The Dark Hollow by John Connolly 2001 (US) ISBN # -0743203321 Simon & Schuster

This is the second in an ongoing series with a Private Investigator named Charlie Parker, Bird to his friends. Parker is an ex-cop, and if you read the first in the series, the Shamus Award winning Every Dead Thing, you’ll know why it’s ex. Parker has ghosts to deal with and he decides that to help do this he will move back to the place he grew up. His Grandfather’s house in Scarborough Maine. After moving back, he gets involved in a case investigating the murder of a mother and child. The case twists and turns, and brings Parker’s own past into the equation.

With his friends, Angel and Louis, Parker sets out to find the truth. And the ride takes him through some almost supernatural places, a run in with some mob hoods, and a killer that is not your typical killer. This dark book is a great sophomore effort and worth picking up.

Jon Jordan