The Monks of Appalling Dreadfulness (2020) – A short story featuring Samuel Johnson. The Monks of Appalling Dreadfulness are the most feared assassins in the Multiverse. They are ruthless. They are cunning. They can do interesting things with oranges. Now they have been hired to hunt down and kill the demon Nurd, along with every friend he’s ever had. But friends come in all shapes and sizes, and with all kinds of talents. The Monks of Appalling Dreadfulness are about to meet their match… I press him on the book’s length, a particular bugbear of mine in contemporary crime fiction (although the truth remains: it’s never too long if, as here, the writing is good enough). I have read 19 of John Connolly’s books. I have read 18 in the Charlie Parker series. To same that I am a fan is an understatement.

John Connolly’s latest supernatural thriller, “The Furies”, is actually two novels for the price of one. Both feature Connolly’s private detective Charlie Parker, a man haunted by demons, both figurative and literal. Strangely enough, things are going well for Parker, who has found some semblance of a life in Maine. He has a favorite watering hole, friends, and even the occasional client, but he is extremely discriminating about the types of cases he signs on to anymore. Twenty books so far about Charlie Parker and it is still not enough! This one is actually two short books and both of them concentrate more on Parker's investigative efforts, with only a small amount of the occult. The spooky stuff is what I like best and I hope next time there will be more!Five stars because omgoodness what a Charlie Parker novel this is! Or should I say two novels? Yes, what Mr. Connolly imagined as a novella - Sisters Strange - and wrote during the early part of the pandemic instead became a short novel! It's here! And followed by The Furies. Two novels in one book! Yay! This is 5 stars and more. Absolutely recommend. And if you have never read this series and read this book, you are in for a Treat. From the First Charlie Parker book- Every Dead Thing - to this book, it’s a journey. These characters become real to the reader and Connolly is one of the best suspense novelist (maybe the best). In “The Sisters Strange”, Parker learns a lot about the rare coins market. Career criminal Raum Buker stole a unique coin from the wrong man and this crime brings danger to Dolors and Ambar Strange. Raum has a tendency to dare his enemies “which bespoke a degree of confidence in himself to which he had no right”. In “The Furies”, a widow asks Parker to recover some mementos of her dead daughter. A pair of murderous thugs are holding them for ransom. Another mother asks Parker to help her daughter escape from an abusive boyfriend.

The game goes on. The game always goes on. The only issue to be decided is if you’re a player or a pawn.” Both of these stories make it clear that even when investigating smaller cases – at least compared to some of the previous books in the series – Charlie Parker is a force for good and a character with plenty of stories left to tell. The Furies is an excellent example of a series that delights in horrifying and uplifting its readers simultaneously; long may it continue to do so. The Furies: mythological snake-haired goddesses of vengeance, pursuers of those who have committed unavenged crimes. Now, private investigator C harlie Parker is drawn into a world of modern furies. In The Sisters Strange, the return of the criminal Raum Buker to Portland, Maine brings with it chaos and murder, as an act of theft threatens not only to tear apart his own existence but also that of Raum’s former lovers, the enigmatic sisters Dolors and Ambar Strange. And in The Furies Parker finds himself fighting to protect two more women as the city of Portland shuts down in the face of a global pandemic, but it may be that his clients are more capable of taking care of themselves than anyone could have imagined . . . Two novels in one from the master of the modern supernatural thriller. Parker is hired by the woman, a nice lady with a sad history and an unfortunate tie to the New England mafia. He wants to do right by the lady by stopping these guys, but he may not have to, as the little girl’s ghost—pissed-off and protective of her mommy—-has her own otherworldly methods of bringing them to justice. Connolly does it again! While both of these stories are solid entries into the Parker mythos, I found The Sisters Strange to be the stronger of the two. Also, I feel slightly rewarded for holding out on reading the original publication as I knew it would eventually find its way into a future book or collection; I just didn’t expect it to be so soon and also to be expanded.

I read this book (or these two books, as they are 2 different, completely unrelated stories) in just under a day. It was that good. I literally could not put it down until I was finished. He: A Novel (2017) – An extraordinary reimagining of the life of one of the greatest screen comedians the world has ever known: a man who knew both adoration and humiliation; who loved, and was loved in turn; who betrayed, and was betrayed; who never sought to cause pain to others, yet left a trail of affairs and broken marriages in his wake . . . And whose life was ultimately defined by one relationship of such tenderness and devotion that only death could sever it: his partnership with the man he knew as Babe. he is Stan Laurel. But he did not really exist. Stan Laurel was a fiction. That’s the moment when the supernatural elements began to appear. I didn’t really know it wasn’t typical; for me it seemed a natural thing to do, take two genres that I loved and meld them together. And it’s been said to me that I damaged my career commercially by mixing genres like that, but I made decisions that were creative, not commercial, and I’m content with those decisions and with the level of readership I have. And I can do things like The Book of Lost Things, like He.”

Since 2009, he has also written books for younger readers with the Samuel Johnson Vs. The Darkness series and The Chronicles of the Invaders trilogy. The Furies, John Connolly’s latest novel, is actually two short novels: the titled novel and The Sisters Strange. Both demonstrate his strengths: Charlie Parker himself with his code of behavior; Charlie’s various, and quite varied associates who offer a wide assortment of aid in his work; a deep knowledge of the inner workings of New England and its criminal underworld; that ever present, but varyingly used, supernatural world; and of course his personal history which has colored his entire adult life. The Sisters Strange is the longer of the two, and begins with the seemingly simple murder of a coin collector. But this is John Connolly, and nothing stays simple for long – Charlie Parker is pulled into the increasingly twisty case by an outsider concerned for one of the two sisters the expanding mystery threatens to consume. This story is lighter on the supernatural elements that have come to be this author’s trademark, but not without them entirely. If you go seeking ways to bring down hurt upon yourself, life will oblige you, because it has hurt in store for you anyway, but will happily welcome any assistance you're in the mood to offer. Better, then, not to oblige it any more than necessary. I'd like to have said that this was a lesson hard-learned, but it would suggest my education was in the past, whereas it was still ongoing.Why he couldn’t just sit when he peed, like a sensible human being, she’d never been able to establish. Lord knows, he took every other opportunity to sit when it was offered, so there seemed to be no comprehensible reason why he couldn’t have extended that policy to peeing, too.” The Sisters Strange” introduces readers to two spinster sisters, Dolors and Ambar Strange. Each has been romantically linked to Raum Buker, who is newly released from prison. Parker is hired by Will Quinn, who is currently involved with Dolors and fears that Buker’s presence on the outside could cause her trouble and possible harm.

Shadow Voices (2021) – Non-fiction. The story of genre fiction – horror, romantic fiction, science fiction, crime writing, and more – is also the story of Irish fiction. Irish writers have given the world Lemuel Gulliver, Dracula, and the world of Narnia. They have produced pioneering tales of detection, terrifying ghost stories and ground-breaking women’s popular fiction.Quinn informs Parker about the occult connection to the investigation, which is evident when certain symbols are found not only at the murder scenes, but also in Buker’s room at a local flophouse along with a new tattoo on his forearm. The inevitable meeting between Buker and the Sisters Strange will occur. They know what he is about and are more than capable of handling themselves to overcome any threat he may pose. As skilled as Parker is at his job, he appears to be a mere bystander in this story. The tone is a little more chaotic, with more of Parker’s dark humor shining through. I enjoyed the way this story ended. MyHome.ie (Opens in new window) • Top 1000 • The Gloss (Opens in new window) • Recruit Ireland (Opens in new window) • Irish Times Training (Opens in new window)