A Game of Ghosts by John Connolly, Book Review

Ghosts – do believe in the existence of ghosts? And if you do, do you believe they can harm us? From the beginning of time, people have sought to appease not only the divine but also the dead. To this day many people around the world, notably in China, practice a form of ancestry worship, believing the ancestors can help them in their daily struggles. I wonder if they are also keen to show sufficient deference because they are perhaps afraid the dead might bring them harm? 

The Charlie Parker series has a huge following of devoted readers and I can see why. The books are pacey with a menacing atmosphere that pulls you in. In A Game of Ghosts, former New York City policeman and now private investigator Charlie Parker gets involved in a case dripping with evil, evil you can fight with a gun and evil you can’t. How can you fight ghosts you can’t kill because they are already dead? Charlie Parker is hired to find another P.I. who has disappeared while investigating a series of murders and disappearances, all somehow associated with hauntings. 

However, don’t be misled into thinking this is a supernatural thriller along the lines of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it isn’t. This is far more sinister and not at all 'science fictiony'.  John Connolly has created an exciting thriller with a sense of menace which captivates. What we do in this life, the decisions we make, are so much more important if they impact on what happens after death and if this thriller is anything to go by, I’d rather be on the side of angels and if I do have to face evil ghosts, then Charlie Parker would be a useful guy to have around.  

John Connolly was born in Dublin and worked as a bartender, local government official and journalist before publishing his first novel, Every Dead Thing, in 1999.  He is the winner of a number of literary prizes for his work, including the Edgar, Shamus and Anthony awards, and a CWA Dagger.

Published in 2017 by Hodder & Stoughton