Every Dead Thing by John Connolly was not for me. I listened via Audible beginning to end, and the narrator was excellent, but there are crimes that I do not enjoy. Examples that I avoid at all cost being horror, true crime, and anything with child abuse or child death. I am glad that I've finally listened to a John Connolly, but I can't imagine I would seek out another. i realize that this is the first Charlie Parker, and perhaps the later books were more satisfying as he settled in as a character and the author as a writer.
For me, the police procedural information was wonderful, but then I didn't understand, with that depth of background information, how he could run around as a private investigator and claim he wasn't one (as he wasn't licensed etc.) There were other things that didn't stack up for me as well. As to John's writing style, the mix of personal to crime was off and came across as backstory rather than personal connective writing for me. The big problem I didn't care for was the depth and length of the backstories for every single character, including that character's parents, his children, his work buddies etc., and that single character might be a minor player or end up important. As the backstories are told, they don't necessarily make sense to the plot for several chapters. Often so much later that I couldn't remember who the individual was.
So for me, this was a sad and horrible read through the holiday season, but yet---I didn't put it down or move on to something else. That is an indicator of his abilities to hold me, but more likely the result that nothing else in my queue or what was coming out caught my attention.
I'll be more careful in the future. It is HORRIBLE when I turn away from something because the topic is too upsetting for me, but that is the way I am. I guess that's why I write young adult.
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