Review: The White Road

In The White Road, Charlie “Bird” Parker and his buddies, Louis and Angel are back in trouble, this time in South Carolina. Charlie and Rachel are now married with a baby on the way and he is trying to settle down and stay away from jobs that could possibly bring harm to his new family. However, when his old friend Elliott Norton, a defense attorney in South Carolina calls asking for help, Charlie is unable to walk away.

Elliott has taken on the case of Atys Jones, a young black man facing the death penalty for the rape and murder of Marianne Larousse, daughter of one of the wealthiest men in the state of South Carolina. Needless to say, the Klan and other similar groups are still alive and strong in this area and Elliott fears that his client is innocent, will never make it to trial before they kill him and in fear for his own life after his house is set on fire for taking on the case. From the beginning, Charlie does not understand why his friend has taken up this crusade and as he travels to South Carolina to help it becomes even more confusing the more he finds out.

Along with the South Carolina trouble, the evil Rev. Faulkner from the last book in the series, has an appeal filed attempting to change his bond status so that he may get out of prison while awaiting trial. The case is very shaky against Rev. Faulkner as Charlie and his wife Rachel are the only witnesses to any of his crimes besides Angel, who refuses to testify as he wants the Rev. Faulkner released so he and Louis can kill him. With no new evidence and Charlie being a questionable witness it appears that the Rev. Faulkner will be bailed out of jail and Charlie, Rachel, their unborn child, Angel and Louis will all be in danger then. The Rev. Faulkner claims that his children kept him a virtual prisoner for nearly 40 years and with them both dead there is no one to dispute this besides Charlie, Rachel and Angel. The White Supremacists and the Klan in South Carolina are also helping in Rev. Faulkner’s defense fund.

John Connolly has written another wonderful book in The White Road. I had saved this book until I wanted something to read that I knew I would really enjoy. I love the detail he provides so that you can easily picture scenes in your mind. I also love all of his characters. He fleshes them out so well that you feel as if you know them or can feel the evil coming from them. Although many mystery readers are turned off by any supernatural elements in a mystery, I would still highly recommend The White Road to them. John uses the supernatural aspects in a way that to me are believable in his books. People that would turn away from them just because they have heard they contain these aspects and are normally turned off by them are missing a great read. I would highly recommend this book and all of his previous books to any mystery fan.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Gina Metz - RAM

Book Review: The White Road