Dark Hollow: A Charlie Parker Thriller (2)

by John Connolly

Book Overview

"Connolly has crafted one of the most darkly intriguing books this reviewer has encountered in more than three decades of reading crime fiction." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) The second... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 074341022X
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: Pocket Books
• Length: 528 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 1.1" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Chills, thrills and great old-fashioned suspense

When John Connolly wrote Every Dead Thing, he created a wild ride that was different from all the other suspense novels out there. I'm more than glad to say that his first novel wasn't a one-time hit. Because with Dark Hollow, Connolly raises the stakes even higher, brings even more suspense to the page and establishes himself as one of the strongest voice in modern suspense ficiton.It's hard to be "Bird" Parker. First, nearly one year ago, he lost his wife and daughter to the sadistic Traveling Man. Now, after a move to Northern Maine, Parker finds himself thrown in the middle of yet another investigation, one that will leave a sky-high number of dead bodies and that will induce a lot of pain for all involved.The case starts when a young woman and her infant child are murdered. The prime suspect is her ex-husband. But Parker thinks different. He knows that the mob is somehow invloved in this. And he can't understand how a sadistic killer called Caleb Kyle - one Bird's grandfather tried to catch five or six decades ago and who's name has now become a legend in Dark Hollow - fits into all of this. But it's only when the daughter of an old friend of Parker's disappears in the Maine countryside that Bird can start putting the pieces of the puzzle back together. Only, time is more than an issue and Parker has very little of it.Connolly is a master at mending two/three storylines together into a coherent whole. What seems to be two separate cases in the beginning become entagled in surprising ways, and the outcome is never predictable. His characters never take the easy way out, nor are they blown out of proportion. Most of them are anti-heroes, people who fall into the role reluctantly, unwillingly. Parker's just a regular guy who keeps finding himself put in awkward situations.Reading DArk Hollow is like being on a roller-coaster ride. Every time you think the suspense can't go any higher, every time you think the stakes can't possibly go higher, every time you think the suspense will finally let up, you're thrown in another loop. This book would make an amazing film! And with this book, Connolly creates an amazing villain, one of mythical proportions. And the way all the different people involved in the story (the mob, cops, assassins) and the way Bird's personal life is portrayed on the page makes this book one of the best suspense novel I've read in a long time.Simply put, Dark Hollow is a masterwork of suspense that you won't soon forget. One of the best novels of the year!

MENACING CHARACTERS IN SHIVER PRODUCING CLIMES

With an opening line signaling devilish doings, "I dream dark dreams," Irish thrillersmith John Connolly launches his second suspenseful tale featuring New York policeman turned private investigator Charlie Parker. Connolly copped the 2000 Shamus Award for his debut, "Every Dead Thing." "Dark Hollow" assures readers that he deserved it. Unable to set aside the murders of his wife and daughter, a haunted Parker returns to his hometown of Scarborough, Maine. Rather than finding solace in the northeast woods Parker is faced with a series of seemingly unrelated mysteries and a terrifying sociopathic mobster, Tony Celli. Oddly enough the current series of murders are remarkably akin to 40-year-old killings - crimes that Parker's grandfather spent most of his life trying to solve. What is the connection between today's violence and killings almost half a century old? Author Connolly pulls out all the stops with this highly readable, almost surreal tale involving mysterious forces lurking in the wilderness, and a long buried past seemingly rising from the grave. Connolly's an ace at creating menacing characters and shiver producing climes.

A TERRIFYING NOVEL OF MURDER AND REVENGE!!!

In John Connolly's newest novel, DARK HOLLOW, the character of Charlie "Bird" Parker returns to track down a serial killer that his grandfather once hunted. It began thirty-six years before when six women between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two disappeared in northern Maine during the months from April to October. Charlie's grandfather, Bob Warren, helped in the search for the missing girls, but to no avail...that is until a stranger stepped into a bar one night and told him to look in the Sebec Lake area. Five of the women were found there, hanging naked from the same oak tree. The stranger's name was Caleb Kyle, and he was never seen again. Three decades later, Charlie Parker is asked by Rita Ferris to help collect some back child support from her ex-husband, Billy Purdue. A few days later, Rita and her infant son are found brutally murdered, and the police think that Billy did it. It sounds like an open-and-shut case. The only problem is that Billy has taken off, and it seems like everybody in New England is after him. The local and state police want him for murder. Tony Celli, a member of the Boston mob, thinks that he stole two million dollars from him and will do whatever it takes to get the money back. Next in line are two very evil, cold-blooded assassins who want to get their hands on the missing money so that they can retire in style. Last, but not least, is Charlie Parker. Charlie thinks that Billy is innocent. In fact, his gut instinct tells him that Caleb Kyle is behind the deaths of Rita and her child, not to mention the many killings that will soon follow. The real questions are what is the connection between Caleb Kyle and Billy Purdue, and why has Caleb Kyle started killing once again? Charlie will eventually find himself up against the most vicious murderers he has ever encountered, and Death will be around the corner, waiting for him to make a mistake. Even with the help of his friends, Louis and Angel, he may not survive the cost required to find the answers to his questions and to finally finish what his late grandfather wanted to do-kill Caleb Kyle! In DARK HOLLOW, Mr. Connolly has written a truly magnificent follow-up to his first novel, EVERY DEAD THING. It's been almost a year since "The Traveling Man" murdered Charlie's wife and daughter. The emotional pain and guilt are still there for Charlie (not to mention the fact that he's able to see the dead and hear their cries for retribution), but now he has a new purpose in life. His one desire is to fight for those who are unable to do it for themselves; and, thereby, to make amends for the death of his family and for the violence he has inadvertently brought to those closest to him. Charlie understands that there can be no salvation for him, but possibly...just possibly he might be able to bring about reparation by helping the weak and innocent and killing those who would prey on them. Charlie "Bird" Parker is a richly drawn character that boldly comes to life and quick