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Post by valdemar on Apr 4, 2012 22:22:34 GMT
A selection of short tales, bookended by a longer tale, 'The Cancer Cowboy Rides', and a novella, 'The Reflecting Eye', which features his most famous character, the detective Charlie Parker.
The short stories, which have a definite MR James flavour, started out as radio stories, read as a BBC Radio 4 Late Book. This is where I first encountered them. They were read, quite superbly, by the late Tony Doyle. His precise, Irish delivery made the tales even more chilling. [They are available on CD, but last time I checked they were horrendously expensive]. The subject matter varies, from demons, to ghosts, witches, and a particularly charming female vampire [Miss Froom, Vampire], which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at a later date, and was read, with great relish, by Jacqueline Pearce. The whole collection is of a uniformly high standard, and once read, will lurk in your mind forever. The title story is one of the most disturbing tales I have ever read, and the book is worth it for that story alone. Another reason to get this book is that if you were not familiar with Connolly's 'Charlie Parker' novels, this will make you want to find out what lurks in the darkness of Parker's world.
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Post by stuyoung on Apr 12, 2012 7:51:58 GMT
Connolly's one of my favourite authors. I love the two novellas in this collection.
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Post by jamesdoig on Aug 13, 2019 10:27:25 GMT
John Connolly is speaking in Canberra on 5 September about his latest Charlie Parker book. I've dug up copies of Nocturnes 1 & 2 for him to sign. He'll be interviewed by Jeff Popple, fellow pulp fan and crime reviewer whose blog is here. The following night Andrew Nette is talking at the National Film and Sound Archive on the classic Aus horror anthology show from the 1970s, The Evil Touch. A golden age for Canberrans. |
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Post by andydecker on Aug 14, 2019 11:15:38 GMT
John Connolly is speaking in Canberra on 5 September about his latest Charlie Parker book. I've dug up copies of Nocturnes 1 & 2 for him to sign. He'll be interviewed by Jeff Popple, fellow pulp fan and crime reviewer whose blog is here. The following night Andrew Nette is talking at the National Film and Sound Archive on the classic Aus horror anthology show from the 1970s, The Evil Touch. A golden age for Canberrans. This sounds like a lot of fun. I am hopelessly behind on Connolly's novels, but I marvel of his concentration. To produce every year a new 500+ novel for the last decade, and a lot (or most) reviews seem to concur that the quality is still high. How does he do it? |
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Post by Dr Strange on Aug 14, 2019 11:25:44 GMT
I am hopelessly behind on Connolly's novels, but I marvel of his concentration. To produce every year a new 500+ novel for the last decade, and a lot (or most) reviews seem to concur that the quality is still high. How does he do it? I am up to date with the Charlie Parker series and, if anything, the last two or three have been the best yet. He has taken them pretty far into Lovecraft territory, though he doesn't use Lovecraft as a reference. |
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Post by jamesdoig on Aug 14, 2019 21:03:41 GMT
I am hopelessly behind on Connolly's novels, but I marvel of his concentration. To produce every year a new 500+ novel for the last decade, and a lot (or most) reviews seem to concur that the quality is still high. How does he do it? I am up to date with the Charlie Parker series and, if anything, the last two or three have been the best yet. He has taken them pretty far into Lovecraft territory, though he doesn't use Lovecraft as a reference. The last one I read was A Time of Torment, so I've a few to catch up on. The latest one is a whopper - 700+ pages. |
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Post by Dr Strange on Aug 15, 2019 15:12:42 GMT
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Post by Shrink Proof on Aug 15, 2019 18:14:28 GMT
Five of John Connolly's ghost stories, read by the late Tony Doyle, can be heard on the Internet Archive website. They can also be downloaded (for free!) as MP3 or OGG Vorbis files too. You can find them via this link.Better still, if you like(d) them, there are five more of his tales, each read by a different person (none of them being Tony Doyle this time), available via the same website to either listen to online or download (again for free). You can find the second batch via this link.Happy listening... |
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Post by andydecker on Aug 15, 2019 21:17:38 GMT
Thanks for the link. Interesting. I really have to continue reading the Parker novels.
When I read the first one, I was one the fence. The characters were not really original. Neither Parker's origin nor the killer sidekick/friend. This also was already a cliche in crime fiction. Parker, Crais and others come to mind. But Lois and Angel were memorable and often more interesting than the hero.
And it is kind of encouraging that a writer which requires some effort from the reader can still be successful today.
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Post by Dr Strange on Aug 16, 2019 10:22:41 GMT
I came to them pretty late: I picked up the first half dozen or so Charlie Parker books for a couple of quid each in a local charity shop about 7 years ago. I read them all, one after the other, and then set about getting the rest. I think reading them back-to-back definitely helped - some characters that seemed a bit unbelievable at first (like Angel and Louis) quickly developed into people who seem completely believable. Now they are the only books that I always pre-order in hardback - not because I want to collect them or anything, I just don't want to wait any longer than I have to before I read the next one. The other noticeable thing about them is that everyone is ageing in real time - Connolly keeps hinting at it and then pulling back, but I'm pretty sure the end isn't very far away for Parker, and I've thought I was possibly reading the last one a couple of times over the last three or four.
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Post by jamesdoig on Sept 5, 2019 9:38:13 GMT
Just saw John Connolly - terrific speaker, very funny with a lot of good things to say. Picked up a copy of his latest book, which looks like an instant Vault classic. Here he is with Jeff Popple just before the interview started.  |
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Post by David A. Riley on Sept 5, 2019 11:45:40 GMT
Just saw John Connolly - terrific speaker, very funny with a lot of good things to say. Picked up a copy of his latest book, which looks like an instant Vault classic. Here he is with Jeff Popple just before the interview started. I have all the John Connolly books, most in hardback after I finally discovered him. One of the very best horror writers around today. A must. Definitely a must. |
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Post by helrunar on Sept 5, 2019 13:07:23 GMT
Thanks for the photo and account. I've never heard of John Connolly (I am really ignorant regarding most current literary production). Would love to hear Jacqueline Pearce reading "Miss Froom, Vampire." I was really sad last year when I heard of Jacqueline's passing.
H.
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