Wish Bash Bosch, 1 2 3! Three of the Best in One
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As of the date of this review, Michael Connelly has written and published eighteen fictional novels most of which feature LAPD Detective Harry Bosch. It all began back in 1992 with The Black Echo and quite simply if you like Connelly today then you will like Connelly 'then' just as much.
This is despite the fact that it's a tale of events in the early 1990s with heavy references to events of the early 1970s. More specifically, Bosch is a Los Angeles detective turning 40 with powerful memories of his experiences as a tunnel rat in Vietnam some twenty years earlier and from which the title of this novel draws its name. But the drawing of the characters and their relationships with one another is of high quality, a skill which, in my humble opinion, only a minority of Connelly's peers in the field of crime thrillers pull off as successfully as he does. In any thriller series this is the element that probably defines success or failure more than any other, and since Connelly has been writing tales surrounding Bosch for over fifteen years, it's safe to assume that he's cracked this difficult task and he demonstrates this from the word go in his debut novel. It's easy to summarise this story's plot - the body of a man is found and Bosch, by chance, is assigned to the case to find the man's killer or killers. It's not long before Bosch brings about an association with the dead man (a Vietnam tunnel rat who worked with Bosch two decades earlier) to an audacious bank robbery the previous summer and a similar heist that is planned for the imminent future. Bosch has it all figured out, and has to solve all this is in the midst of an Internal Affairs investigation coupled with high-level corruption among those who might have a vested interest in the two bank robberies. The story covers about one week, my one criticism being the absence of any chapters and the use, instead, of rather long 'parts' which for people like myself who often read books in snatches of thirty minutes at a time, can be slightly irritating. Anyone who invests lengthy periods of time to reading won't mind at all, I'm sure.
The Black Ice is Connelly's second novel, published way back in 1993, but it's just as good to read today as it must have been back then. It's a tale of police corruption and the manufacture and transportation of what was then a new Class A drug today known as Crystal Meth (crystal methamphetamine); as a marketing ploy food colouring was added during the crystallization process, turning the methamphetamine black; "black ice" is supposedly more potent.
Bosch has this uncanny ability to sense when a fatal crime is not as it seems to everyone else (including his immediate superiors). In this case, a narcotics police officer is found shot dead in a motel room and everyone except Bosch classifies it as suicide. He refuses to stay away from the investigation, and when one of his colleagues is found dead minutes after Bosch had been seen in public to have assaulted him, the hunt is on because Bosch is suddenly a prime suspect. Fortunately the heat he finds himself in isn't that generated by the Hollywood media but from the weather in Baja California, across the border in Mexico. He's sure that the kingpin behind the murders and the drug-running is right here in the two towns that straddle the two nation divide, Calexico and Mexicali. And when Bosch eventually finds out the truth, well, I for one was left utterly stunned when I realised the deception that the author had successfully carried off for just about the entire length of the novel. I like being tricked in this way and I have to admit I hadn't seen it coming, so the conclusion lifted my estimation of all that had gone before and made for very satisfying reading. If you like contemporary crime fiction with a taste of classic Chandler then you're in for a treat.
The Concrete Blonde is the third in the Harry Bosch series and is as good as anything I've read this year, the only book that has matched it is The Lincoln Lawyer, by the same author. It does, however, remind me vaguely of two other novels of times past: Mark Billingham's Scaredy Cat and Mo Hayder's The Treatment. I'll say nothing more other than quote the punchline from the cover of Scaredy Cat - "Serial killers normally work alone". But The Concrete Blonde is in fact heavily built around a courtroom drama that spreads its full length, because Bosch (or more correctly the LAPD) is being sued by the widow of a man he killed four years earlier, a man he was sure was a multiple murderer known as the Dollmaker. The plaintiff has a hot-shot female lawyer on a big retainer to represent her case for the prosecution in this civil (i.e. not criminal) trial, while Bosch must depend on a less-than-impressive, overweight and sweaty public defender who is paid the same salary whether he wins or loses. As the trial progresses, the reader becomes more and more resigned to an inevitable loss for the defendant, but the conclusion is anything but predictable.
Running in parallel to the events in the courtroom, Bosch is investigating a new case that bears worryingly similar hallmarks to the works of the deceased Dollmaker. A new body is found, and as the investigation develops, not only the reader but even Bosch himself start wondering if he shot the right man four years ago. I had at least two suspects in mind and oddly enough Bosch chose these two as well, although I wondered if this was clever reader manipulation on the part of the author. In the end I was caught out, it was someone not even on my 'might be' list. I have to admit that I enjoy courtroom theatrics, and even though Bosch didn't really care if he lost, Connelly still manages to make the trial gripping and sometimes moving as well, as unknown secrets about Bosch's life are cold-bloodedly made public. Characterisation is of a very high standard throughout, not least of course that of the tortured soul that is Hieronymus Bosch. Strongly recommended.
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BOSCH IS A LEGEND
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The first Michael Connelly book I read was The Lincoln Lawyer. I thought it was excellent so then decided to check out Connelly's other titles. I started reading the customer reviews here on Amazon and the name Harry Bosch kept coming up. I decided to order this series and can confirm that all the hype and praise is well deserved. I am now ordering the next three books to see what happens to Harry next. All in all a great read which will keep you hooked from start to finish with excellent charactors and twists.
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Introducing Harry Bosch
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Meet Michael Connollys' Harry Bosch, a complex creation, who's depth is revealed slowly in these three novels. The first, "Black Echo" is possibly the finest of all the HB stories, if only because it hints at the depths of character which will be revealed in later novels.
I cannot recommend these stories highly enough, I have read each several times (actually all the HB stories several times !!)and never fail to find something new. The stories are expertly plotted, and with an emotional punch beyond the usual detactive genre.
Once you have these you will undoubtedly want to read all the Harry Bosch series - you will not find a higher quality series.
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A great buy!
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At a very reasonable price you get the chance to buy no less than three of the best crime novels written in the last twenty years. For anyone who loves a good crime story, Harry Bosch and his universe are very addictive - his crime-solving talents, intelligence, wits, love of jazz and cynicism with a soft edge are qualities which will quickly make you want to buy Volume II of the Harry Bosch stories. I envy you if you have yet to be introduced to Harry's world. This book is a great way to do it.
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You have got to read Harry Bosch
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Harry Bosch is the best detective that you've never heard of! These books will grab you by the throat and not let go until you have bought and read every one in the series, I know because I was bought a Bosch novel for my birthday and now I own them all, gripping reading and keeps you guessing till the end.
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