Every Dead Thing

By: John Connolly

Narrated by: Titus Welliver

Former NYPD detective Charlie "Bird" Parker is on the verge of madness. Tortured by the unsolved slayings of his wife and young daughter, he is a man consumed by guilt, regret, and the desire for revenge.

When his former partner asks him to track down a missing girl, Parker finds himself drawn into a world beyond his imagining -- one where thirty year old killings remain shrouded in fear and lies, a world where the ghosts of the dead torment the living, a world haunted by the murderer responsible for the deaths in his family, a serial killer unlike any other, a monster who uses the human body to create works of art and takes faces as his prize. But the search awakens buried instincts in Parker: instincts for survival, for compassion, for love, and, ultimately, for killing.

Aided by a beautiful young psychologist and a pair of career criminals, he becomes the bait in a trap set in the humid bayous of Louisiana, a trap that threatens the lives of everyone in its reach. Driven by visions of the dead and the voice of an old black psychic who met a terrible end, Parker must seek a final, brutal confrontation with a murderer who has moved beyond all notions of humanity, who has set out to create a hell on earth: the serial killer known only as the Travelling Man.

In the tradition of classic American detective fiction, Every Dead Thing is a tense, richly-plotted thriller, filled with memorable characters and gripping action. It is also a profoundly moving novel, concerned with the nature of loyalty, of love, and of forgiveness. Lyrical and terrifying, it is an ambitious debut, triumphantly realized.

©1999 John Connolly (P)1999 Simon & Schuster

gruesome story about a serial killer

a story about a detective chasing down the killer of his wife and daughter. the killer is sadistic and hard to find. the trail goes in the wrong direction and has a surprise ending.

What happened here?

This story was tough to follow as though pieces of the narrative had been chopped out. There also was two totally silent areas. I guess Titus had gone for a bathroom break. As usual Titus Welliver was terrific and I believe the unabridged version would have been much more enjoyable.

a bit gruesome ...but thrilling story

I purchased it because Titus Welliver was narrator, and although it was a little unsettling to listen to the details it was a solid thriller with twist and turns....good not great...

Gruesome alert

I enjoy most of John Connolly's stories and I love Titus Welliver's narration. However, I was not expecting this level of gruesome graphic violence (against women and children only). I finished the book but wish I hadn't - just heads up, if you're at all squeamish this may not be for you.

Blood and guts everywhere - too much

Audible version only

The story was too graphic for my tastes.

Titus, as always gives a masterful performance as the narrator.

Story had an extraordinarily large number of characters and relationships that reduced my ability to track the story line. My least favorite of the Connolly stories I’ve read and/or listened to.

Love Titus. Too many characters for a crime novel.

I'm a Titus fan and was drawn too this novel after finishing the Michael Connolly series. I felt that the character development was a little weaker than I'm used to, while there were more characters. I'm sure the author intended this to enrich and even obfuscate who the killer was. Unfortunately, it also took away from the immersion I experienced while listening to the story.

The pace of the story was a appropriate, considering the content; however, the chapter divisions and blank content in the middle of chapters was distracting and a bit disorienting. I'm not sure if this was done for impact or were editing errors.

Overall, 4 stars.

This is abridged!!!

I didn’t realize this was abridged, that makes sense now because the story felt choppy and not fully fleshed out. The long silences made me think that my file download messed up.

Titus Welliver was fantastic though and I was impressed with his vocal range after only seeing him in shows like Bosch, Lost and Deadwood.

Pulls you in!

I read this book a long time ago. I was looking for new books and found this series. This narrator really brought the story to life for me. I wish he narratived all of these books. This book really did make me turn on the lights and check my doors. I love it! John has a great way of telling a story.

Story all over the place

Thought I'd try this author. Chose the Titus Welliver version because I love him on Amazon original "Bosch" was expecting similar to Michael Connelly. Sadly for me it was not. Way too gory and the plot so unbelievable and all over the place. It's his first so maybe they'll get better. I always start first in the series. Undecided if I'll go for more of the series.

abridged may be the problem

I love murder mysteries, I enjoy novels with macabre or scarey parts, but this book left me cold. (I think it may be because it was abridged. I have to look more carefully when I order from Audible.) I never felt connected to these characters, and parts of the story were confusing. And I was never scared.