In amongst all the Children’s and Young Adult books I read, I also like to read some actual grown-up, adult books. Usually these are crime or thrillers, such as Steig Larsson’s Millenium Trilogy, anything by Dean Koontz, and one of my favourites, John Connolly. Like a lot of crime writers, Connolly has a central character who pops up in nearly all of his books and his name is Charlie Parker. Throughout the series, which starts with Every Dead Thing, you learn a little more about Charlie Parker (a private detective) and his shady past. There are two main things I like about Connolly’s Charlie Parker books; he’s a private detective who works alone, but often with the help of his dubious friends Angel and Louis, so you don’t have all that annoying Police procedure getting in the way of the story, and his books are dark and often have a supernatural element. His characters are genuinely creepy and he makes Maine sound so eerie that I never want to go there. I can’t wait to read his new book, The Whisperers.
However, he’s also incredibly versatile, and recently crossed over to Young Adult fiction with his book The Gates. I am amazed at how he can switch from writing horrific scenes in his thrillers to something so hilarious that I’m laughing out loud. The Gates is about a boy called Samuel and his dog Boswell who witness their neighbour opening a door to Hell in her basement, but it’s more funny than frightening as a myriad of weird creatures come through the gates and collide with the human world. My favourite character has to be Nurd, the Scourge of Five Deities, but there are plenty of others to keep you laughing.
If you want to meet John Connolly and listen to him talk about his books (I know I’ll be there) you can come along to ‘An Evening with Irish crime writer John Connolly.’ See his publisher’s website, Hachette NZ, for more details of the event.
