Review: The Unquiet (Charlie Parker #6)

3 stars. Not done with this series yet! Feeling really determined to keep it going. I would consider this one of the weaker installments so far, but I'm no less interested in the world this author has created and populated so lovingly with a crowd of dark, disturbing characters. 

Our poor Mr. Parker is hired by Rebecca Clay to help her deal with a stalker... a dangerous man asking questions about her father. Daniel Clay, currently missing, was a child therapist whose patients reported eerie similarities in their testimonies of abuse: being taken by men wearing bird masks. Was Daniel trapped in a web of coincidences, or was he a perpetuator? Where is he now? And this man harassing Rebecca - what is his end game? Charlie's investigation, as always, points to … the absolute worst.

This isn't the sort of writing where the words flow by quickly and your eyes fly down the page. It's dense, and detailed, and heavy. I'm now pretty accustomed to the way Connolly leans into place (with a lot of historical and geographical background about each setting), and character (side quests, tangents, episodic introductions). I missed the stronger supernatural aspects of previous books, but the subtle undertones in this one made it that much creepier. 

I still don't love his female characters, or his representation of queer and Black individuals. Charlie's sharp wit was also very dull in this one - his smartass hat felt ill-fitting, forced, and random at times. Awkward. Not at all funny, TBH. The "cleverness" in his banter with the bad guys was actually borderline annoying, maybe a little questionable or even offensive. But, I do love that Charlie Parker isn't a superhero - he operates very much in the dark for most of these stories, just like us. He makes mistakes. He's haunted, literally and figuratively, and despite his good intentions he isn't always... effective. He's interesting.

I would also mention that the plot and central mystery seemed very... convoluted. It's not that I had trouble following it all, per say... well, maybe I did. I always feel like I need a cheat sheet reading these novels and this one was no different. I also didn't read the accompanying short story, so I was missing some context. Still, the recognizable anchors - the familiar motifs - are all present and accounted for: cults, predators, ghosts. 

I'm looking forward to more. Maybe I'll even do a ranking.

The Unquiet on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads