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Reader Reviews | |
Review by Ben Scott (310311) Rating (4/10) Review
by Ben Scott Anyway I expected a normal detective thriller. And I got that to a certain extent. Detective Charlie Parker, who unsurprisingly has a dark past which he wrestles with, is hired to investigate an apparent suicide of a soldier who had returned from Iraq. Naturally things begin to spiral and he uncovers a smuggling racquet involving other ex-soldiers. However, the mystery surrounds just what the objects are and from where the Whispering comes that drives men to take their own lives... The main draw I found with this book was its use of elements of psychological Gothicism, something I had not come across before in this modern form. Unfortunately for the book I found it only to be sporadically effective, an issue when it underpins the main action. The psychological aspects to it are intriguing and the characters created (The Collector and The Captain predominantly) gave a certain sense of framework to a very real, yet abstract, issue; that of Post Traumatic Stress in returning troops which forms the central idea that the story explores. But this creation of characters outside of reality made me question how much of the lyrical world Connolly creates can be taken at face value. Are we to believe that Parker is truly connected to another world by supernatural beings? Or that he is being worn down by psychological trauma? If we are to believe in the former, and the consequent validity of the Collector, then are we also to accept that his ilk exist outside of this story in the world of Parker et al. I would side with the latter and to be honest, for me it did not work. Adding attire to the voices in your head and projecting them into reality is an interesting experiment; however, they were given too much prominence, a heightened sense of importance and realism. Put quite simply this blending of genres, fantasy and detective thriller, did not work, it was like eating jelly and gravy, fine by themselves but not together.
What this book mainly lacked though was character development.
I will be honest I did not really care about any of them within
the book, Parker was acceptable, Angel and Louis mildly amusing
and that is about it. The character of Herod, a horrendous creation
whose inner corruption manifests itself in physical decay, was
under-developed and deserved more from his creator. And herein
my problem with the book lies; I have not read the earlier books
in the series. I do not know, and therefore do not care about,
Parkers past. If I had read the previous books then perhaps the
climax of this novel, and I use the term ‘climax’ very loosely,
would have not left me with a confused look on my face and the
feeling that I had wasted my time. Therefore the book gets a low
rating. If you are a fan of the Parker series then do not deride
me, simply have the good grace to send me the rest of the series
so I can catch up! |
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