The latest Charlie Parker mystery, from the pen of Dublin-born author, John Connolly, sees another depature from the more supernatural elements of this series and a return to a slightly more conventional thriller format, with only a few aspects of the unknown thrown into the mix to keep things interesting.

Parker is called in by his lawyer, Aimee Price, to consult with a client who has an unsettling problem. Years ago, when he was still a child himself, Haight and his best friend killed a fellow child. They were proscecuted, tried as adults but given new identities and released back into society once it was thought that they had served their sentence. Now someone is sending Haight reminders of his former existance, photos that represent evidence of his crime, and Haight is worried that his new identity has been compromised....

But worse than that, a young girl locally has been abducted making it an even worse time for his true identity to be revealed!

Parker is torn, his own wife and daughter were brutally murdered you might remember, but agrees to take the case when aspects of it intrigue him. Still, he has his reservations and these are only increased when he is brought into conflict with the local Police Department who have brought in outside help of their own that seemingly is at odds with the case of a missing girl. As Parker delves deeper, it soon becomes clear that Haight is telling lies....and that he is not theonly one doing so!!!

This is another cracking mystery with some really great and classic Parker moments! Angel and Loius cameo again but here feel very under-used! And the Supernatural elements are still here for die-hard fans; it is just that they have been buried slightly and are more subtle and less obvious to begin with.

It is not Connolly's best work but it is still a very healthy new installment in the life of complicated Private Eye, Parker. There is much here to enjoy and big hints that something dark and frightening still lingers just around the corner for Parker, just waiting for him to slip up so it can strike!

Almost a back-to-basics novel for Parker, The Burning Soul is a must-read for fans and a great opportunity to jump onboard if you are not! Certainly I am already looking forward to the next one!