Book #28 for 2023: The Reapers by John Connolly
The Reapers by John Connolly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A sort of spinoff novel from John Connolly's Charlie Parker novels, and it centres around the two characters who deserve to take centre stage: Louis and Angel.
Both have appeared since the start of the series, as assassins who do jobs for Parker; they are also (although I missed it for the first few books) a gay couple.
So, in this book, Louis and Angel get approached by a man who wants them to assassinate the patriarch of a family who has apparently been involved in his daughter's death. To complicate things, they are themselves the targets of an assassin called Bliss (who I think may have been in one of the previous titles, but I wasn't certain).
John Connolly has previously done a decent job of expanding on the histories of both Louis and Angel, and this book explains how Louis became the assassin he is, with a series of flashbacks that introduce his mentor, Gabriel. I'm not always fond of flashbacks, but the ones in this book became enjoyable to read, and explained some of the characters' background involving bliss.
Charlie Parker himself appears, but feels like a side character, referred to simply as "The Detective" for most of the novel.
Overall, I enjoyed this; it felt shorter than many of the other books in this series, and it was different in that it wasn't a straight-up mystery thriller. I would love to see if John Connolly had set another book around Louis and Angel, or would even consider making them the subjects of a whole series of books.
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Another book for the May Calendar of Crime; it was originally published in May 2008.
January: 3/10
February: 4/10
March: 2/10
April: 3/10
1. May in the title
2. Author's birth month
3. Primary action takes place in this month
4. Memorial Day
5. Other May holiday (May day in the UK, plus this year we had the Coronation)
6. Original publication month
7. Book title has word starting with M
8. Graves, flag, a mother or flowers on the cover - all related to US holidays: Memorial Day and US Mother's Day - I expect a maypole on the cover would suffice
9. Year of the Dragon
10. Military figure or mother has major role