thrillers

After two rather dissapointing (for the standards of Michael Connelly) novels, this on really ties in with his early books and will take your breath away.
Harry Bosch is bored with retirement. That changes when he starts to look into an unsolved murder. Angela Benton had been a low-level production assistant working on the latest Hollywood blockbuster when she was murdered in the foyer of her apartment building. The scene was carefully arranged to make it look like a sex crime. Too carefully; Bosch is certain it was staged. But why? And where is the connection to the million$heist at the film production? And why does the FBI warn Harry to leave this case alone?
Find out by yourself by buying this book, it is certainly worth the money, but be careful: the book is dark and takes you - at least sometimes - into the abyss of humankind. It also contains criticism of the civil liberties after September 11th and a small reference to one of the best police-action-gangster movies of all times "HEAT". The atmosphere is almost nightmarish and that gives the book the "special style", which fans of Harry Bosch are used to. There is absolutely no doubt that Connelly is a master-plotter and rightly one of the finest crime novelists in recent times. His complex character of the protagonist allows us even more insights and Harry seems to be more vulnerable without carrying the badge. The ending is - as usual - a big surprise but the good news is, there will be more of Harry Bosch in the future. The new Harry Bosch novel will be called "The Narrows" and is coming out in May, 2004. I can't wait!!

Lost Light is the latest in the excellent Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly. Unlike the previous novels, this one is written in first person and has a generally different feel to it. Still present, however, are many of the aspects that make this series of novels so appealing to Connelly's loyal fans.

Harry Bosch is now retired. As readers of the other books already know, he is not the type to go quietly and sit around collecting pension checks. He is still bothered by his old unsolved cases. One in particular will not let him go - the murder of a young woman who's hands were found in a unique position that Harry sees as reaching out to him. During the course of his investigation, Bosch finds that her murder may involve a robbery, other murders, a terrorist, and the disappearance of an FBI agent.

This book is written from the first person perspective, and this has several effects on the novel. The reader is now privy to everything Harry thinks and feels and as a result, we are drawn closer to him as a character. On the other hand, because everything is filtered through the Bosch character, we are ONLY privy to what he thinks and feels. This results in the novel losing many of the nuances and subtleties that are usually found in Connelly's novels. Consequently, this reads almost like "Harry Bosch lite." I finished this book in one sitting, which I have not been able to do with any previous Bosch books. Connelly's writing has just been too involving.

However, readers should not avoid this book simply because it reads easier than his others. Many fans will love this book because it's a quick, entertaining way to spend a few hours. Connelly is now writing two books per year and his writing seems to have thinned out accordingly. Readers will love or hate his new books depending on whether they prefer quantity or quality. Personally, I'd prefer to get two very good Connelly books each year than having to wait for only, even though that one might be a little longer and deeper.

In any case, I thought this book was worth the read if only because it was entertaining. Is Connelly starting to sell out a little? Probably. Are his later books inferior to his earlier work? Possibly. Is he still one of the best crime fiction writers working today? No question. Read this book and decide for yourselves.

Harry Bosch goes from the beginning of this book to the end with what seems like maybe four hours of sleep, no cigarettes, several cups of coffee, and a churro (maybe). This guy has the constitution of a bulldog.

He never quits, never says "die," and knows when to give in to the powers that be. You'll speed through the book like he does through the murder case, jumping from one episode to the next. This is a great book for insomniacs or those who "only stand and wait," a thing I do a lot.

Only one thing to note, how at the final climax, Harry gets lost in South Central and runs into a mob of rioters, who bodily unload the "shooter," a cop, from the backseat of Harry's car (where the man's been handcuffed). Chastain, the personage in question, deserves what he gets, of course. He started the riot by shooting a popular black lawyer.

But why can't Harry find his way around South Central? All of the main streets are perpendicular. This book's riot is close to where the 1992 "flashpoint" was, Florence and Normandie. This riot is just a little further south, being near Florence and Manchester (86th).

Anyway, living in South Central, as I do, I enjoyed his little jaunt there, but reading about how they did Chastain reminded me a little of what happened recently in Iraq. Diximus.