By John Connolly

Hodder, out April 6 2017

Charlie Parker is hired to look into the disappearance of another private investigator, but it’s soon very clear that there is nothing simple about the case…

Once you start this book, make sure you’ve not got anything else important to do for the next few hours (or days, depending on your reading speed). The Charlie Parker books have always been a gripping and enthralling read, but this latest one simply won’t let you go. You’ll need to find out just how all the different strands tie up – and whether Connolly is going to follow this story where it simply has to go. (No spoiler to say he does.)

More than anything, this is a story about consequences – how things that seem like a good idea at the time can come back to bite you in the backside so hard that you’ll wonder what on earth possessed you initially. It applies on all sorts of levels – whether it’s a business deal that you hope will bring you a fortune (but has a price to pay at a time when you don’t think you’ll care… but you will), or on a personal level, in terms of how you treat your immediate family. In Charlie Parker’s case, he’s got family in some very unusual places, and a lot of elements that have been in the background in the previous books are now coming to the fore (as promised by A Time of Torment’s conclusion).

In an interview last year, Connolly said this book is “about as weird a book as I’ve written”, and certainly those of us who have travelled alongside Charlie Parker know that his story affects more than one world – and that’s something that’s central to this story. It’s a dark tale, and there are some truly horrific moments (and characters) within it – and it’s one that makes the stakes very clear indeed, to us as readers, if not necessarily (yet) the participants. When’s the next one due?

Verdict: Yet another excellent noir instalment – don’t miss it. 10/10

Paul Simpson