Every Dead Thing

In this thriller by New York Times bestselling author John Connolly, Charlie Parker, a clever and tortured private investigator, is the main character.

Charlie "Bird" Parker, a former NYPD detective, is on the edge of losing his mind. He is tormented by the unresolved murders of his wife and little daughter and is driven by remorse, sorrow, and a desire for vengeance. Parker is drawn into a world beyond his own when his former partner asks him to locate a missing girl. This is a world where murders that occurred thirty years ago are still shrouded in fear and lies, where the living are tormented by ghosts of the dead, and where the murderer who killed his family—a serial killer who uses the human body to create works of art and takes faces as his prize—has haunted the living. However, the hunt brings to the surface latent impulses related to survival, compassion, love, and, eventually, killing.

Parker is helped by a stunning young psychologist and two squabbling career criminals. The trap is built in Louisiana's swampy bayous and uses Parker as bait, endangering the lives of everyone inside its path. Driven by ghostly visions and the voice of an elderly black psychic who met a dreadful end, Parker is forced to search for a last, horrific encounter with a killer who has transcended all ideas of humanity and is intent on unleashing hell on the serial killer known only as the Traveling Man.

Every Dead Thing is a suspenseful thriller with a complex narrative, endearing characters, and exciting action that follows in the tradition of classic American detective fiction. A very poignant book, it explores the nature of forgiveness, love, and commitment. It is a bold debut that is well executed, both lyrical and scary.