Product Description

They are the Reapers, the elite among killers. Men so terrifying that their names are mentioned only in whispers. The assassin Louis is one of them. But now Louis, and his partner, Angel, are themselves targets. And there is no shortage of suspects. A wealthy recluse sends them north to a town that no longer exists on a map. A town ruled by a man with very personal reasons for wanting Louis’s blood spilt. There they find themselves trapped, isolated, and at the mercy of a killer feared above all others: the assassin of assassins, Bliss. Thanks to former detective Charlie Parker, help is on its way. But can Angel and Louis stay alive long enough for it to reach them?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #724 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-15
• Binding: Hardcover
• 400 pages

Review
'As ever with Connolly, the macabre narrative is couched in prose that is often allusive and poetic . . . Refreshingly, Connolly has always resisted repeating himself, and the plot trajectory is strikingly innovative. The Reapers affords unusually bracing doses of Stygian delights.' (Barry Forshaw, Independent )

'The Reapers is an excellent addition to Connolly's already high calibre collection of work to feature this team who seem, on the surface at least, so different from one another and yet manage to gel so well. I challenge anyone to be able to put this book down. I am sure you will be as gripped as the fast moving story as I was, and I have no doubt this is one of the best crime novels you are likely to read this year!' (Chris Simmons, Crimesquad.com )

'It’s a must-read for fans of Connolly, offering a rare insight into the background of the slightly dark and dangerous duo who have featured in this series, where death and demons go hand-in-hand.' (Evening Telegraph )

'This painstaking recreation of realistic settings sets the former journalist’s works of fiction apart from many of his contemporaries.' (Evening Herald )

'Readers will be delighted with the return of Connolly's greatest creation, Charlie Parker.’ (Cork Evening Echo )

'he’s refining his art to such an extent that each new outing pushes even further at the boundaries of genre writing. ‘a rich, dark Gothic writing style that exudes menace on almost every page. ‘This is a book to immerse yourself in for the pure enjoyment of appreciating a writer as artist. ‘THE REAPERS is a rich, complex and demanding read, interspersed with unexpected moments of bone-dry humour. It is easily Connolly’s best yet – and the moment I’d finished it, I wanted to go back and start it all over again.’ (wwww.Revewingtheevidence.com )

'John Connolly remains one of the most distinctive writers of the day, ploughing a furrow quite unlike that of any of his contemporaries. THE REAPERS is a prime example of how Connolly refuses to repeat himself, always adding new wrinkles and innovations. As ever with Connolly, there are dual pleasures at work for the reader here: the powerful and pungent atmosphere against which the macabre narrative is played out, and the machine-tooled plotting which has long been Connolly’s stock in trade. So far, there are no signs that John Connolly is becoming bored with his protagonist Charlie Parker, and on the strength of THE REAPERS, that’s very good news indeed for readers.’ (Barry Forshaw for AMAZON )

Synopsis
They are the Reapers, the elite among killers. Men so terrifying that their names are mentioned only in whispers. The assassin Louis is one of them. But now Louis, and his partner, Angel, are themselves targets. And there is no shortage of suspects. A wealthy recluse sends them north to a town that no longer exists on a map. A town ruled by a man with very personal reasons for wanting Louis's blood spilt. There they find themselves trapped, isolated, and at the mercy of a killer feared above all others: the assassin of assassins, Bliss. Thanks to former detective Charlie Parker, help is on its way. But can Angel and Louis stay alive long enough for it to reach them?

About the Author
John Connolly was born in Dublin in 1968. His debut - EVERY DEAD THING - swiftly launched him right into the front rank of thriller writers, and all his subsequent novels have been Sunday Times bestsellers. He is the first non-American writer to win the US Shamus award.

Customer Reviews

Enjoyable Holding Exercise
An interesting addition to the Connolly canon and a gentle nudge forward for the overall story arc.

Parker is missed, but the strength of Connolly is that he can breathe life into the supporting cast and make the Arno and Willie characters (for example) every bit as vivid as his previous creations. He has a similar knack to Stephen King in that he can add colour and depth to his characters with the briefest and lightest of touches.

There is less of the overtly supernatural in this book than in previous efforts and it is more of a straightahead action thriller. I found the pacing better than in "The Black Angel", and was quietly relieved that what at times has bordered on product placement has been toned down.

Connolly's skill at integrating his detailed research of place and context has been evident since "Every Dead Thing" and is one of his defining traits; this time, it doesn't impact on the action in the closing sequence as it occasionally has done in the past.

Moving the Parker story forward will be a challenge for Connolly but one which will be eagerly anticipated by his readers.

Parker is missed
This is not a Charlie Parker novel (although he belatedly appears as a supporting character), but instead focuses on the Parker series support players, Louis and Angel. I have never really bought the two assassins, and they are no more persuasive here. They remain uninvolving and affected and lack the depth of Parker. Even more fatally for this novel, large slices early on are given over to two straight-as-a-die New York car mechanics. Connolly's strong point is his depraved villains and his morally conflicted heroes, but here these two goody-good guys are bland and forgettable. This isn't to say this is a bad novel, Connolly is incapable of writing one, but the first hundred pages drag, and the tale only really comes alive when Parker and the hilariously sociopathic Fulci brothers appear, and here we see glimmers of the author's greatness.

Worth sticking with, but hopefully Charlie Parker will be back where he belongs, centre-stage, when Connolly returns.

Different from past books
I won't waste time rehashing the plot of 'The reapers' as the other reviewers have done such a great job. What I will say is that the plot summary on the jacket cover does such a thorough job summarising the book that there isn't a great deal of suprise left.

What IS good is that John Connolly writes the novel a little like 'Godfather II' with long 'flashbacks' to Louis's early teenage years and covers his rise from poor black kid in the Bayous to one of the worlds most feared killers. It adds a lot to the character and really fleshes out what would otherwise be an oversized short story.

Sadly Connolly's other main character fey private detective Charlie Parker is barely in the book at all, stepping back to give Louis and Angel centre stage. With Parker in the background the usual supernatural elements in these novels also take a back seat. The usually hilarious banter and personal abuse between Angel and Louis was rather lacking too.

I'll certainly buy the next John Connolly and I'll buy in hardback, but I did feel ever so slightly cheated when I finished the reapers. I expected another Charlie Parker and got something slightly different. No real complaints but its probably best judging this book on its own merits rather than compare it to some of the previous novels in the series.