This is a tough one.
I’ve been waiting for four rather long books (by mystery standards) for John Connolly to deliver the goods. I’ve received glimpses into what makes him a good writer and what makes these stories work: some well done mystery scenes and a dash of the supernatural. But I’ve been patiently waiting for him to take the next step.
Does he do it here?
Yes.
But!
Sigh…
Ok, I’ll go with what works first and what I’m having a hard time with. I think in terms of synthesizing mystery and horror, this is his most fully realized work yet, which is a portent of greater things. The imagery here is shattering and well done, used effectively enough with a mythology that’s reachable but not over-explained. This was the first of his four books that I really fell into.
It didn’t hurt that Charlie Parker’s Charlie Parker-ness is toned down. Yes there’s still that Wounded Man/Avenging Angel BS but by-and-large it’s not nearly as bad as the first three. Some of the auxiliary characters are fleshed out and given more to do; it was neat to read about Angel’s backstory and more about Angel as a person, with a lot less “ha ha he gay” kind of banter that straight people think gay people enjoy. Focusing on other characters and on the legacy of slavery and violent racism in South Carolina allowed Connolly to make Parker the main character without making him the whole story. It’s what I’ve always wanted from these books and whew, at last, we are here.
Having said that…
I think it’s very good that Connolly takes racism seriously, views the Klan and white nationalists as the bad guys, picks up on the undercurrent of racial hate boiling in America that would eventually give rise to Trump. However, there’s a legacy of Black grief here and Connolly adds more to it in the interest of telling the story. And there’s just a history of white writers doing this and it’s…it’s just not great. I don’t know. For example, just because Sinners, a similar supernatural-crime thriller, was directed by Ryan Cooler doesn’t make it any more or less accurate with regards to stories of violence against Black people in the south. The thing is…those stories should be Black people’s to tell. They’re the ones that suffered. And even though Connolly avoids the White Savior route mostly (you’ll have to read to find out but it’s not as bad as I anticipated), it’s still the kind of situation where I wonder “Yeah you can tell this story but should you?”
Also, for white writers writing Black characters, even southern ones, I promise you that you don’t have to break the apostrophe key when typing out their dialogue. Please be more inventive.
So I don’t know. I thought it was a good book. I do have my concerns with how it handled race. I’m more graceful at this point in my life than when I was in my Everything Is Racist Era (I mean everything is racist in some respects but one has to be judicious in how they evaluate it all, less they lose sight of the big picture). I liked it and I’m excited now to continue the series. And I think John Connolly should be able to write about whatever he wants. But the question of: Should you? should always be asked of white writers when telling these kinds of stories.
