- Hardcover: 416 pages
- Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton; First Atria Books Hardcover Edition edition (13 May 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0340993502
- ISBN-13: 978-0340993507
- Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15.8 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 156,722 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Whisperers
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
When so many writers depressingly tread the same familiar territory, it's particularly invigorating when one comes across someone like John Connolly. To some degree, this immensely talented Irish writer (who, refreshingly free of parochialism, sets his books in the USA), utilises tropes and concepts that other crime/thriller novelists have used, but synthesises and transforms them in strange and quirky new ways, creating a rich panoply of literary effects that are very much his own territory.
His long-term protagonist, detective Charlie Parker, makes a welcome return in The Whisperers. The setting is the border between Canada and Maine, at which the concept of control is fairly nebulous. There is a regular traffic across the border of everything from drugs and armaments to people and money. One particular smuggling initiative is markedly different from the rest: a cadre of ex-soldiers are smuggling something very unusual indeed, and it is up to the battered but resilient private eye Charlie Parker to take on some dangerous opponents. But there is something else in the mix here: the mysterious individual known as Herod, and his equally enigmatic companion The Captain. Too much even for John Connolly's tough hero? Perhaps... and that is also why the terrifying murderer known as the Collector may be inveigled into a strange partnership with Parker.
The customary mix of Chandlerian crime-solving and minatory Gothic atmosphere is fully in evidence here, and John Connolly's instinct for this kind of material remains as unerring as ever. --Barry Forshaw
Review
'As ever with Connolly, the macabre narrative is couched in prose that is often allusive and poetic.' (Barry Forshaw, Independent )
'Visionary brand of neo-noir . . . terrifically exciting, tightly plotted . . . written in an uncommonly fine, supple, sensuous prose.' (Irish Times )
'Tremendous stuff, as Connolly's novels always are.' (Mark Timlin, Independent on Sunday )
'His latest plot is a clever mixture of quest and chase, written in prose that unfolds at warp speed, and rarely fails to sing.' (The Observer )
'Visionary brand of neo-noir . . . terrifically exciting, tightly plotted . . . written in an uncommonly fine, supple, sensuous prose.' (Irish Times )
'Tremendous stuff, as Connolly's novels always are.' (Mark Timlin, Independent on Sunday )
'His latest plot is a clever mixture of quest and chase, written in prose that unfolds at warp speed, and rarely fails to sing.' (The Observer )
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
With The Whisperers John Connolly continues the work he started 12 years earlier in Every Dead Thing to blur the boundaries between the crime novel and the horror novel. He has achieved that blend brilliantly in what may well be his most satisfying novel so far.
We start in the war-zone of Iraq and in particular, a museum vault, within which a treasure hoard is hidden, including one item more important but also potentially more dangerous than all the rest.
Charlie Parker, with his private investigators license recently reinstated after some "trouble" (see previous books in the series) is hired to investigate the death of a soldier. He soon finds out that this death is also linked with the deaths of several other recently returned Iraq veterans. Initially dismissed as a result of post traumatic stress, Parker begins to uncover a much deeper and darker mystery involving that mysterious box.
John Connolly's tales are always populated with some marvellous characters but here he excels himself with a huge range of interesting, diverse and downright nasty individuals. All are drawn in the same pen picture style that Stephen King uses so well are all are immediately brought to life through their actions and dialogue. So we meet Mexican drug lords, less than honest policeman, young bloods trying to make their mark and of course the soldiers and their families. Beyond these players, however, are a whole range of much darker characters. Herod, a deeply nasty individual tortured by illness and demons. The Collector, again a character from previous books, but this time given more life as he continues his mission to collect souls. And then there is The Captain, the thing behind the glass, everyone's nightmare realised.
These final characters and the underlying premise of the book inject a huge dose of supernatural adrenalin into the story which lifts it way beyond the norm. Those who have read Connolly's work in the past will already know that Parker is a tortured individual on a seemingly one way road to oblivion. His partners, the excellent Louis and Angel are always there to help with the physical side of things but it is in the deeper darker realm that Parker meets his greatest tests and there he is alone.
Of course, the book also carries a powerful message, not so much anti-war but very much pro-war veteran. Much of the detail in the book about the horrendous way that returning vets are treated is based on real life and is something we should all be ashamed of.
John Connolly continues to travel his fairly unique journey through the boundaries of genre fiction. Every Charlie Parker book builds on the previous to provide a genuinely unsettling mythos. Just real enough to be believable, just unreal enough to be terrifying, it's a journey which seems destined to end in tragedy for Parker but it's all the more compelling for it.
If you haven't read his previous Parker books then you may miss some of the subtle nuances on show here but for fans of the series this is fantastic, not merely recommended reading this should be compulsory.
We start in the war-zone of Iraq and in particular, a museum vault, within which a treasure hoard is hidden, including one item more important but also potentially more dangerous than all the rest.
Charlie Parker, with his private investigators license recently reinstated after some "trouble" (see previous books in the series) is hired to investigate the death of a soldier. He soon finds out that this death is also linked with the deaths of several other recently returned Iraq veterans. Initially dismissed as a result of post traumatic stress, Parker begins to uncover a much deeper and darker mystery involving that mysterious box.
John Connolly's tales are always populated with some marvellous characters but here he excels himself with a huge range of interesting, diverse and downright nasty individuals. All are drawn in the same pen picture style that Stephen King uses so well are all are immediately brought to life through their actions and dialogue. So we meet Mexican drug lords, less than honest policeman, young bloods trying to make their mark and of course the soldiers and their families. Beyond these players, however, are a whole range of much darker characters. Herod, a deeply nasty individual tortured by illness and demons. The Collector, again a character from previous books, but this time given more life as he continues his mission to collect souls. And then there is The Captain, the thing behind the glass, everyone's nightmare realised.
These final characters and the underlying premise of the book inject a huge dose of supernatural adrenalin into the story which lifts it way beyond the norm. Those who have read Connolly's work in the past will already know that Parker is a tortured individual on a seemingly one way road to oblivion. His partners, the excellent Louis and Angel are always there to help with the physical side of things but it is in the deeper darker realm that Parker meets his greatest tests and there he is alone.
Of course, the book also carries a powerful message, not so much anti-war but very much pro-war veteran. Much of the detail in the book about the horrendous way that returning vets are treated is based on real life and is something we should all be ashamed of.
John Connolly continues to travel his fairly unique journey through the boundaries of genre fiction. Every Charlie Parker book builds on the previous to provide a genuinely unsettling mythos. Just real enough to be believable, just unreal enough to be terrifying, it's a journey which seems destined to end in tragedy for Parker but it's all the more compelling for it.
If you haven't read his previous Parker books then you may miss some of the subtle nuances on show here but for fans of the series this is fantastic, not merely recommended reading this should be compulsory.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Don't get me wrong, I have all John Connolly's books, and have been to a couple of book signings. JC is by far my favourite author.
But I just couldn't get The Whisperers. I wonder whether the Parker-era has run its course. Anyone familiar with JC's earlier books will understand my sentiments when compared to Dark Hollow or the Killing Kind.
I thought the concept of the plot was good - demonic spirits inside a antique stolen from an Iraqi museum by US soldiers. I failed to connect to any of the characters this time - Parker seemed a bit on the edge of the story many times; Angel and Louis seemed to make up the numbers; and the darkness of previous stories wasn't there. The only 'flashback' was Jimmy Jewel - that showed promise until he met a untimely end.
John - if you read this, apologies for my review of your first book I didn't 'get'. Back to grass roots for the next please!!
3* if it was anyone else. 4* as JC is still my favourite author.
But I just couldn't get The Whisperers. I wonder whether the Parker-era has run its course. Anyone familiar with JC's earlier books will understand my sentiments when compared to Dark Hollow or the Killing Kind.
I thought the concept of the plot was good - demonic spirits inside a antique stolen from an Iraqi museum by US soldiers. I failed to connect to any of the characters this time - Parker seemed a bit on the edge of the story many times; Angel and Louis seemed to make up the numbers; and the darkness of previous stories wasn't there. The only 'flashback' was Jimmy Jewel - that showed promise until he met a untimely end.
John - if you read this, apologies for my review of your first book I didn't 'get'. Back to grass roots for the next please!!
3* if it was anyone else. 4* as JC is still my favourite author.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I've read all the Parker books and confess I found this one harder to get through than the rest. Alot of people seem to think this is the best yet. Afraid I found it a bit too fragmented and 'bitty' until maybe half way through and I did put it down a few times, although always intended to go back to it. Not until three quarters of the way through did I really find myself compelled to keep turning the pages. Don't get me wrong, its well worth a read, though it is pretty dark and could do with more humour in places to lighten it. It certainly takes Parker's story much further into some pretty dark realms than Connolly has taken him before and there's certainly continuity with the villainous characters. Connolly is expert at creating nasty characters. The ending is very well done, although goodness knows what kind of dark places Parker will have to go next, gonna need a very strong torch for that! I would add one note of caution though. From the advertising blurb from the book jacket, I was expecting interaction between Parker and the Collector alot earlier in the book. We meet them separately fairly early but not together. When they finally meet, it is well written but all I'll say is don't expect, as I did, early, or even 'mid-book' interaction. Their meeting does come but it takes its time. To sum up, I felt it a bit too fragmented and even a bit 'plodding' for a long time, but from about three quarters of the way through, it really picks up. I've given it four stars but to be honest if there was a three and a half option I'd have gone for that. It definitely leaves you wanting to next book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
READ the previous books first
A story about a group of mercenary ex-soldiers meeting mysterious deaths, set at the border between Canada and Maine. Read more
Published 3 days ago by velissaria
I hate to say this, but...
I was so disappointed with The Whisperers - I kept waiting for Charlie Parker's input and it didn't get any better as Angel & Louis were hardly mentioned until nearly towards the... Read more
Published 2 months ago by abs69
Very Enjojable; Deeply disturbing
I was given this book, the first I've read of Connolly's, by a friend. Now I am a confirmed fan of John Connolly and his tough-guy detective, Charlie Parker. Read more
Published 2 months ago by E. Craig McKay
My introduction to John Connolly
This was the first book of John Connolly's which I read and it caused me to go back to the beginning and read them in order. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Roxanne
Gripping crime with a dash of intelligent horror!
John Connolly's books fall between two genres horror and crime with a little bit of da vinci code thrown in. Read more
Published 7 months ago by RT Twinem
More research needed
Soldiers newly returned from Iraq are committing suicide. The father of Damien Patchett hires Charlie to find out the truth behind his son's "alleged" suicide. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Sandra D. Tooley
A Very interesting read
I haven't really read much of John Connolly's books, but this was quite an interesting read. He managed to blend in a bit of horror and thriller together. Read more
Published 12 months ago by lilly
Very poor...
I am presently searching for a new author (to me) to provide me with a whole new set of books to purchase and enjoy. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Mel Lacey
more of the usual
I have read all of his books and found them all enjoyable - yes even this one but not his most enthralling although better than the last few.
Always readable even to the end.
Always readable even to the end.
Published 13 months ago by Higgins
The Whisperers by John Connelly
Fast paced as ever but sadly lacking the depth and imagination of the earliest Charlie Parker novels with what I felt was a weak and unsatisfactory ending. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Gus
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