In this 17th book in the 'Charlie Parker' series, the intrepid private investigator is chasing a long-time enemy, and trying to prevent Armageddon. The book can be read as a standalone but does refer back to earlier books in the series.
*****
Private investigator Charlie Parker suffered an almost insurmountable blow when his wife and young daughter were murdered years ago. Since then Parker has dealt with the perpetrator and gone on to fight evil in many forms, using his own supernatural abilities to good advantage.
Parker's most recent, and perhaps most dangerous, nemesis is a man who calls himself Quayle. Quayle, who's seemingly immortal, has a sinister cohort called Pallida Mors - an albino woman who stinks of decay. Together, Quayle and Mors are trying to reassemble an occult book called 'The Fractured Atlas', a magical tome that will bring on the apocalypse. Quayle and Mors have been torturing and killing people to locate the Atlas's missing pages, and have even arranged for unrelated murders to throw the police off their trail.
Parker, who's a consultant for the FBI, is on the trail of the evil duo with his colleagues Louis and Angel.
The hunt takes Parker from his home in Portland, Maine to Arizona, then on to Amsterdam and London - where Quayle is holed up in a secret enclave.
The story is very complicated. It's a police procedural combined with scenes of a bizarre religious sect called the Congregation of Adam Before Eve & Eve Before Adam; incitation of conflict between Muslims and right wingers; an occult church whose stained glass windows come to life; a questionable student-teacher relationship; captives imprisoned forever, with their eyes and lips sewn shut; an archaeological site in Hexhamshire, England that harbors demonic murderous plant roots; and more.
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There's also a large cast of characters, including FBI agents; police detectives in Amsterdam and London; archaeologists; book collectors and sellers; murderers drawn into Quayle and Mors' schemes; female victims and their families; fictional historic figures; a farmer and his loyal dog; and so on.
The book has many vignettes of torture and violence, so consider yourself warned.
The story also has some light moments, like when Parker shows up in Arizona and his novice FBI handlers tell him their instructions are 'not to let him shoot anybody.' Parker's guides in Europe have the same instructions, enhanced by regulations that forbid foreigners to carry weapons. So it's pretty clear that Parker's reputation precedes him. 🙂
I thought this 720 page book was overly complex, with too many characters and too many tangential scenes only vaguely related to the main narrative. Still the central story line is compelling, and readers who like supernatural mysteries - and John Connolly fans - would probably like the book.
Rating: 3 stars
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