Blogging A to Z - C

Author: Connelly, Michael and Connolly, John
Both mystery writers, names different by just one letter, but oh so different in style. Michael Connelly writes in the police procedural vein but with more depth and characterization and features Harry Bosch, an LAPD cop, while John Connolly tells us about Charlie Parker, a former cop turned private investigator whose stories have definite supernatural overtones.  Both writers excel in drawing you into the worlds they have created, albeit with much different moods and themes. For M. Connelly, start with The Black Echo.  The first Charlie Parker book is Every Dead Thing. You can't go wrong with either one.

Book:  Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons
Winner of numerous awards, including the Bram Stoker Award and the British Fantasy Award, this novel is a different take on vampires. These creatures feed off emotions and violence rather than blood and have been doing so for a very long time. While it's true that at over 700 pages the book probably could have used some editing, it kept my attention the entire time and I recommend it for fans of horror.  Stephen King called Carrion Comfort one of the greatest horror novels of the 20th century, and I think that says something.  (Dan Simmons is another of my favorite authors - he writes in almost every genre and rarely comes up with a dud.)