The "overnight success" of John Connolly's "Every Dead Thing" propelled him into the upper echelon of thriller writers - and raised the question: Could Connolly match the skill and success of his first effort? With "Dark Hollow," set in Maine and New York City (as was his last book), Connolly scores again with ex-NYPD man Charlie Parker, who is literally haunted by his past. Not only is he still coping with the gruesome death of his wife and daughter, we encounter a ghost or two in Dark Hollow. Parker heads up to Maine to find peace - but is again thrown into a murder case when several recent killings echo a spree from four decades earlier. Connolly sets Parker in a realm where memory and psychology are as important as evidence or motive.

($25 / 464 pages / Simon & Schuster)