The Unquiet

Daniel Clay, a once-respected psychiatrist, has been missing for years following revelations about harm done to the children in his care. Believing him dead, his daughter Rebecca has tried to come to terms with her father's legacy, but her fragile peace is about to be shattered. Someone is asking questions about Daniel Clay, someone who does not believe that he is dead: the revenger Merrick, a father and a killer obsessed with discovering the truth about his own daughter's disappearance.

Private detective Charlie Parker is hired to make Merrick go away, but Merrick will not be stopped. Soon Parker finds himself trapped between those who want the truth about Daniel Clay to be revealed, and those who want it to remain hidden at all costs. But there are other forces at work here. Someone is funding Merrick's hunt, a ghost from Parker's past. And Merrick's actions have drawn others from the shadows, half-glimpsed figures intent upon their own form of revenge, pale wraiths drifting through the ranks of the unquiet dead. The Hollow Men have come . . .

“Parker is a classic character who walks straight and tall like someone from the old west, and the reader knows all will be well once he arrives in town. THE UNQUIET just won't let you put it down as the plot careers across the pages like a runaway train. Excellent! - Independent on SundayThis man's so good, it's terrifying . . . a quieter, subtler, more reflective way of scaring us into shivering wrecks . . . His gift for instilling terror is undimmed . . . Connolly operates in the terrain between unease and horror and does so without resorting to hysteria - The TimesConnolly's books are shot through with bitter poetry, and couched in prose as elegant as most literary fiction . . . However, all of this is not the overriding reason why Connolly has risen above most of his peers. It's because Connolly's work has raised the stakes, beyond the quotidian concerns of most crime novels, into a grandiose conflict between the forces of good and evil, with religion and the paranormal stirred into the heady brew. - IndependentAs usual, there is an element of the supernatural, taking the reader into a place where the real, contemporary world is touched by something from our worst nightmares, and he does it in lyrical, almost poetic language which grips and chills. - Sunday TelegraphTHE UNQUIET reveals both pace, full description and a compelling central character. It's a rich achievement - and strange that a master of the macabre like Connolly should seem such a nice guy. - Daily ExpressConnolly handles the unspeakable with consummate ease - Daily MirrorParker seeks truth and discovers pain. His sleuthing is fast-packed, which makes THE UNQUIET a thrilling read - FT MagazineOriginality in story and style is what makes Connolly stand out from the thriller pack. THE UNQUIET is plotted and paced not to break your neck, like those of his rivals in the business, but to efficiently crush every bone in your body. - Daily Sport”

Parker is a classic character who walks straight and tall like someone from the old west, and the reader knows all will be well once he arrives in town. THE UNQUIET just won't let you put it down as the plot careers across the pages like a runaway train. Excellent! - Independent on Sunday

This man's so good, it's terrifying . . . a quieter, subtler, more reflective way of scaring us into shivering wrecks . . . His gift for instilling terror is undimmed . . . Connolly operates in the terrain between unease and horror and does so without resorting to hysteria - The Times

Connolly's books are shot through with bitter poetry, and couched in prose as elegant as most literary fiction . . . However, all of this is not the overriding reason why Connolly has risen above most of his peers. It's because Connolly's work has raised the stakes, beyond the quotidian concerns of most crime novels, into a grandiose conflict between the forces of good and evil, with religion and the paranormal stirred into the heady brew. - Independent

As usual, there is an element of the supernatural, taking the reader into a place where the real, contemporary world is touched by something from our worst nightmares, and he does it in lyrical, almost poetic language which grips and chills. - Sunday Telegraph

THE UNQUIET reveals both pace, full description and a compelling central character. It's a rich achievement - and strange that a master of the macabre like Connolly should seem such a nice guy. - Daily Express

Connolly handles the unspeakable with consummate ease - Daily Mirror

Parker seeks truth and discovers pain. His sleuthing is fast-packed, which makes THE UNQUIET a thrilling read - FT Magazine

Originality in story and style is what makes Connolly stand out from the thriller pack. THE UNQUIET is plotted and paced not to break your neck, like those of his rivals in the business, but to efficiently crush every bone in your body. - Daily Sport

John Connolly is the first non-American writer to win the US Shamus award and the first Irish writer to win an Edgar award. His debut - EVERY DEAD THING - introduced the character of Private Investigator Charlie Parker, and swiftly launched him right into the front rank of thriller writers. All his subsequent novels have been Sunday Times bestsellers. Before becoming a novelist, he spent five years working as a journalist for The Irish Times, to which he continues to contribute. In 2007 he was awarded the Irish Post Award for Literature. BOOKS TO DIE FOR, which he edited with Declan Burke, was the winner of the 2013 Anthony, Agatha and Macavity awards for Best Non-Fiction work.

You can learn more from John's website, , find him on Facebook, and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/jconnollybooks.

Daniel Clay, a once-respected psychiatrist, has been missing for years following revelations about harm done to the children in his care. Believing him dead, his daughter Rebecca has tried to come to terms with her father's legacy, but her fragile peace is about to be shattered. Someone is asking questions about Daniel Clay, someone who does not believe that he is dead: the revenger Merrick, a father and a killer obsessed with discovering the truth about his own daughter's disappearance. Private detective Charlie Parker is hired to make Merrick go away, but Merrick will not be stopped. Soon Parker finds himself trapped between those who want the truth about Daniel Clay to be revealed, and those who want it to remain hidden at all costs. But there are other forces at work here. Someone is funding Merrick's hunt, a ghost from Parker's past. And Merrick's actions have drawn others from the shadows, half-glimpsed figures intent upon their own form of revenge, pale wraiths drifting through the ranks of the unquiet dead. The Hollow Men have come . . .

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