Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview The Woman in the Woods by John Connolly. You know a good book when you cannot skim a single line - every word/line in Connolly's books is important. This is the 16th book in the Charlie Parker series and it is one of the best.
Charlie Parker is a flawed man; a man who has suffered great losses and inflicts pain on those who cross him. Although this book can be read as a standalone, I recommend starting at the beginning of Connolly's series if you have not read them.
A woman is found in the woods - someone has taken great care to bury her, to protect her - but now she is found. Parker's lawyer has a vested interest in this found body and asks him to find out who she is and give her a proper burial. The autopsy determines that this woman had a baby right befrore her death. The police search, but a child's body is not found There are others seeking this woman's identity and they are willing to go to any end to find what they believe she possessed before she died and what may have gotten her killed.
All the regular characters return to help Parker in one way or the other - Angel, Louis, and company enrich the plot and add a richness that satifies the reader, but has them craving more.
RECOMMEND - 5 starts.

This is a continuation of the Charlie Parker series. I would recommend reading the books in order because the characters evolve as you go thru the series. This story has multiple sub plots but focuses on a woman’s body found buried in the woods. The woman has recently given birth and there is no sign of the child.

I felt like this book had a supernatural, occult feel that could put it into the horror genre. You will be kept turning the pages waiting to find out what will happen. The ending is left open which I am sure will lead to another book. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy of this book.

In this 16th book in the Charlie Parker series, a woman's body is found in the woods. It appears she had a child shortly before she died, and the police are looking for answers. And VERY BAD PEOPLE are looking for the child.

This remains the best mystery series I've ever read. The characters are so familiar, real, and well-drawn that I feel I know them better than almost any other characters in fiction. The sense of dread that covers the whole series is here, too. More puzzle pieces are falling into place, and we're starting to get a bit more of the overall picture.

The only thing that keeps this from 5 stars is that the reason Parker is initially drawn into this seemingly normal search for the woman is very weak. Once he's in, of course, it turns out it's a supernatural mystery that he should be a part of. But I feel that Connolly could have given a stronger reason for his initial involvement.

Read this series but for Pete's sake, start at the beginning!

Don't give up! Unlike the authors other novels, this begins strangely. Aliens? A time space continuam? I had no idea and almost stopped reading BUT knowing how great the author has always been i kept going and am glad I did. Unusual, but did come together. I always love Angel, Louis, and if course Parker but I would like more of his daughter and less of this weird and guy

The Woman in the Woods is the latest Charlie Parker novel. Although I am not generally a fan of horror, the Charlie Parker novels combine excellent writing, compelling characters, suspenseful mystery, and the supernatural in an unusual amalgamation that makes me hold my breath each time.

Always: a battle of good vs evil with collateral damage on both sides, the loss of good people, characters that you come to love despite their decidedly criminal backgrounds, a creep factor that chills down to the bone, and usually some unexpected, but much appreciated humor.

Deep in the Maine woods, the body of a young woman who had recently given birth is discovered. She has been buried for several years, but no infant body is found. A star of David carved into a tree grabs the attention of lawyer Moxie Castin, who then convinces Charlie Parker to follow the investigation, and if the baby survived, to find it.

The police are investigating, trying to identify the young woman, Charlie Parker is also searching, but there is someone else also looking for the young woman. Someone not simply bad, but repellently evil.

Short chapters move back and forth between characters, the main plot, and secondary plots. The roles of Louis and Angel are more limited in this one, but Louis is responsible for an inciting incident that plays into the larger plot later.

"And in a house by the woods, a toy telephone begins to ring and a young boy is about to receive a call from a dead woman." --from book description

Read in March. Blog review scheduled for May 29

NetGalley/Atria Books

Crime/Mystery/Supernatural. June 12, 2018. Print length: 496 pages.

Review: THE WOMAN IN THE WOODS by John Connolly (Charlie Parker #16)

The inimitable private detective Charlie Parker never disappoints, nor does his creator, John Connolly. Every adventure of Parker's is riveting, raising further the veil hiding the Other Side. In this novel, Charlie Parker becomes if possible more philosophical, more metaphysical, even more attuned to the supernatural, preternatural, the otherworldly. His deep and abiding capacity for self-analysis put me in mind of St. Teresa of Avila' s "The Interior Castle" (1588), an apt comparison given that the major villain here believes he has been alive since the Reformation.

As Parker faced down a continuing Nazi presence in
A SONG OF SHADOWS, here the political/cultural bogey is the rise of bigotry in the form of white supremacism, and Parker becomes my hero for life at the conclusion. Of course, racism is not the only villain here; even more terrifying is the threat of the literal End of All from the Not-Gods (yes, you read that correctly), and if that isn't sufficient, there are humans whose hatred is so all-encompassing as to render the End of All the preferred option.

This isn't my favorite Charlie Parker novel (not enough for me of my favorite series character); those remain A GAME OF GHOSTS; THE WOLF IN WINTER; and of course, THE REAPERS. But THE WOMAN IN THE WOODS is important, in the character evolution of Parker and Louis and lawyer Moxie Castin; more on the Backers, and the villains Quayle and Pallida Mors. It's also holds a very significant position in the supernatural milieu of this series.

Full review to be published online in early June.

THE WOMAN IN THE WOODS is the latest entry in John Connolly’s run running and popular “Charlie Parker” series. As always, there is an excellent plot and several crucial twists here. From the hunter to the hunted and the house in the woods, there are several great subplots running parallel to the main mystery. The characters come to the page fully formed; yet are still developed nicely through the book. There are some rough and ready characters here. Parker is one of my favorite authors in crime fiction; and the guys who live in Cadillac, Indiana and near the Maine Woods are not a group one could hope to meet. The rural settings, the towns by the roadside, the desert like dustbowl; all are believable settings.

As always with a John Connolly book, THE WOMAN IN THE WOODS is gritty and believable.

I really enjoy the Charlie Parker series, they never disappoint. . Unusual and interesting plot involving a woman’s body found buried in the woods. How and why did she die, and why are so many people being killed for those answers? A page turner.