Book Review: Dark Hollow

Reviewed By: Woodstock - RAM

Dark Hollow     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon UK PB Amazon UK HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
John Connolly
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Thriller   Private Investigator
Series: Charlie Parker # 2
...

Connolly's second novel continues to follow Charlie "Bird" Parker - a former New York City cop now working as a private investigator in a small town in Maine.

Parker has retreated to Maine following the murder of his wife and daughter and his resulting successful search for their killer. Having spent part of his childhood there, and inherited his grandfather's property, he hopes that living there will begin to ease his torment following the tragedies.

As the frigid Maine winter begins, a local single mother appeals to Parker for help in collecting some child support, and his efforts, while successful, touch off a series of events which lead Parker to investigate several long ago murders of young women, a mysterious death of a logging inspector, the suicide of an elderly nursing home resident, and the armed robbery of a stash of drug money.

Connolly has created two of the most delightful sidekicks I have ever encountered in mystery fiction - Angel & Louis. Parker met Angel when the latter was imprisoned on Rikers Island, and helped him thwart a murder threat by a fellow prisoner. Louis has been cast from the same mold as Joe Pike, a character in Robert Crais' Elvis Cole books - and also bears a strong resemblance to Win - brought to the page in Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar series. These two men are now life companions, and they turn up unexpectedly whenever Parker needs them, and provide occasional slight comic relief as well as unswerving support and friendship, which Parker most definitely needs.

The weather gets colder, and events darker and more frightening. A worthy follow up to Connolly's "Every Dead Thing,"

Woodstock - RAM

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