The Lovers (Charlie Parker #8)

Title: The Lovers (Charlie Parker #8)

Author: John Connolly

Date Published: 2009

Publisher: Atria

 ★★★★✰

Stripped of his license, Charlie Parker takes a job in a Portland bar. Alone and directionless, he faces at last a shadow he has lived with since his childhood: what made his father, a respected police officer, apparently shoot dead two unarmed teens and then commit suicide. His quest leads him back to the little New York town where he grew up, to the secret history of the NYPD, and to the existence of mysterious friends and hidden enemies.

For waiting in the shadows, as they have been throughout Charlie’s life, are a man and a woman with only one purpose: to bring an end to his very existence . . .

John Connolly is a painter - he just uses words instead of watercolors. The way that he writes makes you picture everything as it happens! I think that a lot of authors miss that mark but John Connolly has it down pat!

John Connolly jumps right into the story and you feel like you're there with Charlie Parker as he deals with the police, his lawyer, old friends and memories from long ago. Charlie is delving into his past to find out more about the killings his dad was involved in before his suicide. As this is happening, two people are trying to keep him from finding out any information and they are killing people as they get closer and closer to Charlie.

True to John Connolly style, this book is full of twists and turns that are completely unexpected and they all throw you for a loop. The Lovers is part of the Charlie Parker series, but don't disregard it if you haven't read any of the other books in the series. It is so well written that you don't HAVE to know everything in the past (although it does help a little). Such a great read all around, definitely something I will read over and over.