kore. It will be classed as a homicide after 72 hours and police will begin to look for a body not a girl and so the race is on to find her – alive. Charlie is watching the TV news conference with his ex-girlfriend, Rachel, and their daughter Sam and it’s the latter that persuades him to help. And so Charlie goes to Pastor’s Bay to visit lawyer Aimee. A local man, Randall Haight, has come to her as he’s being tormented by anonymous photos and poison pen letters. He has a very dark secret past as well as, when he was 14, he and a friend murdered a girl called Selina Day. They were convicted, served their time and on release they were both given new identities and never saw each other again. Randall wants no reminders of who he once was and what he did. But someone in Pastor’s Bay knows, or suspects, his true identity. Randall is also a haunted man as some people refuse to stay dead and buried

However, Randall isn’t who he says he is and Anna Kore’s mother is related to an old-style gangster, Tommy Morris who sees Anna’s disappearance as someone using it to settle old scores. In fact, the two main characters in the book seem to have come to Pastor’s Bay in order to hide but find that destiny catches up with them eventually. No-one is who they seem and Connolly exposes the dark underbelly of an apparently bland community which Anna Kore’s vanishing reveals like paint being picked off a fence.

I was reminded of Edward Hopper’s painting ‘Nighthawks’ in which isolated characters sit at the counter of a bar at night presumably to avoid going home as Connolly’s characters all seem to exist in their own little version of Hell. Connolly’s keen eye reveals the desperate low-lifes in a bar after very cheap thrills, a seedy flophouse and the desperation of tired old gangsters still fighting old feuds.

However, I didn’t feel that the Joey Tuna section really worked and it read as though it belonged somewhere else and, although it was good to meet Louis and Angel again (even though you wouldn’t want to meet them in real life, they did feel tacked on as an afterthought. This was a shame as they are really interesting, if somewhat scary, characters. I also enjoyed the nature lesson at the novel’s beginning and the scene setting about Pastor’s Bay.

A good gripping read and I’m already anticipating the next Charlie Parker thriller..
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Apr 09, 2013 Heidi Gonzalez rated it 3 of 5 stars

I am a huge Charlie Parker fan but these last two were just not up to par. It seems Connolly is stepping further away from his dark and mystical roots. Although there are ghosts and some eerie undertones to this story it didn't match up to early books in the series. I didn't dislike it, it just wasn't what I was expecting when I picked it up.

The story line was actually two story lines that merged then veered in two different directions with Parker at the cross roads. One the story of a missing g...more

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Nov 07, 2011 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: abduction, family-relationships, free-book-for-honest-review, mystery, narrative, private-investigator, read-in-2011, reviewed, series, thriller

John Connolly elegantly describes life in a small town in Maine and how it's changed when a teenage girl goes missing.

RandalL Haight is a private person who doesn't want his past revealed. When he was a teenager, he murdered a fourteen year old girl.

After serving eighteen years, he was released from prison and given a new identity as was the other boy who was a participant in murdering the girl.

Now he's getting harassing photos about the old murder and doesn't want to go to the authorities becau...more

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Sep 02, 2011 Brian rated it 4 of 5 stars

John Connolly? Charlie Parker? No need to say more, except clear my calendar, I'm reading nonstop to the end. Another outstanding thriller. Can't wait to hoist a beer with John on tour.

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Nov 18, 2011 Dave rated it 3 of 5 stars

I enjoy stories where different genres are combined, especially when one of those genres is crime fiction. For the past several years writer John Connolly has been telling some great stories that mesh elements of supernatural and psychological horror with detective fiction. In his earlier stories starring private investigator Charlie Parker the horror elements were always sort of at the background. You never quite knew if they were real or not. There were hints that something bigger was going on...more I enjoy stories where different genres are combined, especially when one of those genres is crime fiction. For the past several years writer John Connolly has been telling some great stories that mesh elements of supernatural and psychological horror with detective fiction. In his earlier stories starring private investigator Charlie Parker the horror elements were always sort of at the background. You never quite knew if they were real or not. There were hints that something bigger was going on though.

Then in his 2009 novel “The Lovers” readers got to know a lot more about Parker’s past and it felt like Connolly was ready to plunge into the deep end of the supernatural pool. The novel hinted that some very powerful people were interested in using Parker to fight some very evil things. Since that novel though there hasn’t been much of a follow up. The supernatural still figures into Parker’s cases, but it’s almost like Connolly’s 2010 Parker novel “The Whisperers” and his most recent one “The Burning Soul” are stand alone cases while readers wait for the next big event to happen in Charlie Parker’s life. That doesn’t mean those novels are bad, in fact “The Burning Soul” was quite entertaining. It just makes them a little frustrating.

In “The Burning Soul” a teenage girl is abducted in the small town of Pastor’s Bay. Parker is drawn into the investigation when he agrees to help find out who is blackmailing and trying to frame Randall Haight for the crime. Haight has been targeted because when he was a teenager he and friend murdered a child. He did his time and thanks to the machinations of a crusading judge he even got a new identity upon his release

Parker is a great character so it’s always cool to be seeing things through his eyes especially in the early stages of his investigation when both he and you the reader are getting to know the town of Pastor’s Bay. Randall Haight and several other of its citizens are all colorful and eclectic characters.

We’re also treated to some creepy supernatural scenes. At the very beginning you get the feeling that Parker is being watched by some animals that are in the service to something smarter and more sinister. There are also places where “The Burning Soul” becomes a pretty chilling ghost story.

Things slow down though in the early stages when Connolly moves the action away from Pastor’s Bay and to the mean streets of Boston. Here he focuses on some low level mobsters whose connections to the larger story are not readily apparent. Connolly valiantly tries to make these characters interesting, but the more time we spend with them the more things slow down. Mid way through the book their connection to things become apparent and they disappear only to show up again at the book’s ending. So ultimately they feel a bit extraneous.

Also these two mobsters take away time from other characters like Charlie Parker’s friends Angel, the Hispanic thief and his lover Louis, an African American assassin. Anyone whose read Connolly’s work knows you don’t do that. Angel and Louis are two of the best supporting characters in crime fiction. They still play a role in the “Burning Soul,” but not as big as fans might be used to.

About halfway through “The Burning Soul” heats up and rockets towards a pretty exciting conclusion. We follow Parker’s investigation into who Randall Haight really is and what happened to the missing girl and uncover some pretty shocking and compelling clues. Best of all the last couple lines of the book seem to suggest that Parker’s actions will be reported to a shadowy, nefarious adversary.

So ultimately “The Burning Soul” was not the book I wanted it to be. That doesn’t mean it was a bad one though. It was highly entertaining in parts, had a pretty satisfying climax, and had an ending that could lead to the Parker book I’ve been wanting for several years
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Jun 21, 2012 Victoria rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-in-a-series, mystery-thriller

John Connolly has become over the past few years one of my very favorite authors. He is just so talented and I anticipate each one of his books with great delight - and though I try my best to savor each one, I end up not being able to put it down until I’ve finished. And this tenth installment of the Charlie Parker series is no exception! Connolly continues to prove his skill and overall mastery with words, characters and plot. And while the plot here isn’t perhaps as intricate as some of his p...more

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Oct 08, 2011 Book Him Danno rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-sent-by-author-publisher-for, 2011

One of my favorite things in my reading life is picking up a new (to me) mystery writer and thoroughly enjoying the book. It is especially great when they are an established writer and I can go back and enjoy an extensive backlist. I keep up with about 50 authors right now and I always on the lookout for more. I just got up to date on John Sandford’s work and I am currently working my way through C.J. Box’s and Michael Connelly’s backlists. I can say now that John Connolly has been added to that...more One of my favorite things in my reading life is picking up a new (to me) mystery writer and thoroughly enjoying the book. It is especially great when they are an established writer and I can go back and enjoy an extensive backlist. I keep up with about 50 authors right now and I always on the lookout for more. I just got up to date on John Sandford’s work and I am currently working my way through C.J. Box’s and Michael Connelly’s backlists. I can say now that John Connolly has been added to that list.

When I begin a series with book 10 I am looking for a few things:
A writer who has mastered writing a tight story with detail in all the right places.
A lead character(s) that feels real; well rounded.
A cast of regular side characters that are fully developed and could carry a book by themselves.
A story that occasionally refers back to past work without giving it all away.
The Burning Soul has all of those traits and I cannot wait to read more about Charlie Parker and company. Even the bad guys in this book were real people. I mean I would read a book about the life struggles of a pair of organized crime muscle as presented in this story. They were that well written.

Can an honest man ever be free from the wrongs he has done n his life? That is the overall question of the book. We all make mistakes but sometimes we are cruel, even evil, on purpose. I think we like to believe we can just leave it all behind and get on with our carefree lives, but the truth is we just can’t (unless you happen to be a sociopath). Charlie Parker is called in to help a victim of intimidation and blackmail. Of course being blackmailed means the victim has done something pretty vile in his life at one time.

The truth is he is tormented more by himself than anyone else. His prison was erected in his mind and even though he did his time, he has never been free. This makes me think of even larger issues involving PTSD and other reactions to highly stressful situations. Basically damage to the mind does not just go away on its own, or even heal correctly if we just “man” up and tough it out. If we broke our arm we wouldn’t just leave it to heal on its own, or at least we wouldn’t expect it to heal perfectly that way.

So the client in this book is the same way, always trying to tough it out, always trying to out run the consequences; yet never truly healing. Cowardice made him commit the original crime and cowardice made him avoid the punishment. The irony being never facing his responsibilities actually made the consequences much worse. And isn’t that an universal truth for life?
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Oct 11, 2011 Joyce rated it 3 of 5 stars

Connolly frequently manages to cross the line from Noir to Black or even clinically depressed. His mysteries are excellent, well written and well plotted but Charlie Parker crosses the line from moralist to judge, jury and executioner on a regular basis. The characters in this novel are not people you would like to spend a lot of time with. There are pedophiles, murderers and angst ridden lawmen. A teen age girl disappears in a small Maine town. Parker becomes involved when a man who as a teenag...more

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Mar 04, 2012 Caitlin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

John Connolly is huge favorite of mine. His Charlie Parker series is must-read both for its writing and for Connolly's wonderful, dark, Irish storytelling skills.

The Burning Soul is the latest in the series and it's a good one, although maybe not a great one. I still want more Louis and Angel and I want more of the tone that pervades my favorite of the series (and the first one that I read) Dark Hollow. Good John Connolly is always better than 99.9% of what you'll read so I'm not damning with fa...more

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Dec 18, 2011 Richard Wright rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

A great mystery novel, if not perhaps the best Charlie Parker mystery novel. Parker seems to work best when dropped into the middle of of contention, where he's best suited to poke, beat, and inflame. Here, drawn to the twin mysteries of a released (allegedly redeemed) child killer being taunted anonymously in a small community and a missing child from the same error, he's curiously restrained. For once, the action doesn't happen because of Parker (though he intercedes at a couple of key moments...more

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Aug 03, 2012 Craig rated it 4 of 5 stars

Good, but not as good as some of the Charlie Parker mysteries. This one is just a bit on the formulaic side in its treatment of a kidnapped young girl, mobsters on the run, and a reformed child killer who might be hiding a secret. There's just a bit of the Fulci brothers and Angel and Louis, Parker's assassin friends, but most of the focus is on Parker as he tries to help the child killer, who has paid his debt and is trying to eke out an existence as an accountant in a small, coastal Maine town...more

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The Burning Soul (Charlie Parker #10)

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