The Furies: Private Investigator Charlie Parker looks evil in the eye in the globally bestselling series (Charlie Parker Thriller)

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This would make a great Halloween-time read, sorry I saved it for after the holiday, but there's always next year. I have a soft spot for scary tales during the Halloween season, so I am happy to report that John Connolly and his trusty protagonist do not disappoint.

S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z (2006). Charlie gets involved in two separate issues here, ones he needs help with from his pals Louis, the big guy who's maybe done a lot bad stuff but is square and loyal to Charlie, and Angel, Louis' life partner, who was supposedly dying of cancer but now is in remission. But this is John Connolly, and nothing stays simple for long – Charlie Parker is pulled into the increasingly twisty case by an outsider concerned for one of the two sisters the expanding mystery threatens to consume.The humor, combined with the excellent creation of atmosphere, is what keeps me reading these supernatural thrillers. New York Times bestselling author John Connolly pits Parker against two separate—but vitally connected—investigations, which prove to be among the most complicated of his entire career in this “must-read for the author’s fans and a good introduction to the series for newbie” ( Booklist). But it may be that those clients are more capable of taking care of themselves than anyone could have imagined. A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.

Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. In Greek mythology, the Erinyes (or Furies), were three goddesses of vengeance who punished men for crimes against nature. Add to the mix the fact that these were written at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, and you have the perfect little horror treat to read for Halloween. And in The Furies Parker finds himself fighting to protect two more women as the city of Portland shuts down in the face of a global pandemic, but it may be that his clients are more capable of taking care of themselves than anyone could have imagined .

I've yet to not enjoy a Connolly book - even at their weakest, Connolly is too skilled of a storyteller to not give me something good - and each of the stories sets up solid enough stakes that the novellas don't just feel like one-off tangents. From “a master of the macabre” ( RT Book Reviews ), private investigator Charlie Parker is unwittingly drawn into a world of vengeance.