By Reed Andrews
I have grown old with John Connolly and his Charlie Parker. We met in 1999 when his Parker series, Every Dead Thing, was published and subsequently won the Shamus Award for Best Debut Novel in 2000. I have followed the series religiously ever since, reviewing the first seven books for Mystery News and interviewing the author for the same publication. At the time, there was a minor debate going on among readers of suspense and thriller novels regarding the use of supernatural elements in crime stories. Connolly’s Parker series was used as evidence on both sides of the argument, with one side appreciating the horror elements and the other side believing that the genre was subverted. Personally, I have never been against the mixing of sub-genres, especially as Connolly does. But I have always been adamant against the use of the term “woo-woo” to describe the addition of supernatural/paranormal elements to a suspense or thriller novel. Daffy Duck coined and used the term long before (most) readers of cozy mystery novels abused it.
Song of Shadows is the 13th in the Parker series, with last year’s Winter Wolves being one of the most powerful books in the series, complete with a frustrating cliffhanger. In Song of Shadows, Parker is more or less in hiding in the economically backward seaside town of Boreas, Maine. His whereabouts are monitored by acquaintances in the Maine State Police and the FBI, as well as by the excellent supporting characters that Connolly uses throughout the series – just as Spencer has his falcon, Parker has Louis, a gay killer, and Angel, his lover and thief. But even these friends and watchers can’t be on call all the time, and the tranquility of Parker’s forced vacation is interrupted by the body of a man washed up on the beach, coupled with the arrival of a young mother and daughter who are on the run for fear of an unknown pursuit. Parker being Parker, he has no choice but to get involved.
Connolly keeps readers interested in the series by varying the balance of supernatural and mundane elements. At least two of his novels are relatively straightforward crime stories with little paranormal activity. Other novels rely more on Outstanding. Shadow Song leans towards the mundane storyline that the cover of the US edition gives away. But the careful incorporation of supernatural events leads Parker down a new path that we may see in future books. If there is any criticism of the series, it is the information dumps that Connolly uses, sometimes narrated by the omniscient author, sometimes spoken by characters in paragraphs longer than a page. This particular quirk can make the exciting parts slow to a crawl. If readers are not familiar with this stylistic quirk, it may make them lose interest in the book. It is recommended to stick with it. The rewards are huge. The Legend of Charlie Parker is one of the best long-running series available today. With proper management, it would make a great cable TV series.
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score: 4/5
