John Connolly’s Gates of Hell are about to open – mind the gap

‘How many magical children do you know?’ John Connolly asked a spellbound audience at the launch of The Gates in No Alibis this year. ‘I don’t know any.’

The Gates is award-winning author Connolly’s second foray into children’s literature and he spares none of the craft and imagination that has won his Charlie Parker novels international acclaim.

He doesn’t spare the reader’s nerves any either. The gore level is less than those familiar with his Parker series might expect, but there are still plenty of chills and a genuine sense of threat towards the main characters. Oh, and a distinctly non-magical hero in 11-year old Samuel Johnson and his loyal dachshund, Boswell.

Not that Samuel Johnson is your average 11-year old. Connolly describes him as the sort of self-sufficient, clever and decent kid that he would have liked to be, and that’s as good a description as any. Samuel is a little too clever for his teacher’s peace of mind and sometimes wonders if it was his fault that his father left.

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