John Connolly
The Lovers
The eighth book in the Charlie Parker series, 2009
For Jennie
PROLOGUE
The truth is often a terrible weapon of aggression. It is possible to lie, and even to murder, for the truth. -ALFRED ADLER (1870-1937),
PROBLEMS OF NEUROSIS
I TELL MYSELF THAT this is not an investigation. It is for others to be investigated, but not for my family, and not for me. I will delve into the lives of strangers, and I will expose their secrets and their lies, sometimes for money, and sometimes because that is the only way to lay old ghosts to rest, but I do not want to pick and scratch in such a way at what I have always believed of my mother and father. They are gone. Let them sleep.
But there are too many questions left unanswered, too many inconsistencies in the narrative constructed of their lives, a tale told by them and continued by others. I can no longer allow them to remain unexamined.
My father, William Parker, known to his friends as Will, died when I was almost sixteen years old.