Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsBest in the Ballard and Bosch series!
Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2021
This book is outstanding , Michael Connelly is in top form. I’ve read all the Harry Bosch books, including the shorts, the ones with Haller, and now all the Ballard and Bosch series. This book is very tightly written, drips with suspense throughout, and rings authentic with modern Los Angeles, complete within the setting of the pandemic, and references to masks, the vaccine, and the difficult circumstances between the police and the public, including references to protests and efforts to defund policing, and how all of this impacts the detective’s work environment. As each chapter ends, I’m immediately drawn into continuing on to the next.
I’m not going to give away any spoilers. We are rapidly drawn into a complex web of multiple murders and serial rapes. The story is complex with multiple characters and victims, all expertly and coherently woven together.
This book is more about Ballard than Bosch, she takes the lead and is really the main character here, Bosch appears in Chapter 8. It took me some time to warm to her as a character in this series, but she is presented masterfully and has really developed as the series has progressed. Her life situation is more realistic now, and she is more likable as a character. Bosch, while he has appropriately aged during the series, is presented in good form, not as the aging and almost decrepit man he was in some of the previous novels. His mind is sharp, he is his usual gritty, rough around the edges self, and he is seamlessly blended into the story as the main supporting cast member.
I downloaded the paired audiobook and listened at the same time as I read the book. This is a great way to read this, and I like that Titus Welliver has again been selected as Bosch’s narrator, whereas Christine Latin does a great job as Ballard. Overall, this book is the best in the Ballard and Bosch series to date, highly recommended!
