The Instruments of Darkness
A Thriller
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4.5 • 127 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
From the international and instant New York Times bestselling author John Connolly, the beloved and brilliant Charlie Parker series returns with a heart-wrenching crime only one man can solve.
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.
But most is not all. 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
Always the best scariest stories
Another absolutely terrifying story by Connolly. He just keeps getting better and better and Parker, well Parker-just keeps getting better and better as well. This is a scary, scary, story full of horrible scary individuals intent on hurting innocents as an ongoing parade. Parker, along with with Louis and Angel, involved as ‘in for a penny in for a pound’ do their usual in skirting between the world and its ghosts, and working to fix the wrongs to rights.
The Instruments of Darkness
4/5 stars
My first John Connolly book and I enjoyed it. Interesting characters, reasonable plot with twists. I will try one of Connolly’s earlier works.
Hal R - Troy, MI
An easy problem for Charlie Parker to investigate…
As always I enjoyed the characters and dialog in this Charlie Parker mystery. This was a more “normal” stand-alone mystery story that hints at the supernatural but isn’t as gory or gothic as other stories. It’s an enjoyable read but I feel like hints are being dropped for a bloody and operatic next book (that now I cannot wait to read) that will involve more of the good vs evil battle we know is coming for Charlie and his friends.