Review: The Burning Soul (Charlie Parker #10)

3 stars. This one didn’t really capture me as much as the others. I really enjoyed the stuff about Randall and the exploration of identity and insanity, but I found a lot of the other through-lines tedious. And I actually predicted a couple of the twists, which hasn't happened before. That being said - zero regrets.

Private investigator Charlie Parker is asked by a lawyer acquaintance for help - a client of hers, with a secret murderous past, is being sent dark and threatening messages. There’s also a girl missing, and allegations abound in the small town from where she disappeared. 

Idk! Idk. I’m not done with this series at all - I’ve learned how comforting it can be to have a reliably familiar world to jump into over a long period of time. It was only a matter of time before I got to one that didn’t hit or click right. I just wasn’t hooked. 

I’m learning that when Connolly leans into religious horror - like demons or angels or super self-righteous villains - he really succeeds. When he leans into ghost stuff, trying to create tense or creepy haunt moments, he’s less effective. Just like in previous books, I found the appearances of Charlie’s daughter cheesy, and kind of random, and not as scary.

The book absolutely still crackles with tension, though, and showcases the strong sense of place so characteristic of John Connolly’s writing. That man really loves to describe a dive bar.

The Burning Soul on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph