The Instruments of Darkness
A Thriller
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4.3 • 367 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
From the international and instant New York Times bestselling author John Connolly, this heart-wrenching installment of the beloved and brilliant Charlie Parker series “will leave readers breathless and shaken” (Booklist).
In Maine, Colleen Clark stands accused of the worst crime a mother can commit: the abduction and possible murder of her child. Everyone—ambitious politicians in an election season, hardened police, ordinary folk—has an opinion on the case, and most believe she is guilty.
Defending Colleen is the lawyer Moxie Castin, and working alongside him is the private investigator Charlie Parker, who senses the tale has another twist, one involving a husband too eager to accept his wife’s guilt, a group of fascists arming for war, a disgraced psychic seeking redemption, and an old, twisted house deep in the Maine woods, a house that should never have been built.
A house, and what dwells beneath.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In bestseller Connolly's rattling latest case for Charlie Parker (after The Furies), the Maine PI wrestles with potentially paranormal forces as he tries to determine if a young mother killed her own child. Charlie's friend, attorney Moxie Castin, has recently taken on the case of Colleen Clark, whose two-year-old son, Henry, vanished from his bed in the middle of the night. After Colleen's husband suggested to the police that she might have abducted Henry, authorities found a blanket soaked with the boy's blood hidden in her car. Moxie retains Charlie to help ferret out the truth and, after interviewing Colleen at length, he teams up with psychic Sabine Drew, who contacted police after she heard a boy's cries from beyond the grave. Together and apart, the detective and the psychic explore multiple leads, including one that points to the woman Colleen's husband was sleeping with. Meanwhile, sections describing a supernatural force emanating from a house deep within the Maine woods hint that something otherworldly might be interfering with the case—and with the operations of a white nationalist militia called the Stonehurst Foundation, whose members are ramping up for violence in Portland. It's a lot of plates to spin, but Connolly pulls the whole thing off without a hitch. More than 20 years since it launched, this series continues to soar.
Customer Reviews
I like Charley Parker
It was a little slow to start. Usually “Charley Parker” drags me in pretty quick. Other than that, once it got going, the going got good
Tough read for me
Was ok
My favorite series
I love the Charlie Parker series. I love the characters, the dialogue, the atmosphere, and the story. I intentionally read it slowly fearing when it would end. I now have to wait a year for the next one which feels interminable.