THE NAMELESS ONES

5 stars out of 5

I swear that every time I read a book in the Charlie Parker series - this is the 19th - my jaw drops open early on and doesn't close till I get to the end. The writing is almost mesmerizing - not an easy accomplishment given the complexity of the plots - the detail is mind-boggling and every sentence is precisely crafted. This one, like the others, absolutely blew me away.

It's not like the others, though, in a way some readers may not appreciate: Charlie himself is almost nonexistent, except for a couple of brief phone conversations and equally brief in-person encounters. Front and center this time are Charlie's gay-couple friends Louis and Angel (mostly the former, an accomplished assassin) - actually fine with me because I love both characters. Accompanied and on occasion assisted by Angel, Louis is out for vengeance; in Amsterdam, the patriarch of a family of four - a man who was a close confidante of Louis, have been tortured and killed (the other three in the family, a young man and two women, for no apparent reason other than to make a statement). The two main killers are brothers and Serbian war criminals who hope to return to their native soil.

Louis, of course, has other ideas, but executing them (pun intended) proves more than a little challenging. In fact, he's gunning for five Serbian criminals; little does he know there's a sixth out there gunning for him. There's a lengthy cast of characters, all with names unfamiliar to me from countries even less familiar, but it all begins to make sense in fairly short order. There's even a supernatural element involving two young girls - a one who consorts with the brothers and seems to be in a sort of dead-but-still-living state similar to Charlie's late daughter Jennifer, who also makes a few appearances. 

I was on the edge of my seat with every finger crossed except the one swiping the pages of my Kindle throughout as Louis plans his assassination strategies - often working with people he's forced to trust even though it's a pretty sure bet they're untrustworthy. One of the planned encounters resulted in one of my favorite lines from the book, coming as Louis waited for one of his targets in a hotel lobby: "He found a bench, removed a book from his pocket and commenced not reading it."

In addition to the otherworldly elements, I will note that there's an abundance of grisly murders (for the benefit of those who aren't much into blood and guts stuff). The ending, while satisfying, leaves the door open to some intrigue I predict will show up in the next book. I'm up for it - bring it on!

The Nameless Ones by John Connolly (Atria/Emily Bestler Books (October 2021); 428 pp.