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Corbs (2011)

by John Connolly(Favorite Author)

4 of 5 Votes: 2

languge

English

genre

Mystery & Thriller

publisher

Bromera

series

Charlie Parker

review 1: This being one of my favorite series, I was fearful that I would open a book one day and be disappointed...sadly that day has come. Don't get me wrong, this is still a good book in terms of an average detective story, but Connolly is a great writer, weaving stories rich in heart and soul with the intention of leading the reader on a journey with his characters and his often tragic and heartbreaking way of storytelling. This book just felt phoned in, with a story that was more convoluted than it needed to be, chock full of characters that were not only unnecessary but the least interesting so far in the series. The story starts off with the kidnapping of a young girl in a small Maine town, but is not really the focal point of this story. It's really about child killer Randa... morell Haight. Although he has paid for his crime and has a new identity to show for it, passing himself off as an average Joe, he is being harassed by someone who seems to know who he really is. This is where Charlie comes in, hired by Haight's lawyer to find out who the tormentor is. At the same time there are some Irish mobsters who are traveling to said small town because one of them is connected to the kidnapped girl. This part of the story bothered me. It was like reading two different books that end up having the barest connection in the end. There is also scowly-faced FBI agent Walsh, who's role seemed like a big fat waste of time. At the same time Charlie keeps getting these cryptic text messages, that frankly don't add much to the story, and then there is poor Angel and Louis. Reduced to faceless hit men, always there for Charlie of course, but really only shadowy background figures at this point. It would have been better to leave them out all together as they deserve to be more than a blip in a so-so story. Even Charlie seemed surprisingly devoid of any real attachment, going about his detective work as usual, sparking up playful banter with the local coffee shop owner with the resulting outcomes of his work pretty much falling in his lap. One being kind of predictable and the other so far removed from most of the book that I have to say it was truly a surprise ending.The one bright spot is the journey into Haight's past, the girl he killed, and the consequences of those actions.Anyway, I hate to be so harsh with Connolly and even with my Charlie, who I really do adore, I just think there was a better story to tell here then the one that was.
review 2: 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 book was good while the suspense lasted, but it was so twisted to the point where I was not able to discern where the climax was. The part where you expect it to be the most action-packed was, actually, not even its ending, because there was too much going on for me to focus on the main plot. In the end, literally, the end of the main plot became such a small part in the whole piece that I was kind of disappointed with it. Like one of the reviews here said, I cannot decide whether it was a clever ending or just a lazy move to end the whole book. I liked it from beginning to somewhere after the middle, but after that, it was just kinda dragging a bit.I also noticed some parts where the author seemed to be too intent to describe small details, taking some 1-3 pages to describe some history, or the weather, or just a single personal experience of Charlie Parker. That also dragged the book a bit, but it did not really irk me so much, compared to what I felt with the book's long ending. less

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