Tuesday, August 26, 2008

John Connolly's The Unquiet


The Unquiet

Charlie Parker a former police detective, now private investigator is hired by Rebecca Clay to make sure a recently freed convict named, Merrick, stops harassing her. Merrick’s daughter (the only person in the world he ever truly loved) disappeared as he served time in prison. Before Merrick’s release, Rebecca had declared her missing father, a disgraced child psychiatrist, Dr. Daniel Clay, dead. Merrick is convinced Dr. Clay knows something about his daughter whereabouts and that Parker’s client is lying about her father’s demise. He believes Rebecca knows where Dr. Clay is hiding.

After meeting Merrick face-to-face, Parker is reminded of his own past and empathizes with the man. Parker’s engrosses himself in the case believing if he can find information that can assist Merrick find his daughter; he would stop terrorizing his client. Parker soon uncovers a history of sexual violence and maltreatment to children. The thin line between normalcy and the paranormal merges as Parker crosses paths with an old adversary he had hoped never to meet again.

John Connolly takes readers on a psychological thrill ride that blends a perfect mix of mystery and the bizarre. I highly recommend The Unquiet to anyone who enjoys a good hard-boiled detective novels and the supernatural.


Friday, August 1, 2008

New England White by Stephen L. Carter


The story begins with a African-American couple (Julia and Lemaster Carlyle) having a car accident, then discovering the body of a man (Kellen Zant) who was left off the side of the road. The couple know the man. Julia once had a relationship with Zant. As the story progresses Julia becomes involved in solving the mystery of Zant's death. Before his death, Zant provided clues for Julia to solve a conspiracy lasting more than 30 years.

I enjoyed the book though not as much as I had The Emperor of Ocean Park. This was not a direct sequel to Emperor but does have a familiar name or two within its pages. One of the problems with the story in my opinion is that the author included characters and settings that really weren't relevent to the overall mystery and did not move the plot forward. It slowed the pacing of the story and at times became a distraction. Dispite the distractions, Stephen L. Carter put together an excellent mystery, gave rich descriptions and strong characters.