|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
|
Product Description
Product Description
“‘Oh, little one,’ he whispered, as he gently stroked her cheek, the first time he had touched her in fifteen years. ‘What have they done to you? What have they done to us all?’ ”In his latest dark and chilling Charlie Parker thriller, New York Times bestselling author John Connolly takes us to the border between Maine and Canada. It is there, in the vast and porous Great North Woods, that a dangerous smuggling operation is taking place, run by a group of disenchanted former soldiers, newly returned from Iraq. Illicit goods—drugs, cash, weapons, even people—are changing hands. And something else has changed hands. Something ancient and powerful and evil.The authorities suspect something is amiss, but what they can’t know is that it is infinitely stranger and more terrifying than anyone can imagine. Anyone, that is, except private detective Charlie Parker, who has his own intimate knowledge of the darkness in men’s hearts. As the smugglers begin to die one after another in apparent suicides, Parker is called in to stop the bloodletting. The soldiers’ actions and the objects they have smuggled have attracted the attention of the reclusive Herod, a man with a taste for the strange. And where Herod goes, so too does the shadowy figure that he calls the Captain. To defeat them, Parker must form an uneasy alliance with a man he fears more than any other, the killer known as the Collector. . . .
About the Author
John Connolly is the author of Every Dead Thing, Dark Hollow, The Killing Kind, The White Road, Bad Men, Nocturnes, and The Black Angel. He is a regular contributor to The Irish Times and lives in Dublin, Ireland. For more information, see his website at www.johnconnolly.co.uk.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not the Strongest Charlie Parker,
By
This review is from: The Whisperers: A Thriller (Hardcover)
I am a loyal fan of Connolly's Charlie Parker novels. He has created compelling characters and an ever-so-slightly twisted world that draws you back time and again. Unfortunately this entry did not have the same pep, pace or suspense of its predecessors. One would think that enigmatic artifacts looted during the recent Iraqi conflict would provide great background, however, the book is highly procedural and linear versus the near irreverence and smokey atmosphere of the previous entries. He does supply some interesting facts on the war in Iraq including the Stryker units, the neat mythical "Juba" sniper, and returning soldiers' struggles back home. In short, there was no real mystery here so Connolly ends up leaning too much on the mystical and horror aspects of his writing and this throws the book off balance when compared with his previous and more nuanced books.
4.0 out of 5 stars
War Crimes,
By
This review is from: The Whisperers: A Thriller (Hardcover)
There is always the element of the supernatural in a Charlie Parker novel. And "The Whisperers" is no exception. However, reality plays an important part in the theme, giving the author the opportunity to reflect on the horrors of war and its effects - especially combat stress - on the lives of those who fought them.There are veiled references to the condition in the Iliad; during the Civil War it was known as "irritable heart;" "shellshock" was the term used during World War I and its aftermath; for World War II it became known as "battle fatigue" and "war neurosis;" then "post-Vietnam syndrome"; and today "post-traumatic stress disorder." The plot involves a group of Iraqi veterans (all from Maine, Parker's bailiwick), who return home to set up a smuggling operation. One by one they commit suicide, and Parker is retained by the father of one of them to learn the reason for his son's death. This leads Parker to travel an unexpected path As a result, we meet some old friends, Angel and Louis, who always manage to cover Parker's back. But more important, Parker has to work with an old nemesis, The Collector. And the eerie Herod, a man with strange tastes, and his shadow, the Captain. The characters and the plot interweave on various levels, with prose that mesmerizes the reader. The book is highly recommended.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.5 out of 5 stars (35 customer reviews) 23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Demons of war,
By S. Dellosa "misfit salon" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Whisperers: A Thriller (Hardcover)
I confess that I was drawn to The Whisperers for the Raiders of the Lost Ark-like cover alone. I found out once I received it that The Whisperers is part of a series featuring PI Charlie Parker; however, I could still follow the story and got hints of Parker's past throughout so that I got a great sense of his character and troubled history.The Whisperers by John Connolly (and apparently the entire series) is a thriller with supernatural elements (most of which worked for me). The cover is well-chosen as Parker's investigation into an ex-soldier's suicide eventually leads him to the discovery of ancient artifacts looted from a museum in Iraq now being smuggled across the border to Canada. As Parker continues his investigation, he learns about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and finds hints that the tragedies befalling the veterans one by one might have a more sinister and horrifying cause. "They left you this way. Your emotions are no longer under control. You are no longer under your own control. You become depressed, paranoid, removed from those who care about you. You believe that you are still at war. You fight your bedclothes at night. You become estranged from your loved ones, and they leave you. "And maybe, just maybe, you start believing that you are haunted, that demons speak to you from boxes, and when you can't satisfy them, when you can't do what they want you to do, they turn you against yourself, and they punish you for your failings. "And maybe, just maybe, that moment of obliteration comes as a relief." Connolly does an admirable job of not trumpeting political opinions about the war in Iraq - instead he shines the spotlight on the war's effect on the soldiers, how physically and emotionally shattered they become, the treatment (or lack thereof given to them), what little compensation they receive for laying their lives on the line, and what happens to them once they finally come home. The Iraqis are not painted as the enemy here - another aspect of this thriller I liked --but there are plenty of villains. You have the government who is not taking care of its soldiers, other ruthless smugglers, and a revolting, face-is-being-eaten-by-a-disease killer by the name of Herod. Connolly hits almost all of the marks for a great thriller - steady build up of suspense; surprises that keep the plot moving; intriguing, well-drawn characters; and an insightful, pertinent take on current events. Some of the supernatural elements confused me - I'm not sure if it's because they're a continuation from prior books in the series. For example, the character called the Collector showed up in the last 3rd of the book as a vaguely omnipotent presence with an unidentified purpose and could either be good or evil. Again, I'm not sure if he's merely a literary device or part of an overall, running theme. My curiosity is sufficiently piqued regarding the Collector's role, as well as Parker's dark past, so that I intend on picking up the rest of the series. 11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Close, but No Cigar,
By Jodi L. Castagnier "Jodi L VanWoerkom" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Whisperers: A Thriller (Hardcover)
I have to admit I have been waiting for this book to come out since the moment I finished the last one. Unfortunately, it did not meet my expectations. The last third of the book was where I felt the story really came together.The information on PTSD was too much and I felt it distracted from the story and the overall Charlie Parker series. I understand it was important, but really it could have been summed up in a chapter instead of continuing to pop up. For me, the Black Angel was the culminating book for what I think is main plot of Charlie Parkers life. I think the super natural elements are important. I think that a show down between Charlie Parker and the super natural beings will ultimately close this series. I think we've seen peices of it in the Lovers and Whisperers, but that John Connolly has stepped back from it being a focal point. I think in his next book it should be brought to the front more. I felt this book was a slow read. There was just too much information to sort through before the story got going. I am still a fan and am eagerly awaiting the next one... 9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Charlie is back...,
By J. Prather - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Whisperers: A Thriller (Hardcover)
John Connolly is one of my favorite authors because he possesses the uncanny ability to combine exciting supernatural elements commonly found in horror fiction with the gritty realism of a good hard boiled detective novel. The Whisperers is no exception. Connolly succeeds in creating an atmosphere ripe with tension from the very first page. While I knew where this was going pretty early on, the myriad of characters he introduces and his haunting style kept me glued to the story just so I could figure out where all these players were going to fit into this puzzle laid out so expertly before me.I have read all the Charlie Parker novels, and I can see where some might not like this one as much as the previous ones. First, this one is not really about Charlie. Some of the previous ones have been so personal to Charlie, this one stands out as being markedly different. Secondly, the supernatural elements of the story are more in the forefront from the very beginning. I for one was glad to see Charlie taking on cases again. It felt like the return of Charlie Parker, private detective instead of Charlie Parker man of vengeance and despair. It was nice to see that Charlie himself might have a future. Charlie is called into action by the father of an Iraqi war veteran anxious to learn more about his son's apparent suicide and his connections to some of the men he served with in Iraq. What follows is a tale that is not all that original, but still very compelling. Antiquities stolen from the Iraq National Museum have found their way back to the United States along with a few entities that nobody expected. The author tells a darkly human story of greed and sacrifice, while also exploring some very ancient evils. All of the information on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was very interesting and served to further connect the reader to all the characters, making their role in the events both more understandable and sad. Louis and Angel are back, but with a somewhat smaller role this time. As always, they lend a delicious amount of tension and drama to any scene they are in. The villains in this tale are both old and new, and while I thought I had this all figured out, by the time the end rolled around I was in for some unexpected surprises. The bottom line: this is a good read for any fan of crime or supernatural fiction. Though not quite as intense as the more recent Charlie Parker novels, still an edge of your seat page turner sure to satisfy. Recommended. |
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
