Charlie Parker series by John Connolly

[larney41]

I am a bit surprised there hasn't been a thread about these books yet. What starts of as a very well written, but pretty formulaic detective series quickly becomes something entirely new. So far 12 books and a novella long, this is the story of a former NYPD officer as he attracts cases that involve some of the most creative and creepy serial killers, assassins and child killers. Only alluded to in the first 4 books and then openly discussed in the 5th book, The Black Angel is the supernatural element to the over arching narrative, involving a loosely connected group of people who believe themselves to be reincarnations of fallen angels. It is beautifully handled by someone quite familiar with angelic lore, it is never really outright stated if it is something really happening or if the people involved are just part of a mass delusion. Either way the series completely changes gears after Black Angel, and then again after the 8th book The Lovers, which deals with the circumstances of his father's death, who was also a NYPD officer, and who had shot two unarmed teens then killed himself the following day. I heartily recommend this series to any and everyone. Having also had the opportunity to meet the author, I found him to be a warm and engaging person, and very down to earth. You will probably never meet a genuinely nicer author in your life.

[DanaTx40]

I would love to see a thread on the Charlie Parker books. This is my absolute favorite series of books, and each time a new one comes out I have to go back and read through the others to see what I missed given the new information from the most recent book. Connolly's assistant told me that he never intended the first book to become a series, but then liked the characters and went from there. I had asked if he had known from the beginning (or had an idea) of where he was going with the series, and it makes sense, because the first book reads like a single novel, while the rest you can tell have endings that ask more questions than they answer. I have so many questions that I would like to ask other people -
1. For those of you who have read the most recent book (2015) -Parker technically died while being operated on. Does that mean he CAN die?
2. In the book with the airplane, it is revealed that only an Angel can kill another Angel. But Parker killed Brightwell and he came back damaged. So what is the nature of Charlie Parker?
3. WHAT IS SAM?????
4. If this book were made into a movie, who would you have playing Angel, Louis, and Parker? I can only think of Samuel L Jackson for Louis, but my sister told me she thinks of Joe Pesci every time she thinks about Angel, which is really strange to me.

[Taylor Razzani]

I love the Charlie Parker series. I actually read The Reapers first by accident, but luckily that one was probably most out of sync with the series, so nothing was ruined. I immediately got Every Dead Thing after and started devouring the rest of the series. Can't wait for the next one!

It's hard to pick who would be perfect to play the parts. For some reason I've always pictures Charlie Parker as a Liam Neeson type character. For Louis I've always thought Michael Clarke Duncan, which unfortunately can't happen And since book one I've always thought of the actor who played Angel in Rent, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, for our Angel. I guess he fits the name and personality