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 daughter are dead. Flayed, eviscerated and posed on the kitchen chairs. He leaves the NYPD, goes to Maine, and returns 7 months later ready to track down their killer. I am not giving anything away, this all happens in the first few pages of the book.

Bird is an interesting character with some similarities to Harry Bosch from the Michael Connelly books. Both named after artists. Both are single-minded in their pursuit of the truth. They wouldn't thrive in any other profession. And they are both very damaged. I could never see Bosch going bad, Bird is walking the line. He is emotional and hurting. He will do ANYTHING to get what he wants. I really want to see where this character goes in the next books.