Every Dead Thing is a book written by John Conolly. It is the first book in a series that introduces us to Detective Charlie Parker. The book tells us of the gruesome death of Mr. Parker’s wife and daughter and includes a parallel story about a child murderer and that investigation. There is a spooky undertone to the book also. It delves into dreams and spiritism and left me several times making sure I had a night light on. The ending of the book was written very well and was very intense. Like, Mr. Charlie Parker, the ending was somber and downcast.

I found the book to be a bit frustrating because Mr. Conolly introduces so many people very quickly and then brings them back again later. I had to go back several times to remember who was who and who did what. There was a lot going on throughout the whole book and several times I had to stop reading and re-read a paragraph or two. This was disheartening sometimes because the book is almost 500 pages long and going back to read every so often makes the book seem even longer.

There is a lot of violence and foul language in this book. There is also a lot of carnage and the body count is high. Parker’s assistants are a gay couple who aren’t  flamboyant at all and a psycho analyst who delves into the cesspool of human depravity. Thankfully,  there is only one – very short – love scene between Parker and the psycho analyst.

I did like the ending of the book and because of its palpable scene and demented twist in the end, I am considering continuing the series, but Mr. Conolly does tend to write tomes when it comes to the Charlie Parker books. I do not think I am ready to start another long book just yet. Maybe this summer, I will try out the second book.

I recommend this book to the adult who likes detective books and murder mysteries. I do not recommend this book to teens due to its violence and graphic murder scenes.

You can buy this book here.