A Song of Shadows

Here we are with the thirteenth Charlie Parker book, a tale of death and rebirth, of disintegration and regeneration. After the devastating ending of the previous novel, we now find Charlie convalescing in the town of Boreal where, inevitably, he meets someone who is going to need his help, in this case, Ruth Winter and her daughter, Amanda. Ruth has some terrible secrets to hide and after something terrible happens to her, Charlie finds himself caught up in a situation which involves Nazi war criminals hiding in plain sight.

To say more would be to give away too much of the plot of a tale which appears to be a turning point in Parker’s life. After what happened to him in the previous book, we find Charlie almost “reborn” as he goes through the painful process of rehabilitation, learning to use his damaged limbs and live a normal life again.  One gets the feeling that things are different now. Charlie has two daughters, one dead and one alive. They both play important roles in this book and their actions pave the way for future novels.

We meet a new character, Steiger, an assassin who is contracted by none other than one of Parker’s old enemies, Cambion. Then there is the mystery of the Jigsaw Man who is a liaison between Cambion and Steiger. In fact, the gang’s all here for constant readers of this series, however brief their appearance. Ross, Walsh, the Fulci brothers, Epstein and the enigmatic Liat and of course, Louis and Angel all make an appearance for the forces of “good” while apart from Cambion and the new villains of the novel, The Collector makes an appearance.     

In my review of A Wrath of Angels, two books ago, I stated that I felt we are due more answers about our hero, Charlie Parker, “the scourge of evil”. Maybe we are about to get them. I certainly hope so. Either way, Connolly always tells a good tale and this book is a must.