Book #18: The Whisperers by John Connolly
The Whisperers by John Connolly
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The ninth book in the Charlie Parker series felt original in some ways compared to the previous novels. At the start, a war veteran, Damien Patchett, has committed suicide, but Parker is called in to investigate, but it seems that there have been several similar incidents.
As well as allowing the book to explore themes revolving mental health and PTSD (a character is shown to be apparently talking to imaginary figures), the book introduces a story involving smuggling, and something that the soldiers stole from the Middle East. It also introduces a new villain, Herod, a mysterious character whose body is riddled with tumours.
I thought the recurring character The Collector would have a larger role in the book, as the blurb stated that he and Parker would team up, but his involvement in the book ended up being quite small.
I thought this book was okay; it bought back some recurring themes, particularly those involving reflections, as introduced in the short story, "The Reflecting Eye", and bought in some new plot threads that I assume are addressed in later novels. I liked the fact that the novel tackled some issues that the previous books hadn't.
I also don't think there have been any books in the series quite as good as the first three ones, so I had mixed feelings about this one overall. The book's mcguffin is realed quite late on, and it felt like something lifted from an Indiana Jones film. There was also a lot of exposition, leading to several long backstories for the many new characters, and it felt like Parker's role in the novel seemed somewhat reduced compared to some of the previous titles. The pacing of this one felt particularly slow, although there was an impressively high body count in the later chapters.
I'm going to keep reading the series, hoping that some of the plot threads from previous books will be tied up; hopefully the next book will be easier to get into.
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