The Instruments Of Darkness By John Connolly

One of the darkest, most terrifying books of recent memory, John Connolly returns Charlie Parker to the pages with a book that will be sure to keep you up reading late into the night, even if it's just so you don't have to close your eyes. The Instruments of Darkness is shaping up to be on the best books of 2024. 

When young Henry Clark goes missing from his home in the middle of the night, and his bloodied blanket is found in the trunk of his mother's car, lawyer Moxie Castin is called in to handle the murder defense. Moxie, in turn, brings in private detective Charlie Parker to assist with the defense. As Parker begins to turn over stones and talk to witnesses, it's discovered that maybe there are more mysteries and questions around the boy's disappearance than initially speculated. Parker's questions take him across Maine, speaking with gangsters, gun runners, lawyers, the DA, psychics, and everything in between. Parker races against the clock, slowly ticking away until the mother, Colleen, goes on trial. 

In another fantastic addition to the Charlie Parker franchise, The Instruments of Darkness is another twisting drive down a dark, wooded road, where the trees are retaking their land and everything that lies within it.  

I was quickly enraptured within the pages, and readers can't help but descend into this darkness right alongside Parker. Connolly brilliantly blurs the lines between thriller, crime, and horror, with a touch of the supernatural in the way only Connolly can. It's another terrifying ride in the Charlie Parker universe that is guaranteed to stop your heart.


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