THE NAMELESS ONES BY JOHN CONNOLLY (BOOK REVIEW)

31/5/2021

Book 19 in the Charlie Parker series sees deadly
sidekick Angel take a well-deserved leading role

The Nameless Ones by JOHN CONNOLLY
(book review by tony jones)

Four of literatures greatest modern-day detectives meet for a drink in Edinburgh’s Oxford Bar to reminiscence about old cases, loves and the very few that got away. As John Rebus is on his home turf, he buys the first round and as the whiskey begins to flow is soon deep in animated conversation with Harry Bosch, Charlie Parker and Kurt Wallander. His esteemed guests are far from home, visiting from both the east and west coasts of America and Skona in the south of Sweden. The conversation drifts to the sidekicks who have helped the detectives crack many of their most troublesome cases becoming larger than life characters themselves, as well as friends and confidants. This is what all four of these bestselling writers and their most famous literary creations have in common; the authors John Connolly (Parker), Ian Rankin (Rebus), Michael Connelly (Bosch) and Henning Mankell (Wallander) have all supporting characters which have been given their own spinoff novels where the spotlight temporarily shifts onto a different star.

In 2017 Michael Connelly introduced us to Renee Ballard in The Late Show and she has since starred in three further novels where Harry Bosch is either the sidekick or co-headliner and the two sequences are now blended beautifully together. Ian Rankin introduced to Malcolm Fox back in 2011 with The Complaints, before later welcoming Fox into his main John Rebus series and although they will never be the best of buddies, are currently on nodding terms. Perhaps one day Rankin will give Siobhan Clarke her own book also, it is long overdue and deserved. In 2004 Henning Mankell cleverly gave Kurt Wallander’s daughter her own book, the superb Before the Frost and promised more to come, before the tragic suicide of the actress who played Linda Wallander in the Swedish version of the TV show meant that Mankell never felt comfortable returning to the series.

Changing the character perspective of a long-running series can provide fresh blood, new vigour for the author, and a detour or time-out from longstanding complex story arcs, and this is exactly what The Nameless Ones does for John Connolly. This is the second major break in succession from the series as book eighteen, The Dirty South, was a prequel of sorts. Technically this is book nineteen in his long-running Charlie Parker series, the cover wisely calls it a ‘thriller’, omitting Charlie Parker’s name entirely as he is mostly absent from the novel. Long term fans might moan a little about the sideroads the plot travels, however, alternatively I would suggest applauding the fact that popular character support character Louis hits the headlines. Earlier in the year I ranked all eighteen of the existing Parker novels in a hugely popular Ginger Nut feature, take a look here should you have missed it:

SURVIVING THE LOCKDOWNS WITH CHARLIE PARKER, RATING AND RANKING THE JOHN CONNOLLY SERIES

John Connolly is not a late starter on the Rankin, Connelly and Mankell sidekick bandwagon, as back in 2008 The Reapers, book seven in the series, Louis previously starred in an ‘origins’ story which delved into his troubled past and birth as a killer. Interestingly, Charlie Parker had a much bigger part in The Reapers than he does in The Nameless Ones. Did I miss Charlie in this new book? Yes, that goes without saying, but at the same time I was happy to see the author try something different, and Louis is very, very cool.

In many ways this was a very simple tale of revenge, harking back partially to the events of A Bag of Bones when Angel, Parker and Louis all visited Amsterdam and an earlier killing which is only mentioned in passing from some years previously acts as a catalyst. This very cleverly and intricately plotted thriller could also be taken as an entertaining standalone story, but the ‘new’ reader might occasional wonder who this ‘Charlie guy is?’ and the fuss and mystique which surrounds him when his name crops us. The supernatural has a light touch in this particular novel and new readers may also wonder who the ghost girl Jennifer Parker is? But long-term readers will lap these references up, likewise a highly entertaining sequence with the Fulci brothers, one of the few scenes of the novel which take place back in Maine was a beauty. The connections Jennifer has to the supernatural Serbian folklore element of the story was also a highlight and hinted at what might lie ahead in one of the major long running story arcs once Connolly takes his pen back into that direction.

The 1990s Balkan War and the atrocities of the massacre at Srebrenica lurk in the background, with Louis and Angel tracking two brothers and their crew who tortured and murdered an old acquaintance of Louis. The novel dwells on the Balkan conflict in some detail with many of the ex-paramilitary Serbians now making a living as gunrunners, drugs, prostitution, and people smuggling. These are very nasty pieces of work for whom life is cheap and murder, torture and blackmail is second nature. Although brothers Radovan and Spiridon Vuksan fall well short of the best of Charlie Parker’s adversaries, ultimately, they are just murdering thugs, their regular reminiscences of their time in the Balkan War was fascinating reading and Connolly did a fine job of bringing this terrible period in modern European history to life.

In a round-about way the novel asks the question: ‘What future for Serbia?’ As the country hopes to join the European Union in the next decade is there still a place for the mass murderers from that conflict who have yet to be caught? Does anybody still see them as heroes? These complex questions are not asked or answered directly, but I am sure there are plenty of real Radovan and Spiridon Vuksans out there, probably hiding in plain sight.

Stylistically The Nameless Ones is slightly different from many of the other Charlie Parker novels and lacks the multiple character points of view and complex plots we are accustomed to. However, the end result is an incredibly readable page-turner thriller which I read straight through over two days. If I were being picky, I would suggest Louis did not have enough page time and the Serbs and the sleazy lawyer had way too much. Considering these were obviously characters who will not be returning in further books I was surprised so many pages were given over to them and the opportunity to develop Louis was not explored more fully.

Reading a new novel from one of my favourite sequences is like catching up with an old friend I have not seen for a couple of years for a drink. On this occasion Charlie missed the train for that famous Edinburgh pub, but Louis was the next best thing and was great company. It is truly amazing that this series is still so vital, vivid, and alive after so many books and I hope if John Connolly feels that diversions such as The Nameless Ones are necessary to keep the creative juices flowing then I am with him all the way. If there is a better blend of detective and the supernatural out there than Connolly I would love to discover it.

Tony Jones

In Amsterdam, four people are butchered in a canal house, their remains arranged around the crucified form of their patriarch, De Jaager: fixer, go-between, and confidante of the assassin named Louis. The men responsible for the murders are Serbian war criminals. They believe they can escape retribution by retreating to their homeland.
They are wrong.

For Louis has come to Europe to hunt them down: five killers to be found and punished before they can vanish into the east.
There is only one problem.
The sixth.