2024 the best of the bad men review

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New York Times bestselling author John Connolly masterfully intertwines mystery, emotion, violence, and the supernatural in this raw and gripping thriller.

He has been told the girl’s last words, and he feels unaccountably afraid. The dead ones. They were dead, but they had lights. Why do the dead need light?

Three hundred years ago, the settlers on the small Maine island of Sanctuary were betrayed to their enemies and slaughtered. Since then, the island has known peace. Until now. A gang of four men are descending on Sanctuary, intent on committing a brutal and relentless massacre. All that stands in their way are rookie police officer Sharon Macie and the strange, troubled officer Joe Dupree. But Joe is no ordinary policeman. He knows the island has been steeped in blood once and that it will never again tolerate the shedding of innocent blood. The band of killers who are set to desecrate Sanctuary will unleash the fury of its ghosts upon themselves and all who stand by them. On Sanctuary, all hell is about to break loose...

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000FC1BJC
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Atria Books (March 23, 2004)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 23, 2004
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3035 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 480 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0743487842
Reviewer: EMcD62
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Thrilling and suspenseful!
Review: I decided to reread the Charlie Parker novels. I included this one even though Parker has only a cameo role. Yet again, Connolly blends suspense, action,the supernatural into a heady brew wonderfully evoking a world comprised of magnificent writing.

Reviewer: Gary Griffiths
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: "No grave deep enough to bury a bad death"
Review: "Bad Men" is a departure for the vastly talented John Connolly. Charlie "Bird" Parker, the ex-NYPD private investigator of Connolly's previous three novels (Every Dead Thing, The Killing Kind, The White Road) is "mostly" missing. (Parker, in an unusual twist for a novel, does indeed make a cameo appearance in "Bad Men".) But this is a departure of other sorts. Missing also in "Men" is the depth of Connolly's typically haunting prose - the lyrical quality of his previous works that made him so unique in the crowded field of popular crime fiction. But that in no way implies that "Bad Men" is a pedestrian effort. To the contrary, this is gripping fiction - a self-described thriller that is also a mystery - while at the same time a tale of the supernatural that rivals the master, Stephen King.The story takes place on the isolated Sanctuary Island off the coast of Portland, Maine - familiar territory for the Charlie Parker (or King) fan. Against the backdrop of a brutal massacre of the island's original settlers three centuries before, Connolly paints a fascinating story of King-like contrast: the boredom of rural Maine meets unspeakable evils, ancient and contemporary. While the characters may fall a bit sort of Connolly's vivid portraits in the "Parker" series, they are nonetheless interesting: the island's chief of police, Joe Dupree, is literally a giant, and an entire entourage of "bad men" (one bad woman) that make Peckinpah's "Wild Bunch" look like a Sunday School class. At the center of the storm are convicted felon Edward Moloch, whose Biblically inspired name foreshadows, and his estranged wife, hiding out on Sanctuary Island under the assumed name of Marianne Elliott. Five years prior, Marianne, in protecting herself and her infant son, had betrayed Moloch to the police, taken money that he had stolen, and fled under a false identity. After a particularly brutal escape from prison, Moloch assembles his team of despots and seeks out to find Marianne and reap his vengeance. As Moloch's gang tracks down the unsuspecting Elliott, they inevitably encounter "Melancholy" Joe Dupree. But as Moloch's boys find mistrust and jealously within the team a more formidable obstacle, the malevolent force lurking within the island emerges as the true deterrent.While perhaps lacking the passion and force of Connolly's previous words, "Bad Men" is a wholly enjoyable and engrossing work of fiction, sure to hold the reader's attention. Thriller, mystery, horror - take your pick - Connolly does it all in this one with highly satisfying results.

Reviewer: Amazon Customer Frani
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Outstanding
Review: Love the Parker books, and he does briefly appear in the one, but the "good guys " in this book are special. I won't do any spoilers, but the ending is both good and sad. Joe Dupree is a great character. The "bad men" are Really, really bad! Someone wrote a one star review talking about "child rape," that was only touched on in the beginning of the book with no details. I would have been unable to read the book if that were the case its not. The story is about a woman and her son that escaped a brutal husband who is now in prison, but escapes.. The other story is about a group.of settlers in 1692, who died at the hands of very bad men. Both of these tie together in this book. The supernatural elements are scary. Great writing. Mr. Connolly has a vivid imagination. Plus, most of the places in the book are real along with some of the history of Maine's islands. "Dutch" is not one of the real ones, but you come to believe it is.

Reviewer: G. H. Giroux
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Disappointing & A Bad Ending
Review: I accidentally discovered Connolly's Charlie Parker series at a library sale, and since then have ordered and read each book in the series. Naturally I ordered 'Bad Men' as well, and although it was clear that the characters were totally different, I had expected the same style and intricate complexity characteristic of the Parker series. In this, I was disappointed. The amazingly complex, intricate and fascinating first-person ruminations so marvelous in Parker were missing in this third-person narrated book, and that lost a lot in terms of quality and interest. I never really derived a sense of empathy with any of the 'good' characters, who weren't as well-drawn or appealing as those in the other books. A lot more could have been done with Joe Dupree, and I was ===SPOILER SPOILER== horrified when he was killed at the end - he deserved better and it was quite a letdown. Too, there never seemed to be real purpose in having Joe be a giant - it seemed to just kind of be thrown in there as a difference but with no real center to explore the plotline: he could have been normal-sized and there would have been no difference in the plotline. Hopefully, there will be no sequel using the remaining characters, and Mr. Connolly will continue on with the excellent Parker series.

Reviewer: Carole
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A difficult read
Review: While it took over half the book to establish the characters and the history of the island,it was worth it. It was almost a little too violent for me. But, it was necessary to paint the picture.

Reviewer: Bookzilla
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Bad Men: A Thriller
Review: John Connolly stories are informative, well researched, fast-moving, graphic and realistic. Believable characters, dialogue and story line. Charlie Parker plays a small part in this one.I found this story sad as I liked a few characters who did not survive.Quotes from the story I found interesting:"Sometimes, there's no grave deep enough to bury a bad death."Regarding a special need's child: She wanted him to be tougher, while simultaneously fearing the consequences of releasing him from her protection. It was the dilemma of every parent she knew, but a mother without a man to share the raising of a male child felt it more acutely. Sometimes she sensed that she was being forced to make choices against her nature in order to compensate for someone who wasn't there.I enjoy searching for and listening to the various musicians and songs mentioned in his books.You may wish to have a lighter story next in line to be read after finishing this.I will re-read this story and look forward to more works from this author.

Reviewer: Rocky
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I don't normally review books, but I felt like after finally reading through the Parker series in chronological order as well as Connolly's other works, it was about time.Before I talk about the novel itself, I have to comment on the author introduction in this publication. John Connolly mentions all of my favourite mystery/crime fiction authors of all time, including Michael Connelly and John Sandford. Mr Connolly, I have never loved an author so much as in that moment! The thing that sets him apart however, is the little dab of horror and supernatural that just brushes the pages of the Parker novels.And here it comes to the front in full force.John Connolly has a talent for weaving the Strange, Dark, and Mysterious (shoutout Mr Ballen) with crime, history, and the modern world. His writing style is descriptive and steady in its pace, but just as relentless and unforgiving as his villains. If you were looking for a gentle crime novel turn romance, this isn't it. Trying to find authors like this is mission impossible.Unlike the Parker novels, Bad Men is set with a little less focus on the crime and mystery and a lot more on the history and supernatural. It's a refreshing turn of the cards without losing out on the distinct style of writing. Another thing a reader might find different is that the point of view isn't written in first person, like Parker's are. It's not necessarily a bad thing unless you as a reader dislike seeing things from a bird's eye view, and rather call shotgun with the MC. If you're coming from Charlie Parker to Bad Men, keep an open mind.This is still set in the same universe, so we do get to see Parker cameos, if this knowledge pleases you 😉I love all Connolly's works to varying degrees, but the love is there. As a standalone novel, I am please with Bed Men, and I truly hope to see more spin-offs set in the world of Charlie Parker, whether he's around to flaunt his reputation or not. ❤️

Reviewer: Client Kindle
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I read it for the first time some years ago and it was good to read it again. Charlie Parker is not part of this story but still...

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Excellent like all john's books

Reviewer: Christopher Morgan
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: John Connolly has become one of my favourite authors and having read his entire Charlie Parker series and Nocturnes I decided to look at this one, it took me a while to get around to buying it but didnt take long to finish.This is one of the best books I have read in recent months and it really was gripping, having not read a Connolly book for so long the return to his superb writing was most welcome. This is his only book apart from Nocturnes (a short story collection) that does not have his usual hero playing a real part.Connolly's plots, characters and writing in general are as good as any I have read and this latest novel is no exception. His protagonist's are well set up and easy to sympathise with drawing you into the book, even his villains which are usually mercilessly evil and well still are seem to be more human in their nature (apart from Willard). This time out the escaped convict Moloch and his team of hired goons which are all very menacing and believable are hunting down his wife so that he can have revenge against the woman that left him and the son he never knew.Moloch's actions are not entirely his own however history seems about to repeat itself on the small Maine state Island of Sanctuary. Theres plenty of blood, death and strange goings on to interest most any reader especially returning fans of Connolly who should really love this book as much as I did, in terms of comparisons to the other books of his this is most like his masterful writing of Every Dead Thing (another book worth looking into if you havent).A massive resounding yes to add to anyones book collection if you like a good thriller with a bit of a supernatural twist. If your only on Amazon to buy one book today make it this one and if your like me you'll be finished with it in two days and back for another anyway.

Reviewer: Jilly Lycett
Rating: 2.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I buy Charlie Parker books because of him. And Louis and Angel. None were in this book except CP for one second. Not happy.