The Lovers: A Charlie Parker Thriller

John Connolly

Jun 2009 · Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

New York Times bestselling author John Connolly writes an “unfailingly compelling” (New Orleans Times-Picayune) and lyrical tale that forces Private Investigator Charlie Parker to examine his haunting past and all that he has ever believed true about his beloved parents—and himself.

Charlie Parker is a lost soul. Deprived of his private investigator's license and under scrutiny by the police, Parker takes a job in a Portland bar. But he uses his enforced retirement to begin a different kind of investigation: an examination of his own past and an inquiry into the death of his father, who took his own life after apparently shooting dead two unarmed teenagers. It's a search that will eventually lead Parker to question all that he believed about his beloved parents, and about himself.

But there are other forces at work: a troubled young woman who is running from an unseen threat, one that has already taken the life of her boyfriend; and a journalist-turned-writer named Mickey Wallace, who is conducting an investigation of his own. And haunting the shadows, as they have done throughout Parker's life, are two figures: a man and a woman who seem driven to bring an end to Charlie Parker's existence.

Haunting, lyrical, and impossible to put down, The Lovers is John Connolly at his best.

Ratings and reviews

I am reading about Charlie Parker for the first time in this book. It's an intriging read with only one hinder in trying to understand what he is all about because of the why of his violent past. Yet it doesn't feel to much of an interference when reading this story. I usually get a bit bored reading copper's stories but here, with elements of corruption in the force (Serpico comes to mind) and the idea of two lovers who appear to be supernatural (are they?) I am glad to say I haven't finished the book yet!

You'd think John Connolly has nothing more to say about Charlie Parker and the twilight world of ghosts and violence he inhabits ... but The Lovers proves this wrong. Measured and taut, there are moments of such terror and horror in this that one wonders how the author can sleep at night ... Superb.

I REALLY enjoyed this one! It was back to Charlie Parker being the central figure and in this book, the focus of investigation was Charlie Parker's own history. I loved how everything fit together - this entire series must have been planned out from the very beginning. Connolly is such a talented writer! And though this one isn't even in paperback yet, I am already VERY anxious to read the next book. That being said, I have greatly enjoyed all of his stand-alones, too, so I wouldn't mind if another of those comes out soon, too!

About the author

John Connolly is the author of the #1 internationally bestselling Charlie Parker thrillers series, The Book of Lost Things and its sequel The Land of Lost Things, 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.