A Song of Shadows. John Connolly. Hodder & Stoughton (2015)

A very engaging thriller that has a nicely set up supernatural element that never upsets the balance of the story.Charlie Parker has retreated to a small seaside town called Boreas in Maine to recover and recuperate from a near fatal attack. His nearest neighbor is a single mother, Ruth Winter, with a daughter who is the same age as his own. When a murdered man washes up on the beach near Parker's house and Parker becomes involved in the investigation, it becomes clear that Ruth Winter has something she wishes to hide. The story unfurls nicely as old sins and sinners respond to threats with violence and the weight of the past bears very heavily on the present.
AS with any book that is part of a series this has two stories running through it. The smaller story is the continuity story that involves the series cast including Charlie Parker. The bigger story is the one about what is happening in Boreas and why. The continuity story rests lightly enough on the main story that it does not interfere with the enjoyment of the main story in its own right. John Connolly has  interesting plot mechanics that drive the story, the pleasure and engagement of the book lie in the cast and the writing.
The story moves at a leisurely pace, there are very effective and gripping outbursts of action, the greater part of the story is given over to developing the extensive cast and location. What is noticeable and very enjoyable is that it is the non-series cast that get the time and attention. The town of Boreas emerges strongly because of the detail lavished on some of the cast whom Charlie Parker meets. John Connolly takes the time to introduce them and give them sufficient background and context to become fully developed. This depth of detail becomes important as the plot mechanics start to reveal what is waiting in the shadows.
The solidity of the regular humans in the cast give weight and room to the more extreme characters who start to appear, they gain significant credibility because they are anchored so firmly in an ordinary context. The supernatural elements slide in easily without upsetting the balance of the story because the context has such weight and presence.
The continuity story is equally well done, Charlie Parker has been wounded nearly fatally and cannot just shrug off the impact. Across the arc of the action Charlie Parker recovers and returns to his essential mission with a darker edge than he had before.
John Connolly has delivered a story that has multiple threads without ever getting tangled up in any, a story about small town secrets and lives, a nasty view of the long reach of history and revenge, an episode in a longer story of supernatural trouble all of them rest easily with each other and each has substantial pleasures of their own. Combined they provide a very satisfying reading experience.

The Unquiet. John Connolly. Hodder (2008)

This book, in common with the other Charlie Parker stories, is an odd book. It is significantly overwritten and shrouds a very nasty mystery in a supernatural, Gothic framework that manages to diminish and expand the story at the same time. There is no doubt that John Connolly is a hugely talented writer and he has a gift for creating compelling narratives that encompass appalling activities with skill and sympathy for the cast. At the same time there is an enormous superstructure tied to the stories that gives them a very distinctive flavour while slowing the momentum of the mystery. Charlie Parker is a private investigator working in Maine who has suffered an appalling tragedy in his life, the horrific death of his wife and daughter. Their ghosts haunt him still and their deaths gave him a sense of the fragility of social order and the magnitude of evil. He is hired by a woman being stalked by a very dangerous man, Frank Merrick who is looking to revenge himself for the disappearance of his daughter. A disappearance he believes the woman's missing father had a part in.

The opening of the book, which is essentially unrelated to the remainder is one of the best sequences in the book and where John Connolly's writing style is used to its best effect. The rest of the story as the initial questions start to lead to a more widespread corruption and human depravity is explored is very good. The central mystery is well structured, the reveals and pacing are excellent and the conclusion is sharp and logical. It is the surrounding business with the vaguely supernatural aspects that sometime catch and amplify the themes of the story and sometimes just get in the way. The overwrought atmosphere sits uneasily with the action of the story. On balance this is an enjoyable read, it is a fine balance.