In this 14th ‘Charlie Parker’ thriller, John Connolly has again posited an ancient evil that prospers in a sleepy little backwoods American town. In this case, a cult-like group called the Cut (which is also the name of the area in which the group lives) worships an ancient totem, the Dead King, and for centuries they have lived off the proceeds of crime, rapine and murder. They live in isolation from the other inhabitants of the town and, generally, each side leaves the other alone.

Now, however, some of the younger Cut members have kidnapped and murdered Parker’s latest client, and as Parker homes in on the Cut he realises that, apart from the murderous group members, the real confrontation will be with the Dead King.

I was disappointed that this tale didn’t advance the Parker narrative as much as previous books have done. There is, admittedly, the foreboding sense of imminent evil, the usual Parker introspection and the brooding presences of Angel and Louis (although they don’t get much of a look-in for this story). There are also the sudden, sharp moments of shocking violence and Connolly’s excellent historical research.

But overall this was more of a classic thriller in which Parker and his team come in at the last minute to clean things up and get to the heart of the Dead King mystery. The denouement was anticlimactic. We did, however, get a further peek into the sheer scariness of Parker’s daughter, Sam. Despite my disappointment, it’s still a great thriller and I look forward to seeing Parker’s next outing – preferably with more page time for Charlie, Angel and Louis.

Reviewed by Leslie Lightfoot