Without checking, I think I can safely say that John Connolly is the most-mentioned author on this blog. But that’s for a very good reason – he’s one of my all-time favorite authors and people. Plus he’s been kind enough to publish two books per year recently and still finds the time to tour and do interviews to talk about them. So we, in turn, keep reviewing his books and posting his interviews.
Normally I don’t like to review books in a series, unless it’s the first title. I’m the kind of person who has to start a series from the beginning, and unfortunately I often abandon some series because they have too many books and I too little time. This being the 10th Charlie Parker PI novel that Connolly has put out, I can understand that it’s easy for people to feel overwhelmed if they haven’t read any of his previous mystery novels.
Have no fear. You can start the series at the beginning, with Every Dead Thing, and enjoy your way up to the newest installment. But The Burning Soul, more than any of the others in the series, I believe, can be read on its own without the preceding books. Of course, once you’re done, I still recommend spending the next year reading the series from the beginning in anticipation of his next release, but hey – I’m biased.
The Riley Spartz books are exactly the kind of wonderful mid-list offering that I never would have stumbled across anywhere other than a bricks and mortar bookstore. The bright covers drew my attention when shelving and lent themselves to being a centerpiece of any display. And, invariably, I read the cover blurb, flipped open to the first page, and found myself hooked. I took Riley Spartz home with me, spent a few tense hours with her, and have never failed to pick up each new title on publication day since.
In an interview last week, Chicago novelist Marcus Sakey said ideas for his books emerge from “sheer panic” and called the challenge of finding an idea to write about every day for a year “daunting.” When he does choose an idea to work with, however, you can be sure it’s a good one, and that his execution will do it justice.
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