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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN num: 9781416569527
ISBN number: 1416569529
Label: Atria
Manufacturer: Atria
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 368
Printing Date: May 27, 2008
Publishing house: Atria
Sale Popularity Level: 18756
Studio: Atria
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Product Description:
A brilliantly chilling novel by New York Times bestselling author John Connolly about a chain of killings, linked obscurely by great distances and the passage of years, and the settling of their blood-debts -- past, present, and future.
As a small boy, Louis witnesses an unspeakable crime that takes the life of a member of his small, southern community. He grows up and moves on, but he is forever changed by the cruel and brutal nature of the act. It lights a fire deep within him that burns white and cold, a quiet flame just waiting to ignite. Now, years later, the sins of his life are reaching into his present, bringing with them the buried secrets and half-forgotten acts of his past.
Someone is hunting him, targeting his home, his businesses, and his partner, Angel. The instrument of revenge is Bliss, a killer of killers, the most feared of assassins. Bliss is a Reaper, a lethal tool to be applied toward the ultimate end, but he is also a man with a personal vendetta.
Hardened by their pasts, Louis and Angel decide to strike back. While they form a camaraderie that brings them solace, it offers them no shelter from the fate that stalks them. When they mysteriously disappear, their friends are forced to band together to find them. They are led by private detective Charlie Parker, a killer himself, a Reaper in waiting.
Connolly's triumphant prose and unerring rendering of his tortured characters mesmerize and chill. He creates a world where everyone is corrupt, murderers go unpunished, but betrayals are always avenged. Yet another masterpiece from a proven talent, The Reapers will terrify and transfix.
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Rated by buyers 
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I liked all of his other books, but this one came across (to me) like he was just filling up pages.
Rated by buyers 
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The story of Louis and Angel - finally some background about their upbringings (mostly Louis's) - was good, but it was not in the same category as the rest of Connolly's works. Louis was developed well, but not at the same depth as Charlie Parker (we were spoiled) and Angel still remains a tertiary character. That being said, I think the author has set a very high standard and certain expectations for the "Parker series" - i.e., Charlie Parker's struggles and some supernatural element -that just wasnt present in this book. I would highly recommend, but would do so only if the reader was not expecting the same as a typical Charlie Parker book.
Also, I think the final scene (reversal of the scenes where Louis and Angel rescue Charlie) was a little drawn out and it ended on a soft note. Again, while this was a very good book, it was not the best that I've seen from the author.
Rated by buyers 
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The Reapers is the best book I've read in quite some time. Fast-paced, beautifully written and always interesting, this one takes all of Connolly's characters and puts them in a medly of action and suspense. And this time, instead of being from Charlie Parker's point of view, the book tells the story of his partners in crime, Angel and Louis.
Living in New York, Louis has a dark past. We finally learn why he has become the cold blooded killer that he is today. As his past is revealed, certain figures from it resurface, seeking vengeance. These men, the Reapers, were trained killers that have no remorse whatsoever. Louis used to be one of them. But now that he works solo, without any organisation to tell him what to do, some want to make him pay for what he has done in the past.
Beautifully written as always, Connolly writes this one as a full-on thriller. There is no supernatural this time around, simply high-octane suspense. The narrative presents many characters, all of them interesting, all of them crucial to the plot. I love the way that Connolly presents every character as if he was the lead of the story. Within a few pages, we know the back story of every major and secondary characters, which in turns makes us feel par of the story. It's not simply a kill in the end when someone dies. Some might feel as though these descriptions are too much, filler, but they serve their purpose. Every character becomes known to us which, in turns, makes their eventual doom more striking.
Although the book is short (especially compared to Connolly's other books) this is one of his best. It was great to learn Angel and Louis's past and to see them take the lead for once. The sections of the novel that gives us Louis's past are written in a very cinematic way. But the real pleasure was the last 50 pages or so. The finale is so intense, so well plotted that it left me feeling breathless.
Rated by buyers -
I was excited when I heard that John Connolly's subsequent book was going to focus on Louis, the hitman from the Charlie Parker series. He has always been an intriguing and unique sidekick type of character. How many books have a grey hitman with an affinity for country music?
"The Reapers" is a tale of vengeance. We see Lewis as a boy growing up in the south. We see him being recruited by a man named Gabriel who is loosely associated with the U.S. government. We see how Louis is manipulated into becoming an assassin. And we see Louis creating enemies in the process.
Some of the enemies have tracked Lewis down and are ready to have their vengeance. As usual, Angel is at Lewis's side quipping and griping the whole way.
Connolly is an amazing writer. In just a few pages of "The Reapers" he is creating characters that we feel like we have met. With just a few paragraphs he has also created a sense of foreboding. "The Reapers" just doesn't quite deliver on the promise that the very first 50 pages show.
This is very much a "Louis" novel. There is no supernatural undercurrent running through this book as it does in the Charlie Parker novels. This is probably why it is not as satisfying.
Without the supernatural element this becomes just another mystery full of murder and mayhem. There is nothing to distinguish "The Reapers" from dozens of other books that come out every year.
It is a fun read, but it is not on par with the other Charlie Parker books.
Rated by buyers 
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This book is filled with useless and unneeded descriptive paragraphs that go on and on. The plot is predictable and the ending has been used countless times before.
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