Charlie Parker is tasked with investigating the unexpected death of a high schooler in the backwoods of a small Maine community. The boy’s father, a convicted felon, believes the official ruling of suicide is nonsense, so he looks to Parker for help. At the same time, Connolly writes of a group of serial killers who participate in a horrific exercise they label “The Game”, a practice in which they seek out, target, and murder women.

This is the twenty-third book in Connolly’s long-running Charlie Parker series; a saga that began way back in 1999. While I only picked up the series myself in 2008, I find it hard to believe I have been reading Parker’s exploits for nearly 20 years. Although I’m a big fan of the series (my blog is named after the first novel in the series EVERY DEAD THING) and may be prone to a bit of bias, I do not see the series showing signs of slowing down; even if Charlie himself is crossing into his sixties with a body well-worn by combat.

The reader spends a bit more time away from Charlie than usual here with large sections alongside Parker’s longtime friends Louis and Angel as well as Sabine Drew, a figure from past books who returns. Given that Louis and Angel have several books to their name alone in the series, time spent with them is never time wasted.

Dedicated time is also devoted to the men involved in “The Game”, allowing you to really get into the heads of Parker’s adversaries. That said, these guys are truly evil men, and those who struggle with sexual violence content should be forewarned, although I have definitely read far worse.

I imagine it would come as an adjustment to some readers (although, I don’t know why you would start with book twenty-three), but Parker’s chapters are written in the first person, whereas the other parts of the novel are written from an omniscient narrator. I disliked this myself at first, but eventually adapted to it over time. It very much works with how Connolly presents his novels and especially his villains.

A RIVER RED WITH BLOOD continues a long-standing tradition of great thrillers from Connolly and his titular detective.