Michael Connelly: Two Kinds of Truth

Connelly is still at the top of his game
This is #20 in Connelly's best-selling Harry Bosch series and while Harry is getting older this story is as good and young as any of the previous ones.

Bosch has retired from LAPD but needs to keep active and is working as an unpaid part-time detective in the town of San Fernando near Los Angeles. They don't have many murders and it is a major event for the small police force when father and son pharmacists are assassinated by two hooded gunmen.

It soon becomes clear that the father has illegally been dispensing oxycodone prescribed by bent doctors. A gang is bussing homeless addicts between the doctors and "friendly" pharmacists to get large supplies of these pills that are both valuable in their own right and also mixed with other drugs.

In the middle of the drug murder investigation, Bosch learns that LAPD internal affairs believe that over 20 years ago he planted evidence in a rape/murder case that led to a death penalty. The person is still on death row and his lawyers have found DNA evidence that shows that it comes from a convicted rapist who is now deceased.

Harry quickly gets help from his half-brother Mickey Haller to find out why his lifetime career is on the line. At the same time, he gets recruited by DEA to chase down the gang responsible for the murders and organised prescription drug abuse.

Connelly interweaves these plots masterfully with Bosch facing up to the almost impossible task of finding the truth of two completely different challenges.

Once again Michael Connelly has shown why he is the world's best and most popular crime writer.

Michael Connelly: The Wrong Side of Goodbye

Harry Bosch is back again - better than ever
Harry Bosch left the LAPD again before they could fire him over a minor infraction. Since then he has successfully sued for being illegally forced into retirement. Once again Bosch has set up his shingle as a private investigator, but at the same time he is working as an unpaid part-time detective in the town of San Fernando outside of Los Angeles.

In his private investigator role, he is invited to meet an aging aviation billionaire, Whitney Vance, who has a proposition - find out if he has any surviving offspring who could become the heir to his huge fortune. At age 18 Vance had a relationship with a young Mexican girl called Vibiana Duarte, but soon after becoming pregnant she disappeared and Vance had never seen her again.

Bosch quickly finds a lead that Vibiana had a son who was adopted out shortly after birth. This lead fades when Bosch finds that the son perished when he was shot down in a helicopter in Vietnam. As soon as he starts to find more leads Bosch realises that he is being followed by powerful parties who don't want any surviving relatives to be found. When his search takes a more dramatic and serious direction he turns for help and legal protection to his half-brother, Mickey Haller.

At the same time, Bosch gets tied up almost full time with a major case for the small police force of San Fernando - a serial rapist who gains entry by cutting through the screen door of victims' houses. The hunt for the "Screen Cutter" heats up when more victims are identified and a criminal profile suggests that it is only a matter of time before the rapist also becomes a killer.

Connelly showed his skills in weaving Bosch's investigatory skills between two totally different cases. It was certainly a change not to see him constantly doing battle with his police superiors. There is not much background about his personal life as his daughter Maddy is at college and only has a cameo role.

Over the last year, I have been revisiting and enjoying several of Michael Connelly's earlier books. IMHO this one stands out as one of the best he has written and maintains his top place in US crime fiction and showcased Connelly's skills in keeping this long-running series alive. We will certainly see a lot more of Harry Bosch in the future.

I was able to review this book now as it was published in Australia on 24 October 2016 and won't be released in the US until 1 November 2016. It certainly deserves to be in the bestsellers list leading up to the festive season.

Michael Connelly: City of Bones

An early Harry Bosch thriller
In preparation for reading Micheal Connelly's latest Harry Bosch book THE CROSSING - #16 in the series -  I took the opportunity to read this book (#8) which I had missed several years ago. I am glad I did because it reminded me of some of his past with LAPD but also reminded me that Harry Bosch, the detective, really hasn't changed much over the years.

This time, Bosch gets involved in investigating some bones found in a shallow grave. The victim is a young boy, killed about 25 years ago, who appears to have been subject to extensive physical abuse. The discovery gets a lot of press attention and it soon becomes clear that there is a serious information leak from police or other sources connected to the case which has tragic results.

This is classic Bosch as he finds things that others would overlook. It is also classic Bosch because he doesn't follow normal procedures in his key investigations and is in constant conflict with his superiors, especially when they think they have found a suspect.

I was glad that I read this book as it highlighted the talent of America's top crime thriller author who is still at the top of his game in his latest book in the series.

Michael Connelly: The Crossing

Bloodhound Bosch at his best
A Harry Bosch book is always worth waiting for and again Michael Connelly has not disappointed. Although Bosch is getting a bit long in the tooth, this one featured Bloodhound Bosch at the top of his form.

Harry Bosch left the LAPD again before they could fire him over a minor infraction and has hired his lawyer half-brother, Mickey Haller to sue the department for his departure. His recent personal relationship with a female journalist has ended, his daughter Maddie has become increasingly remote as she goes through her adolescent years and prepares for college, and his days are just filled with plans to restore an old Harley-Davidson motorbike.

Then Mickey turns Bosch's world upside down by asking him to work on one of his cases where he is convinced that a person he is defending in a murder case is innocent and has been set up. This would mean "crossing" the line and working for the defence and not the prosecution - a fundamental change to the way that Bosch has lived during his long career. However, soon Bosch finds that working the change is really no different because in both cases he is still trying to uncover the real truth.

Bosch starts working the Murder Book supplied to the defense during Discovery - "All the answers are in the Murder Book...we just don't see them." Soon Bosch starts to see some things that the investigators missed which lead him to inadequate testing and possible evidence that was overlooked and uncovers a complex plot of blackmail, murder, more murders and corruption. His task is made harder because he no longer a cop.

While Mickey Haller features in this book it really is only a cameo role with Bosch calling the shots. They have very different aims; Haller wants to get the accused man off, and Bosch wants to find the truth.

Although this is around #16 in the Harry Bosch series the story is still fresh and challenging, showing that Michael Connelly is still the very best writer of US police procedurals. This was very much a story about Bosch himself and his principles. I would have liked to have a bit more of a back-story about Bosch's personal life (more about Maddy and possible future personal relationships) but that may have to wait for the next book.

Michael Connelly: The Burning Room

Michael Connelly maintains the momentum
This is #17 in Michael Connelly's best selling Harry Bosch series and certainly maintains the momentum of the others. At this time in a series many best-selling writers are opting for extreme and unbelievable plots to maintain the momentum. Connelly avoids this by doing what he does best - writing an excellent book about top-class police investigations.

The first case is unusual because the victim died nearly ten years after he had been shot. One day Orlando Merced had been waiting in Mariachi Plaza for a gig for his Mariachi band when he was shot, with the bullet lodging in an inoperable part of his spine. After many years of pain, including amputations to lessen the effect of lead poisoning, Merced died, allowing access to the only real clue available - the bullet. There had been no leads in this "cold case" which is politically sensitive because a mayoral candidate, later mayor, had used Merced in his wheelchair in his campaigns as a symbol of neglect suffered by the community of East LA.

Harry Bosch is in his last year as a detective under the DROP scheme (The Deferred Retirement Option Plan) and is still working every case energetically and diligently as if it was his last. Of course that means working the case in his own way which frequently gets the ire of his superiors.

LAPD's Open-Unsolved Unit has just shuffled the pack of detectives and Bosch, the oldest one, is partnered with  the youngest, twenty eight year old rookie Mexican American Detective Lucia Soto. Lucy is not really a rookie as she was the survivor of a shootout with four gunmen where her street-cop partner was killed, and she shot and killed two of the gunmen and bravely held the others at bay in an alley until the SWAT team arrived. Bosch soon finds that Soto is a quick learner and has many of the investigative and intuitive talents that have made Bosch such a brilliant detective. They strike up a strong professional relationship and I wouldn't be surprised to see Lucy featuring in future books in this series.

The bullet taken from Merced gives the first leads in this case for years and Bosch and Soto start to find clues that suggests that the shooting may not have been random. As they track down years-old information the complex and sensitive background to the shooting and the shooter slowly gets revealed.

Bosch soon discovers that Lucy Soto has a personal interest in another cold case - the Bonnie Brae apartment fire twenty years ago when nine people, mostly children, died in an unlicensed child care centre in the basement of the complex - viz "The Burning Room". The case was labeled arson but no suspects could be found. Unofficially Bosch helps her with this case, which at first sight has as few clues left over the years as the Merced affair.

Bosch and Soto work well together and start to gain momentum on both cases, despite the length of time that has elapsed. While both cases come to unexpected conclusions Connelly leaves us with another even more unexpected finale.

Bosch aficionados may be disappointed that this book hardly touches on his private life. He is proud but worried that his daughter Maddie is planning to be a cop and there is a cameo appearance by FBI agent Rachel Walling who Bosch asks for some information. There is a possible romantic lead for the future that he really can't pursue while he is still a cop. I would not be surprised to see Maddie as a cop featuring in future books in this series.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who has followed Harry Bosch over the years or to anyone wanting to read a great police/crime novel by "the finest (American) crime writer working today". I look forward to seeing where Michael Connelly takes the next book in this iconic series.

My great thanks to The Reading Room and the Australian publisher for an advanced copy of this book which will be published on 3 November 2014.

Michael Connelly: The Gods of Guilt

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The Lincoln Lawyer rides again
Criminal defence attorney Mickey Haller is back doing what he does best - running his small legal practice from the back of his Lincoln Town Car. He is still recovering from a time when switched sides to be a successful prosecutor, and he nearly became Los Angeles County District Attorney before disaster struck when a defence case went badly wrong and impacted his career and his relationship with his daughter and first wife.

Mickey is always on the lookout for cases with the highest stakes and biggest paybacks and the top of the line are murder cases. One day Andre La Cosse, an internet "pimp" who designs and manages web-sites for call girls, asks Mickey to defend him on a murder charge. This case is different because the victim, Gloria Dayton, was a former client, a prostitute Mickey thought he had rescued and put on a straight and narrow path - but she was back on the game. It is also different because just before Gloria's death she had told Andre should contact Haller if he ever needed legal assistance. Andre also has the means to pay for his defence - in gold bullion!

What starts off as a straightforward case of  providing a good defence for a guilty person quickly changes when Mickey realises that Andre may not be guilty.  The case quickly brings back the ghosts of Mickey's past which can have a serious impact on his professional and personal future.

Mickey needs all the help he can get to try to find an another killer to tie to Gloria's murder. In this he is helped by his strange but very effective teeam of associates.  His second wife, Lorna (still a very good friend), acts as his receptionist; her mountain of a husband, Cisco, is his investigator; and a young female attorney, Julie Aronson, is his very smart legal associate. This time his driver, Earl, who is paying off his legal fees by driving Mickey around LA in his Lincoln Town Car, also becomes part of the action.

Mickey's father (a lawyer too) told him that the jurors were the "Gods of Guilt" but from experience Mickey knows that the gods of guilt are judging us every day of our lives and in every move we make. This is never so true as in this case.

Michael Connelly has moved Mickey Haller on from the days when he was seen as a "sleezy" lawyer in the first Lincoln Lawyer novel. While he is still prepared to do courtroom tricks, he has matured and morphed into a relentless pursuer of getting to the truth and this case tests him to the limit. Connelly is still at the top of his game and this is an entertaining page-turner that will satisfy most of Connelly's fans and will undoubtedly be part of many Christmas reading wish lists.

Michael Connelly: The Drop

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Bosch never "Drops" the ball
Once again Michael Connelly has shown that he is a consummate author of LA police procedurals and that Harry Bosch is still at the top of his form.

After a short retirement from the LAPD, Harry Bosch is back to top form as a skilled, and very clever detective. He is still a very independent operator who frequently has problems with the police politics of some of his superiors.

After a short retirement, Harry is now back working under a Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP - Title 1) which gives him just over 3 years until he is forced to retire permanently. He is keen to clear as many cases as possible before the drawbridge is raised. Bosch is now working in the Open-Unsolved Unit and is given a case over 20 years old about the sexual assault and murder of a child where an apparently botched DNA match has been made that links the murder to a convicted rapist who was only 8 years old at the time.

Before he can really get going on this puzzling case, his superiors ask him to take on a current and potentially politically sensitive case where the son of councilman Irving has fallen to his death from a balcony of a tall hotel (Drop Title 2) and suicide is suspected. What is really bizarre is that Irving, who was once Harry's boss and extremely bitter opponent, has asked specifically for Harry to take the case personally because he claims that Harry has the skills and integrity to find out what really happened.

Apart from the clever title, Michael Connelly shows that he can keep the Bosch storyline fresh and exciting and tells us that he plans to do so until Bosch retires. I am sure that even when that happens we will not see Bosch riding into the sunset to a happy and uneventful retirement.

Michael Connelly: The Black Box

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Bloodhound Bosch is still the best
After so many Harry Bosch stories you would think they should start to run out of steam - IMHO this is not so. Michael Connelly is a consummate author who can keep a great character running and evolving and continue to produce a top-class page-turning police procedural.

In the last book, after a short retirement Harry Bosch returned to the LAPD with  a 5 year contract under the Deferred Retirement Option Plan - "The DROP".  He now works with the Open Unsolved Unit chasing up cold cases. In 1999, at the height of the LA Riots, Bosch briefly gets involved with the discovery of the gunshot death of  a pretty female free-lance Danish press photographer who was apparently killed as part of the riot.  This case had always troubled Bosch and he gladly accepts the challenge although after all that time the trail has gone cold.

Bosch is an impatient detective - to him momentum is everything. Once he is on the trail he is a bloodhound who never lets up until he finds a break. He calls this "The Black Box" because, similar to air crash investigation a single verified clue may open up the whole case. After diligent and clever police work Bosch finds his Black Box and discovers a web of intrigue and violence going back to the first Gulf War.

Working the case in his normal independent manner is not helped by his a strained relationship with and lack of respect for the competence of his superiors at LAPD, especially his current Lieutenant (O'Toole - nickname "O'Fool").  "You are the worst kind of police officer, Bosch. You are arrogant, a bully, and you think the laws and regulations don't apply to you." O'Toole refers Bosch to Internal Affairs on what seems to be a petty matter, but it is important because it affects the way Bosch can run the investigation and if the complaint is upheld he could easily lose his job because he is on a DROP contract.

Connelly keeps up the pressure and spins an exciting tale of skilled police investigation by a dedicated, independent but somewhat personally flawed Harry Bosch. I recommend this book as a great read for lovers of police procedurals.