A Time of Torment: A Charlie Parker Thriller

John Connolly

Aug 2016 · Charlie Parker Book 14 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

#1 internationally bestselling author John Connolly delivers a masterful combination of “the hard-boiled with the supernatural” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) with this return of dangerous and driven private investigator Charlie Parker as he battles an old evil that haunts a strange and isolated community.

Jerome Burnel was once a hero. He intervened to prevent multiple killings, and in doing so damned himself. His life was torn apart, imprisoned and brutalized.

But in his final days, with the hunters circling, he tells his story to private detective Charlie Parker. He speaks of the girl who was marked for death, but was saved; of the ones who tormented him, and an entity that hides in a ruined stockade.

Parker is not like other men. He died, and was reborn. He is ready to wage war.

Now he will descend upon a strange, isolated community called the Cut, and face down a force of men who rule by terror, intimidation, and murder.

All in the name of the being they serve. All in the name of the Dead King.

Ratings and reviews

This book wasn't anything like I was expecting, it was soo much more. This is the first book by John Connolly I have read. I don't normally start in the middle of a series, let alone with the 14 books in. I have to say that Connolly did a great job of making this a stand-alone story. There were many references to previous events and characters, but I was able to fall into the story and easily figure out who was who. In fact, I was only a couple of chapters in when I realized I was in serious trouble. Now I will have to go back to read the other 13 books in this series. In addition to making it easy to fall into his world, Connolly created complex characters. The good guys made me wonder how they got there, but created in such a way, they were real. They were the best kind of good guys. The ones that have been so close to the line, you aren't sure they didn't cross it as some point, but they understand where that line is and so can live on that edge. The bad guys, were bad, but you could still see some humanity in a couple of them. It was easy to distinguish the damned from the those that hadn't quite crossed the line. Or if they had, they knew where to balance the edge - just the other side of edge. I found Connolly's choice of folklore and imagery refreshing. In this book, he used more obscure tales and entities. And he kept you going to the end. You knew how it would end, and yet it didn't quite work out that way. I am a fan and will be reading more of Charlie Parker in the near future

Heros become tainted, good guys seen as bad. Evil on the rise. Justice comes through mysterious events and champions. Charlie, Louis, Angel, and Jerome lead in this thrilling mystery to The Cut (similar to a land-based Bermuda Triangle)! Dynamic, page turning writing! Haven't read the previous books in the series; happily, didn't need to with this standalone story. But I will read them now! Book free through Netgally for honest review.

Charlie Parker wins again.

About the author

John Connolly is the author of the #1 internationally bestselling Charlie Parker thrillers series, the supernatural collection Nocturnes, the Samuel Johnson Trilogy for younger readers, and (with Jennifer Ridyard) the Chronicles of the Invaders series. He lives in Dublin, Ireland. For more information, see his website at JohnConnollyBooks.com, or follow him on Twitter @JConnollyBooks.