wiki:
John Connolly (born May 31, 1968, Dublin) is an Irish writer who is best known for his series of novels starring private detectiveCharlie Parker.
BiographyConnolly graduated with aB.A. in English from Trinity College, Dublin, and an M.A. injournalism from Dublin City University. Before becoming a full-time novelist, Connolly worked as a journalist, a barman, a local government official, a waiter and a gofer at Harrods department store in London. After five years as a freelance journalist for The Irish Times newspaper, Connolly became frustrated with the profession, and began to write his first novel, Every Dead Thing, in his spare time. (Connolly continues to contribute articles to the paper, most frequently interviews with other established authors.)Every Dead Thing introduced readers to the anti-hero Charlie Parker, a former police officer hunting the killer of his wife and daughter. The book was met with critical acclaim; it was nominated for theBram Stoker Award for Best First Novel and went on to win the 2000Shamus Award for Best First Private Eye Novel. (Connolly is the first author outside of the US to have won the award.)[1] Connolly has since written further books in the popular Parker series and a non-Parker thriller, as well as venturing outside of the crime genre with the publication of first, an anthology of ghost stories and later, a novel about a young boy's coming-of-age journey through a fantasy realm during World War II England. Film and television adaptations of his works are currently in development; the earliest to appear to audiences was partially based on the short story "The New Daughter", and starred Kevin Costner and Ivana Baquero. Connolly is also known to tour to promote the launch of his books. In 2007, Connolly made book store appearances in Ireland, United Kingdom, United States, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Taiwan to promote The Unquiet.
John Connolly signing a copy of The Black Angel, 2005
The seventh book in the Charlie Parker series, The Reapers, was published in 2008. It differs from the earlier books in that the story is told from thepoint of view of Parker's close friends and allies in combat, Louis and Angel. Louis and Angel are an unlikely couple whose quibbles and good humour are sometimes the source of comic relief. Louis is an enigimatic, large black man who was a hired killer but who now seems to be in semiretirement; Angel is a small white man and ex-burglar. They appear episodically throughout the Charlie Parker books as his only close friends, revealing themselves when Parker is in need of help and professional protection from his enemies. The ninth Parker novel, titled The Whisperers, was published in 2010; the tenth, The Burning Soul, in 2011. The Wrath of Angels, the eleventh Charlie Parker novel, was published by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK in August 2012,[2] and was released by Atria/Emily Bestler Books in the US on January 1, 2013.[3] 2009 marked the publication of Connolly's first novel specifically for younger readers, The Gates.[4][5] A sequel was published in 2011 as Hell's Bells in the UK[6] and as The Infernals[7] in the US. The third book in the Samuel Johnson series, The Creeps, will be published in Autumn 2013.[8] Autumn 2013 will also mark the publication of Conquest, the first in a projected four-book fantasy series for teenaged readers by Connolly and his partner, journalistJennifer Ridyard.[9] Connolly collaborated with fellow Irish author Declan Burke to editBooks to Die For: The World's Greatest Mystery Writers on the World's Greatest Mystery Novels, a nonfiction anthology published in August 2012 by Hodder & Stoughton[10] and in October 2013 by Atria/Emily Bestler Books.[11] Books to Die For was nominated for an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America,[12] won the Agatha Award for Best Non-fiction,[13] and has been nominated for an Anthony Award for Best Critical Nonfiction Work.[14]
|