The Reapers: A Charlie Parker Thriller

The action in this powerful and graphic novel centers on the background of one recurring character in Mr. Connolly's books, Louis, both as a boy as well as his development as a Reaper--a professional killer. By means of flashbacks and forwards, the story develops to a momentous conclusion. Along the way, we learn of his boyhood and past transgressions, as well as his personality and businesses. When Louis accepts a contract, Angel, his lover and partner, has trepidations, but goes along with the flow. Meanwhile, Bliss, a killer of killers, is hunting Louis, who years before was assigned to eliminate him. Instead, Bliss was injured and survived the attempt. Now he seeks revenge on the very grounds where Louis and Angel attempt to fulfill their latest contract. Instead they become the hunted, with little at their disposal to survive but their ingenuity (and some friends). "The Reapers" is an interesting psychological study of how Louis has developed as a professional assassin, while maintaining a semblance of normality, raising questions about why a person is selected as a target, among other indications of individuality. Carefully crafted, this dark but deep novel rises above the level of mere crime fiction. The writing and characterizations are sharp and realistic, and the situations drawn almost photographic. Highly recommended.

John Connolly is a most gifted writer and wordsmith. His Charlie Parker novels constitute one of the finest thriller series in existence today. His prose is sometimes so lyrical and so defining that I find myself rereading a sentence or paragraph just to marvel at his styling. He can establish mood, a sense of disquiet, peril, or supernatural unease with a few well turned phrases. His characterizations are always believable and fleshed within the context of the story. And his ability to build suspense and an impending sense of doom that is almost palpable to the reader is extraordinary. "The Reapers" can be read as two parallel stories since there is a lot of jumping back and forth in time to relive past events that add context to the current storyline. As has been well established, this novel focuses heavily on Parker's "back-ups", Louis and Angel. One storyline develops the back-story on Louis and Angel which brings our appreciation for the deadly Louis to an even higher level; certainly they become more humanized and complete than ever in this novel. The central plot deals with betrayals, double crosses, and the payment of blood debts in the violent world of professional assassins (Reapers). Louis' back story fills in gaps on his deadly past and portrays him as a much more formidable protagonist than even the regular Connolly reader would imagine. As usual, Connolly visits themes of loyalty (in many manifestations) and motivation in his unique and flawed characters. Ultimately several storylines intersect and Parker and friends race to find and support their two imperiled allies. I found this to be my favorite of the Charlie Parker novels even though Parker has only a small part to play in it. It was absent the darkness and depression, and supernatural atmosphere, that usually is found when Parker is the main focus...yet the violence and the death count are as high as ever. It reads more of a revenge of the assassins than anything else. The author is a master of establishing mood and motivation through the psychological maneuverings of his characters and his readers.

Angel and Louis are partners in crime, and life partners. Their love for each other doesn't make them less menacing, but their love gives them humanity. Their association with Charlie 'Bird' Parker in previous books has been accompanied not only by violence but supernatural pulls between Light and Dark Forces. Who will win? Sometimes it's a toss-up. We have never known the story of Angel and Louis. Louis, being black in a small town many years ago, accused of killing the man who killed his mother, is taken 'under the wing' of Gabriel, a man who trains and handles Reapers - lethal machines who do their own sense of justice. We find how he and Angel meet, and how they came to be together. It is another masterpiece in Connolly's collection. The writing is lyrical, mesmerizing. Here is a description of Charlie Parker - 'He respected the third man (Parker), even liked him, but there was something about him...What was the word Arno had used? "Ethereal." Willie had been forced to look it up later. It wasn't quite right, but it was close. "Otherworldly," maybe.' If there is a fair description how we perceive Parker, 'Otherworldly or Ethereal' would be good words to think on. Both these words good be descriptions for good or evil - a battle Parker, Angel and Louis are waging. Whether Connolly is writing his Parker series, or Book of Lost Things, or anything he should choose to write, I will be waiting for it to be released. He is one of the writers who has stayed true to his style, and has kept his writing edge in top shape. Another excellent view into the world of Louis, Angel and Charlie Parker.

Before I say anything else, I will tell you that I am a great fan of Mr. Connolly's Charlie Parker series. In fact, I'm a huge fan of all of Mr. Connolly's writing. My fondness for his books stems from the simple fact that I have found them all incredibly satisfying reads. Not a one has ever disappointed me, and lest you think I'm a blindly enthusiastic fan, I'll tell you that I fully expected NOT to like this one as much as the others, or at least to like it for a whole slew of different reasons. I'd read that this book was focused on Louis and Angel (Charlie Parker's homicidal, hilarious, homosexual "sidekicks"); I'd read that Parker played only a peripheral role here. So, being the huge Parker fan that I am, I wondered if I'd find this read as satisfying or as well-written when it focused on two people whose dark natures were, at least to me, so much more developed and hard to deny. I needn't have worried. I finished it in record time and was well-pleased with the book as a whole. Parker does indeed play a peripheral role. He probably appears in less than 1/6 of the book, and only in a reversal of his usual place in things. He's the Angel/Louis here. He's the one who comes in when trouble hits, but whose character is basically secondary throughout except as it affects other characters (in fact, he is referred to as "the Detective" throughout most of the pages upon which he appears, the result of being seen primarily through the eyes of Willie Brew). The result of Parker's relative absence is a lighter book, even when it covers the darkest of topics. Parker, you see, might have his funny moments, but his is a tortured spirit. He does terrible things, usually for all the right reasons, but the terrible nature of what he feels compelled to do is never far from him. As a result, spending time with him is often exhausting, sometimes depressing, always thought-provoking. I have loved every Parker book, but I'm not blind to the spiritual challenge reading about him puts before me. One of the reasons I believe Angel and Louis are so popular is that they can do terrible things as well, but the moral toughness doesn't swallow them whole, doesn't cling to them the way it does to Parker. Their humor, their banter, their cool loyalty--these are all appealing to so many of us. In this book, we get a lot of background that I, for one, have long wanted. How did Louis become a hired killer? How clearly does Angel see his partner and the violence he holds within him? And, just as important in a National Enquirer kind of way: what kind of life do Louis and Angel live when they're not backing Parker up in some guns-a-blazing way? Do they have any other friends, for crying out loud? Why on earth does Angel wear such incredibly awful clothes? How do he and Angel reconcile their vastly different musical tastes? Does Louis really have such contempt for his partner's humor and clothing? As Louis tries to deal with a threat on his and his loved ones' lives (

I would begin by saying that I've read as much of John Connolly's published work as found available. That includes: all of the Charlie Parker novels, The Book of Lost Things, and Nocturnes (Mister Connolly's outstanding anthology of short stories, of which the tale The New Daughter, from the short story of the same name, receives a retelling in the form of a soon to be released motion picture starring Kevin Costner and Ivana Banquero, the beguiling daughter in Pan's Labyrinth). This stand alone novel is every bit as engrossing as the other tales involving Charlie Parker, erstwhile NYPD Detective and guilt ridden (while otherwise occupied) survivor of the butchery that claimed his wife and daughter. Thing is... this latest volume does not focus on the character of Charlie Parker so much as it concentrates on his friends, and sometime accomplices and cohorts, Louis and Angel. Both of these characters figure large in novels concerning PI Charlie Parker. But not much has been issued by way of explaining their genesis (and especially Louis). All of that territory is covered in this distinct volume (and with barely so much as an utterance, and even less of a presence, of Charlie Parker). To mention much of the story would be to mention a lot. Let's just say that it is a tale of menace and authority, and of retribution and reaction, and of hunters being hunted. There is much room here for betrayal and false starts turning into dead ends turning into blind corners, the likes of which you should be ever mindful of turning. Bottom line is the fact that, as always, Mr. Connolly does not disappoint. He has a certain knack for providing lyricism midst chaos and with ever the ear for crisply delivered dialogue delivered as if it were being spoken directly. There is also the proper amount of hyperbole, injected whenever needed, while providing pause within the context of whatever background information is being provided. That said, Mr. Connolly is a master at pacing his stories and at always providing the proper mix of `telling and showing'. If you enjoyed the previous Charlie Parker novels, and hunger for more of the same, you can't go wrong. And if you are new to the `crime' scene and seeking something other than hammered phrasing and rat-a-tat-prose, you are in for a treat.