I feel more than incredibly lucky with my job in publishing. Anyone who works either with an actual publisher, or in a bookstore or any other facet of the industry knows the peculiar joy that comes with discovering and reading an author’s new book months before it’s available to the public. Especially an author we like.
Imagine my fiendish delight then when I came across John Connolly’s upcoming title, The Unquiet, being passed around, waiting to be given a home. If you’ve kept track, I’ve mentioned Connolly before on works such as The Book of Lost Things, Nocturnes and The Black Angel. I devoured The Unquiet this past weekend, and here is my preview for when it comes out in May.
Grab a copy off the shelf, give it to the unawares person standing next to you, and then grab another copy for yourself. The Unquiet is written in Connolly’s intimate, poetic style that somehow manages to chill around the edges, so you never quite know whether to be charmed or freaked out. This story returns with Charlie Parker, an ongoing Connolly favorite, who is a private investigator with a darker streak to his pelt, and whose past is beginning to catch up with him in unimaginable ways. Older readers will enjoy seeing some questions answered, but at the same time so many more doubts and mysteries are brought out. In the end, it’s left up to the reader to decide exactly how much of what goes on is actually real, or part of Parker’s disturbed psyche.
I’ve always enjoyed how Connolly walks a fine line between reality and that surreal edge where you can never tell if it’s wraiths in the fog, or just one cup of coffee too many that’s making you see things. Combine that with Connolly’s ability to turn the landscape and geography into something of a character all it’s own, plus his dropping in a breath of humor at just the right spots, and you’ve got quite a compelling read. This is definitely a slower-pace story than the last several Connolly has put out, but that gradual approach works in its favor, I think. It gives you time to digest everything that’s going on without feeling like you’re being jerked along by the upper lip.
So look for The Unquiet in May, or…if any of my friends in NYC want, just approach me and I can loan you my copy.
Enjoy the day. I’m off to rummage through book piles.
I see that smile.