John Connolly Nocturnes

Nocturnes

John Connolly

This is an interesting anthology that bookends with two novels and thirteen short stories (nine are actually transcripts written for radio) in between the two longer tales. Regardless of format, all the entries are thrilling, chilling and fulfilling as John Connolly dives deeper into the dark side of the supernatural than he previously has.

"The Cancer Cowboy Rides". The drifter spreads the fast-acting cancer by touch. He "accidentally" on purpose makes physical contact with people knowing what a casual bump does to the recipient. He runs amuck spreading deadly illness like a cancerous Typhoid Mary touching and bringing death to the multitude and seems unstoppable as no one knows about his "Midas" touch.

"The Reflecting Eye". In Maine, private detective Charlie Parker feels as peaceful as he has in a long time, definitely before the murders of his wife and child. Much of his positive feelings are caused by his upbeat relationship with his pregnant girlfriend Rachel. Reluctantly Parker investigates an abandoned house last occupied by a serial killer whose targets were children. The current owner wants Parker to insure that the good, the bad and the ugly spirits have gone on and are not waiting in mirrors to pounce on mortals.

The remaining tales showcase John Connolly's range to use everyday scenes to portray the macabre dark in which the supernatural is the norm and the natural is the otherworldly. Combined with two deep novels, especially a Parker thriller, readers will become creatures of the night reading Mr. Connolly's string eerie anthology.

Atria, Mar 2005, $12.95, 406 pp.

ISBN: 0743270193

Harriet Klausner