Help me find this book- frustratingly little details

[RGinaPhalange]

Please help me find this book.

I was once given a book as a present it appeared to be part of a series and I didn’t really understand a lot of what was going on.

Anyway i finished it thinking I’ll have to go back and start at the beginning of the series. I forgot about it and the other day something reminded me of the book. The annoying thing is I can’t remember the name or much of what happened.

It’s really bothering me I can’t find any trace of it. It must have been published before 2010 possibly around 2005ish

It had a blue cover with the silhouette of trees on it and from what I can remember it was about this guy who could either speak to or see ghosts/another world and appeared to be psychic.

He was trying to stop or chase down this other guy who was possibly some sort of evil presence. He was an older man who wore a face mask to hide his rotting mouth, I think he had cancer or something but it was I’ll because he was so evil.

I can’t remember any of the plot. I know there is frustrating little detail. But I wonder if anyone recognises it.

The annoying thing is about 3 months ago I donated boxes of books to a charity shop and am sure it would have been in there 🫣

One of the Charlie Parker books by John Connolly?

This is the cover

Was it Rivers of London? By Ben Aaronovitch? Or another in the series

The novel centres on the adventures of Peter Grant, a young officer in the Metropolitan Police; who, following an unexpected encounter with a ghost, is recruited into the small branch of the Met that deals with magic and the supernatural.

Peter Grant, having become the first English apprentice wizard in over seventy years, must immediately deal with two different but ultimately related cases. In one he must find what is possessing ordinary people and turning them into vicious killers, and in the second he must broker a peace between the two warring gods of the River Thames and their resp

The Cold Calling by Will Kingdom/Phil Rickman?

Just feel I should add, I know that cover is purple but I had a paperback with a similar cover and it was blue.

I'd second the Charlie Parker novel as there are lots in the series. He's a private investigator whose daughter and wife are killed in the first book and there is a lot of paranormal / big evil components throughout the series. They're really good!

Following to find out the answer.

Could be Later by Stephen King?

Dark Hollow is a good shout - it's the second in the series and they do all link closely so I can see how you might feel you didn't get what was going on if you hadn't read the first.

The Peter Grant series novels featuring the Faceless man are similar (but not as dark)v but I don't think any have trees on the cover - they have stylised images of London as a map usually.

The Wolf Brother series by Michelle Paver had a character with a rotting mouth (Soul Seeker?)

Thea suggestions are great. Currently looking into them to see if any seem familiar.

thanks so much.

I’m almost certain it is Dark Hollow by John Connolly.

I’ve had a quick google and it seems to be really familiar.

I’ve been trying to find this book for months. Took less than a few hours with the help of mumsnet. Amazing, thanks so much 🙏❤️

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon has a ghostly man wearing a mask?

One of my favourite series. Enjoy! (Although running out of steam a bit now, IMO)

Brilliant! Think that’s my first correct “what is this book?”

Amazing series, quite envious of anyone who is getting to read them all for the first time.

I thought Charlie Parker too but The Whisperers. The main bad character has some kind of cancer of the mouth.

www.johnconnollybooks.com/the-whisperers

Aaah!!! It is definitely the whisperers. As soon as I read the synopsis I recognised it.

I think at some point I might have read dark hollow as well. It was certainly familiar anyway.

Thank you all so much. I am away to start the Charlie Parker series from the beginning.

This is definitely the cover I remember

I’m laughing at my description of the book because it is absolutely nothing like the plot.

How you managed to get which book it was from that is amazing.

I’m a big John Connolly fan and I’ve literally just finished reading the entire series back to back!

I just read your first post and thought, that’s a John Connolly. Spiritual corruption reflected by physical corruption that you can sense is a definite theme.