burritapal_1's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Spoiler
A rich dude calls Charlie to his house, and asks him to look into the alleged suicide of the daughter of an ex-business partner of his. As an ex-cop and current Private Investigator, CHarlie doesn't savor doing divorce Duty, and this certainly pays better, so he agrees to take it on. Charlie doesn't realize what he's getting into.
Appearing to be a simple case at first, it soon proves to be part of a 30-year-old mass-murder case where the bones of victims are uncovered by a lake in the far north of the state. Missing victims of a religious cult prove to be involved, and a serial murderer named Mr Pudd who uses arachnids to off his victims, and leaves a trail of hideously, bloody dead bodies behind.
Mr Pudd has a sidekick, who turns out to be his sister. In the end we find out that Mr PUdD and his sister are the Offspring of Reverend Faulkner. Early in the book they come to pay a visit to Mr Parker to intimidate him.
" I cocked the pistol.'Get off my property, Mr Pudd, and take your Chatterbox friend with you.'
that was a mistake. Beside him, the woman shifted to her left suddenly and made as if to spring at me, her left hand tensed like the talons of a hawk while her right hand made a move for her coat. I Lowered the gun and fired a shot into the ground between Mr Pudd's feet, sending a spray of dirt into the air and causing Birds to scatter from the surrounding trees. The woman stopped as his hand shut out and gripped her arm.
'Take off your scarf, my dear,' he said, his eyes never leaving mine. The woman paused, then unknotted her black scarf and held it limply in her left hand. Her exposed neck was crisscrossed with scars, pale pink welts that had left her so badly mutilated that to allow them to remain uncovered would be to invite stares from every passerby.
'Open wide, dear,' said Mr Pudd.
The woman's mouth opened, revealing small yellow teeth, pink gums, and a tattered red mass at the back of her throat that was all that remained of her tongue.
'Now sing. Let Mr Parker hear you sing.'
She opened her mouth and her lips moved, but no sound came. Yet she continued to sing a song heard only in her own head, her eyes half-closed in ecstasy, her body swaying slightly in time to the unheard music, until Mr PUDd raised his hand and she closed her mouth instantly.
'She used to have such a beautiful voice, Mr Parker, so fine and pure. It was throat cancer that took it from her: throat cancer and the will of god. Perhaps it was a strange blessing, a visitation from the Lord sent to testify and confirm her on the one true path to salvation. In the end, I think it just made her love the Lord even more.' "
🙄
When Mr pudd and the singing Canary leave Charlie's house, he hands Charlie a business card he holds out by the tip of it. Charlie's hands blister after he holds it in his hand, so he asks Rachel to have one of her University coworkers analyze it:
" 'the card was infused with a fluid called cantharidin, concentrated canctharidin,' She continued. 'it's sometimes used in medical procedures to produce blistering. One portion of the top right-hand corner has been lightly waxed, presumably so this Mr PUDD could hold it without affecting his own skin. As soon as you took it in your hand, your body heat and the moisture on your fingers activated the cantharidin and you started to blister.'
I thought about it for a moment.
'so he used some kind of medical product on the card,... ' I began, but Rachel shook her head.
'No, I said it was used for medical purposes, but the substance on the card was a very specific form of the toxin, produced, according to the research assistant who examined it, only by "certain desiccating anthropods." It's blister beetle venom. The man who gave it to you must have harvested the venom, concentrated it, then applied it to the card.' "
One of my favorite things to do when I'm reading books is look up the settings on Google maps. In this case, Charlie Parker is at a place called The Cloisters, which is part of the Metropolitan museum, but removed from the Met that's in Manhattan.
So Charlie Parker is supposed to meet up with Mickey Shine, who I forget what his role is in this book, but he goes out in the garden of The Cloisters looking for him.
" The garden had been planted with shrubs and trees common in medieval times. A quartet of quince trees stood in the middle, the first signs of the yellow fruit now appearing. Valerian was overshadowed by the huge leaves of black mustard; nearby grew Caraway and leak, chive and lovage, madder and Our-Lady's-bedstraw, the last two constituent ingredients in the dyes used by artists for the manuscripts on display in the main body of the museum.
It took me seconds to notice the new addition to the garden. Against the far wall, beside the entrance to the tower, grew an espaliered pear tree, its shape resembling a menorah. The bare branches were like hooks, six of them growing out from the main artery of the tree. Mickey Shine's head had been impaled on the very tip of that Central artery, turning him to a creature of both flesh and wood. Tendril-like Trails of coagulating blood hung from the neck, and the rain damped the pallor of His features as water pooled in the sunken sockets of his eyes. Tattered skin blew softly in the wind, and there was blood around his mouth and ears. His ponytail had been severed during the removal of his head and the Loose Hair now stuck lankly to his gray-blue skin."
The reason that Mr PUDd et Al are chasing Charlie Parker so aggressively is that they think he has this special book that Mr Pudd's father the Reverend Faulkner made. They're called Apocalypse:
" there were about 30 pages of varying sizes in the book. Two or three were constructed from single patches of skin, twice as large as the book itself. These had been folded, then bound through the fold, creating a double page; other pages had been made up from smaller section of skin sewn carefully together, some of them no bigger than two or three Square inches. The pages varied in thickness; one was so thin that the color of my hand showed through beneath, but others were more thickly layered. Most appeared to be sections taken from the lower back or shoulders, although one page showed the strange sunken hole of a human navel and another bore, close to its center, a shrunken nipple. Like the bifolios of old, the parchments made from goatskin and CalfSkin used by medieval scribes, one side of the page was smooth where any remaining body hair had been rubbed off, while the other was rough. The smooth sides had been used for the illustrations and the script, so that on any one double page only the right-hand side was filled."
This book, the third in the Charlie Parker series, was pretty cool, with all the stuff about spiders and insects in it. I'm fascinated with insects, and John Connolly did his research diligently in order to write this book. Moreover, the history of the state of Maine and its cults make for fascinating reading.
The romance between Charlie Parker and Rachel is advancing steadily, and at the end of this book, she tells Charlie that she's pregnant. Now isn't that sweet?
emeroc's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
octavietullier's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
___puddin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
noonjinx's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Very good. I think this one is on a par with the first in the series. The writing is dark and intense; full of foreboding. It’s a pleasure to read and Connolly somehow manages to walk just the right side of the line between poetic and pompous…
“The door closed gently behind him, its sound in the empty synagogue like a breath exhaled from the mouth of God.”
Having said that, occasionally some of the characters talk in the same poetic voice as the author, especially when they’re giving Parker background information, and that doesn’t quite work for me.
The supernatural element is up a tiny notch in this one (Parker’s glimpses of ghosts now include brief interactions) but it works well and it’s still not the main focus of the books. The characters are great and most of them act the way I believe they would (though why Rachel stays with Parker given the queue of deranged killers he keeps leading to her is beyond me). The pacing is perfect, balancing Parker’s dark introspection with mounting creepiness and bursts of violence.
The highlight of this book is definitely the villain. Mr Pudd is one of the creepiest characters I’ve ever read.
“The door closed gently behind him, its sound in the empty synagogue like a breath exhaled from the mouth of God.”
Having said that, occasionally some of the characters talk in the same poetic voice as the author, especially when they’re giving Parker background information, and that doesn’t quite work for me.
The supernatural element is up a tiny notch in this one (Parker’s glimpses of ghosts now include brief interactions) but it works well and it’s still not the main focus of the books. The characters are great and most of them act the way I believe they would (though why Rachel stays with Parker given the queue of deranged killers he keeps leading to her is beyond me). The pacing is perfect, balancing Parker’s dark introspection with mounting creepiness and bursts of violence.
The highlight of this book is definitely the villain. Mr Pudd is one of the creepiest characters I’ve ever read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture and Murder
emperorxzee's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
organchordsandlightning's review against another edition
4.0
This book feels the first in the series that doesn't have growing pains - all the characters are pretty well established, we know the general world that we're in, and we're ready to see a guy who kills people with spiders.
The best parts of this book (minus the tension-filled actions parts, of course) are the little moments of humanity with the characters. It's really nice to see Angel, Louis, Rachel, and Parker all together, just having lunch or going to Starbucks. It really makes the life-or-death parts of the book that much more impactful - it hurts more to see Angel getting hurt when he's the same guy with the obnoxious red boots.
I also like that this book is pretty gritty without being cynical. Parker can be roughly morally dubious, but he still wants what's best for anyone and will go out of his way to protect people he thinks are being mistreated. There's still some optimistic outlook even with a series that has such a high body count. On the flip side, it's also nice where the villains have a strong impact on the story. I might just be reading too much Preston/Child, but there's a grim sort of certain horror with Connolly's villains - if you leave someone out of your sight, they will die. If a villain catches someone, they will die unless they serve a very, very specific purpose.
There are still some parts about the Killing Kind that make it difficult to get through - the plot can be kind of circuitous at times, and there's not a whole lot explained in Grace's thesis that isn't ultimately revealed later anyway. Also, I feel like there's still a struggle about actually giving Angel something to do (which is actually pointed out as a potential reason he gets kidnapped later), but ultimately, loved the book and am looking forward to the next.
The best parts of this book (minus the tension-filled actions parts, of course) are the little moments of humanity with the characters. It's really nice to see Angel, Louis, Rachel, and Parker all together, just having lunch or going to Starbucks. It really makes the life-or-death parts of the book that much more impactful - it hurts more to see Angel getting hurt when he's the same guy with the obnoxious red boots.
I also like that this book is pretty gritty without being cynical. Parker can be roughly morally dubious, but he still wants what's best for anyone and will go out of his way to protect people he thinks are being mistreated. There's still some optimistic outlook even with a series that has such a high body count. On the flip side, it's also nice where the villains have a strong impact on the story. I might just be reading too much Preston/Child, but there's a grim sort of certain horror with Connolly's villains - if you leave someone out of your sight, they will die. If a villain catches someone, they will die unless they serve a very, very specific purpose.
There are still some parts about the Killing Kind that make it difficult to get through - the plot can be kind of circuitous at times, and there's not a whole lot explained in Grace's thesis that isn't ultimately revealed later anyway. Also, I feel like there's still a struggle about actually giving Angel something to do (which is actually pointed out as a potential reason he gets kidnapped later), but ultimately, loved the book and am looking forward to the next.
julie_sapienza's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Torture