Every Dead Thing Review

 Every Dead Thing by John Connolly review.

    Every Dead Thing is the first in a series of novels by John Connolly that detail the strange and often tragic tale of Charlie Parker, a man cursed by events beyond his control. It begins with an evil that walks right into his life, destroying everything he holds dear. Charlie Parker begins the novel as a broken man, working on the side of a man named Benny Low. The events from this moment lead into a complication that leads Charlie invariably back to the loss of his wife and daughter and the man that took them from him. Parker is largely a broken character throughout the length of this book having committed certain acts whilst in the pursuit of this killer before events of this novel take place. He is no longer a police officer and many of his former officers believe him to be dangerous and potentially a killer, rumours of his exploits following the deaths of his family have reached many of them. This is a dark tale about loss, revenge, and a twisted killer with hints of the supernatural dashed in here and there, enough that you will be unsure if they are real or not. 

    For me, Connolly's characters are one of his stronger points, with Parker consumed with his guilt at the death of his family, his rage simmering ever beneath the surface as he searches for a way to move on. The Travelling man is a perverse and yet interesting killer with motives that will surprise and sicken in equal measure. Rachel Wolfe is a strong, intelligent, woman that sees the pain that Parker is in and during their time working to catch the Travelling man, professional interest turns to something more. It would be criminal not to mention Angel and Louis, a pair of side characters that in my mind are two of the best in the entire series. Angel the former thief who feels he owes Parker for a former kindness and Louis a man that is enigmatic by nature with lethality to him that speaks more than the man does. Parker comes to rely on these two more than most with former friendships falling apart as he pushes on in his mission to hunt down the Travelling man. 

    The prose is another strong point, it often seems to flow with ease, so much so it that allows you to go whole chapters without realising, it all seems so effortless. Connolly creates a world that is at once so familiar and yet deeply unsettling and grim. To me, Connolly merges the detective genre well with supernatural elements that aren't overt at first, a subtlety to their presence that makes you wonder if it is merely Parker's guilt at play. For me this is a brilliant first entry with only a minor flaw in its pacing, I often feel that the climax kind of rushed up there at the end, and would highly recommend it to both horror and crime fans.

I give Every Dead Thing 4 out of 5. Would recommend it to all.

If there are any similar books you would like to recommend feel free and let me know how you felt about this debut of the series in the comments.