Books

The Reapers
By John Connolly, Simon & Schuster, 2008, 368 pp.

His name isn't among the elite authors of the crime/thriller genre. The likes of James Patterson, Harlen Coben, Patricia Cornwell, Karin Slaughter, Jeffrey Deaver, Jonathan Kellerman, Sandra Brown and Stuart Woods have seemingly cornered the market in terms of attention in the minds of readers.

But John Connolly is every bit as talented, engrossing and prolific as any of these bestselling authors (save perhaps for Patterson in terms of being prolific … for there's no formula, nor any cliché, in which he hasn't indulged in order to stuff more books on the shelf). And yet he's vastly overlooked and under-read.

Connolly's latest, The Reapers, has a measly sales rank of 2,121 on Amazon.com.

That's almost as criminal as the evil men and deeds that Connolly so deftly chronicles in his series of books that follow the exploits of haunted private detective Charlie "Bird" Parker. Of course, it doesn't help that Connolly's so easily confused with Michael Connelly — he of the bestselling Harry Bosch novels.

Perhaps The Reapers will be Connolly's chance to finally stand alone.
Though every bit as darkly entertaining as his previous work, The Reapers is somewhat of a departure for Connolly.

Rather than the emotionally scarred Parker, the story is told from the perspective of his shadowy confidants, Louis and Angel, a semi-reformed assassin and his lover, who also happens to be an expert thief. The detective himself is but a side character.

In The Reapers, Louis' past sins have come back with a vengeance as fellow assassin Bliss, who was long believed dead, returns to exact revenge on those he holds responsible. It's a fast-paced chess match that pits killer against killer in a twisted tale of murder-for-hire and secret allegiances.

No one is to be trusted and no mercy will be given.

Sounds almost clichéd … but despite the cold, calculating violence perpetuated by these men, Louis in particular, each is portrayed with a sense of humanity. Connolly has a gift for making even killers likable.

The Reapers also gives a bit of insight into the making of a sociopath. Louis feels no remorse for the hurt and horror he's caused, and that's his gift. Recruited at a young age, his "gifts" were exploited as Gabriel, his mentor and father figure, trained him to be his greatest weapon.

In this latest novel, Connolly introduces not only a back story for one of his longstanding characters but also introduces readers to a whole new cadre of brutal thugs and murderers — all of whom are just as strangely likable as those already familiar to fans.

For those new to Connolly, The Reapers isn't necessarily the best place to start, but it's still better than just about anything else out there. His is a name to remember.