Last year I did something unexpected: I read the first 14 books in the Charlie Parker series straight through, one after the other. This is remarkable (to me, anyway), because I get bored easily, so almost never read two books in a series in a row--much less 14. But I never got bored with this series.

In this 15th book, Parker is sent by his FBI pseudo-boss to look into a private detective named Eklund who disappeared while looking into a series of deaths that don't seem connected. But Eklund suspected they were connected and it made him a target of the folks responsible: the Brethren. If there's one complaint I have, it's that the Brethren seem a little too similar to other "evil clans" we've already encountered in the series. But it's a small complaint, and doesn't detract from my enjoyment.

The Parker series has always straddled the line between the "real-life" detective work and the supernatural bits. But as it's progressed those supernatural and horror elements are becoming more prominent, and I'm glad for it. I can still feel the pieces moving into place for SOMETHING BIG, and I'll admit I'm getting impatient. In the meantime I'll savor these books, and lament that I have to wait a year for the next one.

I say this in every Parker review now, but it bears repeating: No matter how much you're tempted to jump in and read a later book, you've got to start at the beginning with Every Dead Thing. It's rough. It's unfocused. It's not a great book. But the writing gets much better after that first book, and the series as a whole has turned into one of my favorite things.

What I love most about Connolly's Charlie Parker Books is that they are becoming more and more supernatural...or maybe it's just that Connolly has done such a great job of making these books real that I no longer question the veracity of them. They are just as believable to me as the sun in the sky...and that is also why they are more and more terrifying as the series goes on...Connolly has managed to mesh the very ordinary world of former policeman Charlie Parker with the spectral world where some things just can't be explained until suddenly they are all one and the same...but he does so in a way that keeps the real world the focus and the paranormal in the shadows. This isn't some attempt by an author to create an alternative world or universe or future time period. Connolly isn't asking the reader to suspend what they know...only that you open your mind to the possibilities...and with your own imagination the possibilities are infinite...which explains the vast amount of fear I experience whilst reading them...

ARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review

Some authors suffer from sprawl as a book series goes on, but not John Connolly. Though his Charlie Parker novels have a variety of settings, Connolly has managed to tie together criminal and supernatural elements to create a sense of building toward a dramatic--final?--confrontation. Parker has been through enough brushes with death that he is forever marked by the events of previous novels, but A Game of Ghosts explores the vulnerability of other characters we have grown to love along the way. Another excellent installment in one of my favorite series.

Fantastic! Another great Charlie Parker story. Connolly is so good. Always sad to finish his latest, knowing of the wait until the next one..

Read this book! Read the entire series!

Amazing writing!
Love all Charlie Parker's books and this one doesn't disappoint.
A ghost story, well conceived and thrilling, that takes us into another nightmarish scenario were the supernatural reins over the events and actions of the living.

Charlie Parker is an addicting character. He's a man's man who continues to grow and change with each book he appears in. John Connolly's prose wraps the reader in a blanket of warmth one moment as you follow Charlie on a journey to clutching that same blanket in fear as he fights the enemy called The Brethren.

What I loved about this book is that the story was off and running from page one where A TIME OF TORMENT left off. For those of you who like to pick up a book in the middle of a series and figure out what's going on, good luck! You can do it...but you won't enjoy it as much as you would have if you had started a couple of books back. Like at book number 1, EVERY DEAD THING.

Another thing that I loved is that as the series as gone along it has become more and more supernatural. Occult and horror has always been my first reading choice and to have the Charlie Parker books move in this direction is a real plus.

This book wasn't too long as Parker books go. With a July 4th release date, I think we'll be seeing a lot of people on beaches and at pools this summer reading this newest book by John Connolly.

I received my copy from, the publisher (Atria Books). Highly recommended.

Thank you Netgalley for a preview of John Connolly'a Game of Ghosts. For fans of suspense and mystery, there is no better series than the Charlie Parker books. I have read all of them, and never grow tired of reading them. Game of Ghosts finds Parker, a flawed private detective with abilities and friends that can be deadly fighting forces called the Brethren. This ancient group is discovered by a PI, Jakob Eklund, but now Eklund has disappeared and Parker is assisgned to find out what has happened to him. Agent Ross from the FBI seeks Parker's assistance and provides only the slightest details. Parker knows there is more to this search and deploys his faithful partners, Angel and Louis, to help him find the missing PI.
The ensamble cast of the Parker novels makes them unique. You know these characters and they enrich the story line. Although this is a series, this is a standalone book, but I urge those who have never had a taste of Connolly's novels to "take a sip", they are the best in this genre.
I didn't want to finish this book because I will have to wait a year till the next installment - This followup to last year's A Time of Torment will not disappoint. Really dark and scary - Loved it - 5 stars!!!

Review of A GAME OF GHOSTS by John Connolly
(A Charlie Parker Thriller)

Each time I open a Charlie Parker novel, I am almost literally taken away. My mundane world disappears, and I am certain I don't see or hear anything else except the words I read and the dialogue I “hear” in my mental ears. A GAME OF GHOSTS is no exception; in fact, this might become (along with A WOLF IN WINTER) my very favourite of the Charlie Parker series. Mr. Connolly has an imagination so vast it must be unsurpassed; I consider him a genius of literature.

A GAME OF GHOSTS continues the threads of Parker, private investigator, the man who has died three times; his cohorts Angel and Louis; and the Collector. There is so much supernatural in this story; yet there is also a thorough grounding in real-world issues for characters and readers. Mr. Connolly's writing is sheer pleasure, even when he's writing of killings and torture and evil, both supernatural and human. I think this series ought to be at the top of the list of every thinking reader.