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| Author: John Connolly
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Category: Book
List Price: £14.99
Buy New: £8.76
You Save: £6.23 (42%)
New (19) Used (10) Collectible (5) from £4.88
Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 5073
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.5
ISBN: 0340936657
EAN: 9780340936658
ASIN: 0340936657
Publication Date: May 15, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 John Connolly - The Reapers May 28, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I find it hard to know when I think John Connolly is at his best. When I read them, I'm sure it's the slightly slower but meatier vessels like The White Road and last year's The Unquiet (his two best works, I think), but then I'll read one of the pacier efforts, like this one or the marvellously sinister The Killing Kind (the one, I think, that really made the series take off), and be unsure. (One thing's for sure: The Black Angel was too long.) Whatever pace he chooses to go at, he creates brilliant thrillers, and this is one that most *obviously* fits the thriller mould. I loved it. Though he tends to be overly florid and archaic in his prose, it has it's very distinct charms, even if makes things a little melodramatic (the fact is, the events are dramatic *anyway*, and would be more powerful told in simpler language. But there we go.) In any case, The Reapers is a superb thriller, with some great new charachters, and I loved the fact that it was told from the perspective of Angel and Louis. I'm not so attached to Parker that I can't bear for a novel to centre around the periphery character in his life rather than feature him as the star, and very much welcome the insight into these two fascinating. Indeed, it's a very much better book this way than it would have been told from his point of view, or even if he featured more than he does. The first half is a fascinating and brilliant build-up to the action and danger of the second. I enjoyed every minute of the book and very much recommend it. Especially to new readers - a perfect place to start, this standalone.
Connolly at his best... May 26, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm a great John Connolly fan, and have alway's enjoyed his novel's. 'The Reapers' is no exception, and this is the author at his very best. Can't wait for the next one to be released. While writing this review, I would also like to recommend 'Dead Men Don't Bite' by Andrew Towning.
interesting departure from the norm May 20, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I'm a big fan of John Connolly's works, the Charlie Parker books in particular. They're not my usual read but after gettingThe Black Angel as a misguided but well meaning present, I found my self hooked and have worked through the whole series.
For my money, Connolly does Raymond Chandler just as well as Raymond Chandler - gritty, well observed, cynically philosophical and packed with beautifully formed one liners. However, I was beginning to find the series a little formulaic (old troubles resurface and combine with seemingly unrelated current events while Charlie Parker lies to the police again about how much he knows prior to the bloody finale in which his nearest and dearest, usually, just barely survive while a freak show assortment of very bad people add to the body count. Old testament spookiness pervades throughout).
The Reapers then is refreshing in that it departs from the formula in some, but by no means all, key ways. Charlie Parker is virtually a cameo while the bulk of the action is viewed through the eyes of staple characters Louis (which I only find out now, after having read two of the other books out loud, is pronounced in the French fashion) and Angel. A third perspective comes from Willie Brewer, the previously un-fleshed out character of the mechanic.
His is perhaps the most welcome voice as he seems to be the only one who is not entirely comfortable with all the horror and mayhem and so his point of view adds a welcome layer of depth to the proceedings. It's nice to be reminded that not everyone can kill a dozen people without batting an eyelid. Its also very interesting to see, through his eyes, the impression that Charlie Parker makes on normal mortals.
The book is also almost entirely free of spooky weirdness.
While I enjoyed the departure from the norm and salute the author for making it, I would also have to say that I really missed both Parker and the weirdness and that without them I found that this was only a four star book.
 A slice of vengeance May 19, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Maybe I'm just a die hard Bird Parker fan, but I missed his presence in this book. That's not to say he's not actually in the book, he's just not there in his usual form.
It goes to show you should not cross a man who's life's work it is to erase people. I feel this book is about passion, about vengeance and about life.
You couldn't come across two stranger individuals than Louis and Angel. Incongruous and complicated. This book sliced deeper into their lives than before. The light humour that normally accompanies John Connolly's books was gone in this. It was raw and on the edge.
It was a good read, but it wasn't his best. It pains me to give it only three stars, Connolly's last book was a lot better than this.
It left one final question, who is there left to die in their world? I hope it's not the end for Bird, Angel and Louis.
Angelic! May 16, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Finally more about Louis and Angel!To say anything about the plot would be to spoil it for the reader, but I will say it's brilliant and a must for anyone who has read the previous books about Charlie Parker. Also, as a stand alone book its fantastic:- you don't have to have read any of his other books as the plot neatly fills in any gaps.
I opened my copy from Amazon Tuesday morning and finished it that night reading all day,I'm re-reading it now!
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