The Dirty South: A Thriller (18) (Charlie Parker)

After 18 previous stories "The Dirty South" takes us back to the beginnings of the Charlie Parker saga, in 1990, the period between his resignation from the NYPD and "Every Dead Thing."
There is very little of the supernatural element we've come to expect, except for a couple of brief apparitions of Charlies murdered wife and daughter. There is also a description of a sinister looking pond nearby the small rural Arkansas town where the story is set, but it has no inherent ghostly function. This is a straight forward crime thriller with themes of political and personal corruption foremost. As such, it can be seen with parallels to other nearby states of the readers choice. Connolly's writing is as supple as ever, with many laugh-out-loud moments, but little of the poetic imagery found in the spookier novels. One thing I found jarring, since I have spent some time in the rural deep South, is a uniformity of voice....uneducated small town people don't speak the same way as their better-off neighbors, rural small-town cops included. In this book, everyone talks the same. Just a point of detail. As is usually the case in Connolly's books, things unfold slowly and come to a rapid climax, in this beginning when Louis and Angel arrive.
Perhaps Connolly was looking at the USA's current state of affairs and felt the need to comment. The UK is going through very similar throes, too. I hope next year's book gets us back on track. I am waiting to see more about the theme developed in "The black Angel"

The thing that immediately struck me about THE DIRTY SOUTH, the 18th “Charlie Parker” supernatural thriller, is the literary quality of the writing. It’s done in a run-on sentence style--which usually indicates bad writing--but the long sentences actually provide rich background and character details in an economical way. The sentences are long, the novel is long--but the plot moves forward quickly. I didn’t want to put the book down, once I started.

In contrast, the first “Charlie Parker” novel, [[ASIN:B000FCKB98 Every Dead Thing]], is a standard thriller--except for the supernatural aspects--that is written in plain, straightforward, mass paperback style. That novel’s crimes are much more graphic and brutal than the ones in THE DIRTY SOUTH, although the latest novel’s crimes are plenty graphic.

THE DIRTY SOUTH describes at least part of former NYPD detective Charlie Parker’s activities during his first absence from New York City--right after the murder of his wife and daughter, but before he caught up with their killer. (The latter events are described in Every Dead Thing.) Charlie is hunting the murderer of his family, and is out for revenge, but stops for a little while in an Arkansas backwater town to help a local cop find the person who is killing young women and leaving their bodies on display, violated by tree branches.

Because the town is in “the dirty South”, where justice takes a back seat to political expediency, the investigation is blocked at every turn by local power brokers and politicians. No one wants details about the serial murders to leak out, because the dying town is about to be invaded by, and saved by, a group of Japanese investors who will be building warehouses and creating lots of jobs.

“Charlie Parker” fans will absolutely want to read this novel. It was my introduction to the series, and it made me into a Charlie Parker fan. The novel works fine as a standalone. It includes adequate details of Charlie’s background, but goes mercifully light on the details of his wife’s and child’s murders. Series fans will no doubt welcome the brief appearance of Charlie’s friends Angel (the burglar) and Louis (the assassin) in Part 5.

The Deep South backwoods setting rings quite true to me, though I don’t have personal experience to judge it by. It did astonish me to learn that John Connolly is actually an Irish writer, because he handles U.S. settings so convincingly.

I can’t believe how boring this book was. It was advertised as “the birth of Charlie Parker.” I was expecting some serious Charlie Parker vibes, but instead I got “Charlie Parker solves a mystery in the Dirty South.” Snooze fest for real! Sitcoms have what’s known as a bottle episode—basically a purposefully boring episode with the express purpose of saving money—and this was John Connolly’s Charlie Parker bottle episode. But it’s a book, so there’s no need for that! Lets hope Mr. Connolly gets his act together for the next book, cause this was a bona-fide disappointment.

Either he wrote this as the first book or it has been buried a long time. It is okay if you have never followed the series, no not really, its pretty disjointed. I hope that this does not follow Randy Wayne Whites down hill, just let some one else write it trend. WTF

Somehow I have managed to miss all of John Connolly’s Charlie Parker mysteries, despite a lifetime spent reading mystery and detective fiction. What a pleasure to have finally discovered it. This book is a prequel to the regular series, with just enough story set in the present day to frame the mystery. It is 1999 in Cargill, Arkansas, and the police chief is worried about Y2K, but not as much as he is worried about the two dead girls found in the area, who might or might not be related to another girl found dead years before. The city is under consideration for a large plant, which has the potential to save the economy of the desperately poor and meth-riddled area. Murdered girls won’t help their cause, and the pressure is strong to look the other way. Into this mess wanders Charlie Parker, drawn there because the way the killer mutilated and displayed the bodies was reminiscent of the murder of his wife and daughter. Eventually he joins the department for a bit to help solve the case of the murdered girls. What follows is a dark, well-plotted, compelling portrait of a poor southern town and its warring factions and divided loyalties. The characterizations were vivid, the pacing quick, and the writing was so good it made me want to read it out loud and share it. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

I have been following Charlie Parker for years, and was excited to read this look back into his history. Charlie finds himself in Arkansas, embroiled in a political mess in a county rife with corruption and murder. Connolly is an amazing writer and he treats the reader to dialogue that often made me smile and characters that leap off the page to entertain us with their southern charm and villainy.

The Dirty South is a dense read. You don't want to be in a rush with this one, but you also won't want to put it down. Be sure and savor the fine writing and the intrigue. The plotting is intricate and the suspense builds steadily. I didn't see the end coming until I was right up on it, and I was enjoying being frustrated by the author's misdirections. I liked young Charlie Parker. He exhibited a youth and vulnerability that I was not used to seeing from him. It added more dimension to one of my favorite characters in fiction.

You don't need to have read this series in order to enjoy The Dirty South. This might be a good place to start if you wanted to get to know Charlie Parker. It's a fine read that will certainly appeal to any mystery/thriller fan. Connolly is writing at the top of his game and has produced a memorable addition to the Charlie Parker saga.

I am a John Connolly fan. Love the Charlie Parker series! The Dirty South, however, was a huge disappointment. None of the paranormal overtones and suspense. Redundant dialogue, lifeless characters, no sustained suspense. Ordinary.

Very disappointed in this novel more so than his last. That's were he seemed to start "phoning it in" instead of continuing the multi-layered world that has drawn Parker in as a key player....... To what end?

I fear we will never know. Just as a reminder to the devoted; the buried god, the Honeycomb world, the allusions of Parker being a fallen angel, the files the FBI want's desperately and a multitude of other burning questions that made me a solid fan waiting expectantly for the next book.

Don't get me wrong, Connolly is still a great writer but this series which had so much promise has become a mundane crime thriller by the numbers series. Also he seems to be going overboard with the vocabulary in his prose. I truly doubt Arkansas cops and criminals use some of his vocabulary bestowed on them to the point of excess. Where's my thesaurus?

So not a bad book but not good either. It does nothing to further Parker's journey in the Honeycomb world and in turn my curiosity to follow it.

this book felt like a rerun,JC you needed a paycheck?? longtime fan of CP books.Please try harder with the next installment! thanks BK

Just ok. I’ve read most of the Charlie Parker books and loved most, but in recent years they’ve been mediocre at best...and at times exceptionally boring. I am on page 300 now and keep waiting for something that will keep me from quitting and dropping this off a donation box. This is suppose to be the Charlie Parker tormented by the murder or his family and he lacks almost any emotion. There’s no edge, no intensity, none of the darkness I’ve come to love in these novels. Where is the evil? The story just sort of meanders around from one scene to another without anything much happening. I have to say, don’t spend your money it’s just not that good. Or sent $5 to me and I’ll send it out!