The Reapers
"I challenge anyone to be able to put this book down."
Synopsis:
The Reapers were a group of people gathered by Gabriel to kill without question - to never ask the question, ‘Why?’ They were killers who were simply given a job and carried out their orders without a thought as to who they were to kill or what the consequences would be. Louis was once a Reaper and, although he believes that one day one of his actions might come back to haunt him, he didn’t realise it was going to come back with such a vengeance.
Now living with his partner, Angel, both of these killers who have helped out Charlie Parker on several of his cases are now in grave danger. Someone is trying to kill them. As Louis begins to face his past he realises that some ghosts that he thought were dead and buried are very much alive. Soon, with Angel in tow, Louis decides that a head on confrontation with his nemesis is the best course of action. However, they quickly realise that they have been outsmarted and outgunned at every angle. Is this the end of our favourite assassins? Not if Charlie Parker has anything to do with it…
Purchase the book from Amazon.
Review:
The Reapers brings Louis and Angel to the fore in Connolly’s startlingly original new novel. The usual mix of the supernatural and the Gothic are still present in this novel - even if Charlie Parker is not the driving force. As with all of Connolly’s previous works of fiction, it takes no time at all before we find ourselves racing along at breakneck speed, as Louis begins to feel his dangerous and deadly past begin to breathe down his neck. With all the panache of a great Thomas Harris novel, Connolly poetically brings this mysterious pair to life and, intriguingly, finally shows us the early beginnings of Louis as a killer. Never fearful of taking risks, Connolly brings in elements of racism and the degradation of the blacks in America to play. It is a subject that may not sit comfortably with some, but the author brings with this unsettling subject a feeling of emancipation. Soon Louis and Angel are at the mercy of an avenging man; someone from Louis’ past who was once thought dead by his own hand. Here Parker comes to the fore with the help of Jackie and his charges, the uncontrollable and truly wonderful characters, the Fulci brothers, and their mind-boggling concoctions of ‘medications’. The Reapers is an excellent addition to Connolly’s already high calibre collection of work to feature this team who seem, on the surface at least, so different from one another and yet manage to gel so well. I challenge anyone to be able to put this book down. I am sure you will be as gripped as the fast moving story as I was, and I have no doubt this is one of the best crime novels you are likely to read this year!