Charlie Parker is hired by an up-and-coming sculptor Zetta Nadeau to find why her boyfriend, Wyatt Riggins, has apparently vanished. Parker is initially skeptical that the man wants to be found and Riggins’ ex-military history and his ties to the lucrative (and partially legal) cannabis trade in the state suggest his background might be full of reasons to disappear. But it becomes clear that Riggins may not have willingly left the area and that his connections to something far more serious and sinister may be in play. What Parker doesn’t know yet is that Riggins was also an outlier in a business involved in moving a very unique kind of cargo, the kind of business that kills those who ask too many questions about their activities or lucrative ambitions. Some want the Children and their potential power for themselves, others want them returned to Mexico – but few parties are truly worried about the collateral damage their war may incur and they are more than willing to kill for a cause that outdates most of its players.
And elsewhere, an ethereal young girl watches events unfold for her father, realising that some of the answers about her life, death and that of Charlie Parker’s fate may finally beginning to coalesce in the shadows…
*some spoilers*
The latest book in John Connolly’s best-selling tomes following the troubled life of Charlie Parker, looks to have all the qualities, trials and tribulations that his readers expect. Connolly has always balanced the procedural and worldly aspects of his tales with the mystical, exploring the everyday, pragmatic detective work of a weathered private investigator with the sense of a greater and more ancient darkness working against his interests. Recent entries have been powerful stories but have tilted one way or the other but The Children of Eve slowly ties together the two threads, ultimately addressing both elements like vines reaching beyond their frame. On one hand, the world of antiquities certainly gets dust blown off as interested parties use ever-more grisly ways to get what they want and the suspected traffiking of children from mexico turns out to be far darker than originally thought. Those wanting some momentum and liminal light from the darker corners of Parker’s world get some teases and portents here with the wayward spirit of Jennifer, Parker’s murdered daughter, having her own chapters… as she observes events and feels the threat of otherwordly forces moving against her and her family. Thankfully, even with talk of a possible tv adaptation powered by Colin Farrell, there seems to be no real danger of Connolly retiring Charlie Parker from the printed page any time soon – though the physical damage to the character continues – but elements here suggest Connolly is moving forward with addressing (if not answering) some of the ethereal aspects that figuratively and literally haunt his main character and the role he may yet play in fateful events.
There’s complex partnerships, pragmatic tolerances and unforgiving retributions as we follow events with some nice sleights of hand with revelations and implications concerning the children at the centre of the tale and the fates of those who become involved in their welfare (or lack of).
(US cover)
Are there niggles? Just a few. Connolly’s obvious love of lyrical language continues to be both a beneficial delight and an occasional frustration in the sense that each page is full of beautiful prose and descriptive language and yet each chapter likely brings up a word where you find yourself reaching for the dictionary or thesaurus to see what it means. In moderation, that’s certainly an educational positive, but there are moments where such diversions bring the organic ebb and flow of reading into turbulent moments of distraction that lift you out of it and it can start to feel just a little indulgent. If such words and phrasing were spoken aloud rather than read from the page, it would likely feel verbally verbose and awkward in the actuality.
Equally, it’s always clear that the author has done his research but sometimes the asides, detours and due diligent details go beyond the plot’s specifically needed backstories and again distract from the story momentum. It’s a subjective thing: a stylistic choice and signature flourish, probably thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated by as many readers as those who might prefer to quicken the pace. Here, you need to know and remember all the main players in Mexican cartels as well as the needed method of artefact transport to fully appreciate some of the plotting and, in particular, Connolly’s frequent description of Portland’s business and eateries in this latest tome go beyond scene-setting and do start to feel like its sponsored by the area’s tourism department.
There are a lot of characters to keep up with, with the author continually introducing new players and expanding a rogue’s gallery of interested parties that need juggling – some feeling essential, some feeling, so far, superfluous to the tale. The survival of supporting characters is something authors play with – deciding whether early exits or continued presence impact this and future stories and the readers’ interest. In previous novels Connolly has had the demise of characters that you might wish had endured longer and kept others around in the likelihood they could come back later, despite them arguably earning a grisly fate. (Die-hard fans of the Parker series will be glad of the presence of Louis and Angel and the Fulci Brothers who – without any real spoilers – do survive the story). By the time we’re at the last page, there’s been much to like in the way fate plays its cards, though the open-endedness for some other characters may be frustrating unless the author hopes to use them again.
However, those minor niggles aside, Connolly’s powerful prose, web of intrigue and morally fluid participants are always welcome and any opportunity to sit down and keep the shadows at bay by the light of a good read is always a treat…
The Children of Eve, by John Connolly, is published by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK on 8th May and Atria/Emily Bestler Books in the US on 6th May 2025…
- Story8
