The Burning Soul: Private Investigator Charlie Parker hunts evil in the tenth book in the globally bestselling series (Charlie Parker Thriller 10)

I have read and enjoyed all the Charlie Parker books but I think you have to goback to "The Killing Kind" and "The White Road" to find one as good as this. I ama bit surprised at some of the lukewarm reviews the novel has received, moaningabout Connolly just turning out books to keep to a publishing schedule. If this wasever the case I really do not think it can be said of this novel, possibly the bestbook in the series to date. I say this because it has the qualities I most look for(but rarely find) in a crime novel, namely the element of surprise in unexpectedtwists and turns to the story but not just thrown in for the sake of it (as you sometimesget with Jeffery Deaver) and a completely unguessable outcome (as Harlan Cobenused to provide in novels like "Gone for Good"). Also, Connolly is not just a goodcrime writer, he is also a very good writer period. Just read the opening chapteras evidence of this, with it's imagery of ravens representing the evil about toovertake a small New England town. The story concerns the abduction of a teenagegirl but that is really only the tip of a complex iceberg involving a child killer tryingto escape his past, FBI Agents with hidden agendas, doomed mobsters from Bostonand a local Police Chief with his own secrets. The supernatural element from theprevious books is still in evidence but there is now a gritty realism grounded in thereal life gangland history of Boston. Anyone with an interest in true crime will recognisesome of the name dropping (if you have seen the movie "The Departed", you will knowwhat I am referring to). Angel and Louis make a welcome reappearance in a supportingrole. Some have complained that Connolly throws in these characters just as a matterof routine without their contributing much to the story. However, here any sense of routineis banished by the hilarious banter between them when Louis subjects Angel to the musicof a well known Estonian "minimalist" composer. Angel prefers Elvis, I think.

Harrowing hopeful twistyRiveting challenging meticulous plotRead thru the night page turnerGreat read for Charlie Parker fans as usual

Charlie Parker returns and, almost as expected, he's proving more than a match for those he meets during his investigation into the abduction of a teenage girl. Furthermore, the author has not lost his ability to keep the reader more than involved; Parker as a protagonist is as lively today as he was when we first met him many years ago. He's pushing fifty so he's been around awhile and it all works very well.I like these books. They take you away from the almost ritual hero/anti-hero format and provide a storyline which is both compelling and troubled. Troubled because Parker is a troubled man. New readers will pick up on why this is so, regular readers will know only too well how he became this tormented PI and how it affects his way of life. Underneath it all, he has a good side but either the author prefers to keep it under wraps most of the time or else it doesn't quite fit into the way the story unfolds.Not for the first time, Parker has to deal with a small town Police Force, the FBI brought into the case because major criminals are involved at the periphery of the kidnapping and a client, a child-killer no less, who is not quite what it appears.Connolly's books are always hard to put down. The tempo rarely lets up and, of course, once Angel and Louis take the scene, there's more action to keep you turning the page. Even so, it's Parker we follow, as he tries, yet again, to bring himself under control and to follow the case through to the end.Now we have to wait too long for the next chapter.

More of a 'straight' thriller than usual from Connolly (though still seasoned with a touch of the supernatural), but nicely structured and with some good dialogue. Don't really understand the 1 and 2 star reviews, but they basically seem to object that there's not enough of Angel, Louis and the Fulci brothers. I like these characters too, but I don't feel that this novel suffers from their lack. To be honest, I think Connolly is right to have a light touch with them sometimes, and they didn't need to be centre stage in this one.There were some formatting issues, nothing major (slightly odd offsetting of the first character in each chapter) and one occasion where an entire paragraph was repeated, and I suspect actually replaced the one that was supposed to be there as the following piece of dialogue seemed out of context.Nonetheless, good, solid writing, and I shall continue to look forward to Connolly's books - he hasn't started to 'phone it in yet.

This is not a negative review at all but along with The Reapers this book is probably the least strong of the series. I guess it will come down to what you like this is one of the more conventional Parker thriller's. Although the elements of the supernatural when they occur are extremely chilling.As a book it does not add to the "mythology" of Parker in the same way a book like Black Angel or The Lovers does.Some of the twists and plotting are a little forced, the ending seems to come out of no where and some of the clues rely on the age old trick in detective novels of an anonymous tip. These are minor gripes and it is a good read.I have read 10 John Connolly novels in a row, they are all great, this one was just a little bit of a filler, but an entertaining, well written and enjoyable filler.

But John Connolly slightly off form is still ahead of many other authors. Charlie Parker Is looking somewhat reluctantly into the disappearance of a young girl in a small town in Maine. There is a man living in the same town who, as a child, was involved in the murder of a young girl. There is a chief of police who may, or may not, be a paedophile, the girls uncle a failing mobster is also looking into her disappearance. Perhaps the back story on the mobsters is to blame for my feeling that it was not his best as it seemed, to my mind, that it was given too much weight. However all that said I would still recommend it.