The Reapers - John Connolly

It can get a little confusing having novelists with similar names, especially when they're writing in the same genre. Having been a fan of Michael Connelly and his Harry Bosch character for some time, the chance to try John Connolly was one worth taking, especially as I'd heard good things about him. Louis and Angel are killers for hire, two of a group known as "The Reapers". Circumstance once forced them to kill to survive and so they came to the attention of a man called Gabriel who nurtured their talents and gave them work. After years of this, Louis couldn't continue and has become more of a businessman and property owner, although fear of his ...  Read the complete review

John Connolly has to be one of the best authors around at the moment. From the first page of Every Death Thing, the Charlie Parker series has been superb reading. The Reapers comes from a slightly different angle to the rest of the series, the emphasis isn't on Charlie, but on Louis and Angel. The basic outline of the story is that years before Louis took a contract to kill a young man, which of course he managed with no problems. However, the man wasn't who he thought he was, and his father has spent years tracking down the man who arranged the hit, the killer and his driver. The driver was taken out in the bathroom of a bar, and now Louis is in ...  Read the complete review

Unlike the other reviews I've read about this book I didn't buy it because I thought it was a Michael Connelly book, I actively search for John Connolly's work because I love his style of writing and the characters in most of his books. This is the latest book in the Charlie Parker series until later this year when The Lovers is released. Charlie Parker is a troubled Private Investigator. Not troubled in the usual "my wife left me so I hit the bottle" or "unlucky in love and alone" kind of way, Charlie's wife and daughter were brutally murdered by a serial killer and he can't forget it. He isn't your usual P.I either and trouble seems to ...  Read the complete review

I'll be honest. I bought this book because it was £2.99 when you buy The Times. Also, I thought I was buying a Michael Connolly (who writes similar, but more crime-oriented thrillers). I didn't mean to buy it as a hardened, dedicated fan. I'm not reviewing it as one either. But I may become one. The Reapers, is, according to Connolly's website, his seventh novel in a series, which features a man named Charlie Parker, The Detective, as its main protagonist. Usually, being a methodical person, I like to start at the beginning and work forwards, but in this case, The Reapers wasn't a bad place to start, as it whetted my appetite, without answering all my ...  Read the complete review

John Connolly was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1968 and has, at various points in his life, worked as a journalist, a barman, a local government official, a waiter and a dogsbody at Harrods department store in London. He studied English in Trinity College, Dublin and journalism at Dublin City University, subsequently spending five years working as a freelance journalist for The Irish Times newspaper, to which he continues to contribute. He was the first non-american to win the U.S SHAMUS award and he has recieved nothing but critical acclaim for all of his novels starting with his brilliant debut, EVERY DEAD THING featuring ex-cop, CHARLIE PARKER. THE REAPERS is ...  Read the complete review