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Harry Bosch #1
The Black Echo
For maverick LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch, the body in the drainpipe at Mulholland Dam is more than another anonymous statistic. This one is personal...because the murdered man was a fellow Vietnam "tunnel rat" who had fought side by side with him in a hellish underground war. Now Bosch is about to relive the horror of Nam. From a dangerous maze of blind alleys to a daring criminal heist beneath the city, his survival instincts will once again be tested to their limit. Pitted against enemies inside his own department and forced to make the agonizing choice between justice and vengeance, Bosch goes on the hunt for a killer whose true face will shock him.
385 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 21, 1992
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About the author
Michael Connelly
376books32.9kfollowersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the ŷ' database with this name.
Michael Connelly decided to become a writer after discovering the books of Raymond Chandler while attending the University of Florida. Once he decided on this direction he chose a major in journalism and a minor in creative writing � a curriculum in which one of his teachers was novelist Harry Crews.
After graduating in 1980, Connelly worked at newspapers in Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, primarily specializing in the crime beat. In Fort Lauderdale he wrote about police and crime during the height of the murder and violence wave that rolled over South Florida during the so-called cocaine wars. In 1986, he and two other reporters spent several months interviewing survivors of a major airline crash. They wrote a magazine story on the crash and the survivors which was later short-listed for the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing. The magazine story also moved Connelly into the upper levels of journalism, landing him a job as a crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times, one of the largest papers in the country, and bringing him to the city of which his literary hero, Chandler, had written.
After three years on the crime beat in L.A., Connelly began writing his first novel to feature LAPD Detective Hieronymus Bosch. The novel, The Black Echo, based in part on a true crime that had occurred in Los Angeles, was published in 1992 and won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel by the Mystery Writers of America. Connelly has followed that up with over 30 more novels.
Over eighty million copies of Connelly’s books have sold worldwide and he has been translated into forty-five foreign languages. He has won the Edgar Award, Anthony Award, Macavity Award, Los Angeles Times Best Mystery/Thriller Award, Shamus Award, Dilys Award, Nero Award, Barry Award, Audie Award, Ridley Award, Maltese Falcon Award (Japan), .38 Caliber Award (France), Grand Prix Award (France), Premio Bancarella Award (Italy), and the Pepe Carvalho award (Spain) .
Michael was the President of the Mystery Writers of America organization in 2003 and 2004. In addition to his literary work, Michael is one of the producers and writers of the TV show, “Bosch,� which is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Michael lives with his family in Los Angeles and Tampa, Florida.
Michael Connelly decided to become a writer after discovering the books of Raymond Chandler while attending the University of Florida. Once he decided on this direction he chose a major in journalism and a minor in creative writing � a curriculum in which one of his teachers was novelist Harry Crews.
After graduating in 1980, Connelly worked at newspapers in Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, primarily specializing in the crime beat. In Fort Lauderdale he wrote about police and crime during the height of the murder and violence wave that rolled over South Florida during the so-called cocaine wars. In 1986, he and two other reporters spent several months interviewing survivors of a major airline crash. They wrote a magazine story on the crash and the survivors which was later short-listed for the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing. The magazine story also moved Connelly into the upper levels of journalism, landing him a job as a crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times, one of the largest papers in the country, and bringing him to the city of which his literary hero, Chandler, had written.
After three years on the crime beat in L.A., Connelly began writing his first novel to feature LAPD Detective Hieronymus Bosch. The novel, The Black Echo, based in part on a true crime that had occurred in Los Angeles, was published in 1992 and won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel by the Mystery Writers of America. Connelly has followed that up with over 30 more novels.
Over eighty million copies of Connelly’s books have sold worldwide and he has been translated into forty-five foreign languages. He has won the Edgar Award, Anthony Award, Macavity Award, Los Angeles Times Best Mystery/Thriller Award, Shamus Award, Dilys Award, Nero Award, Barry Award, Audie Award, Ridley Award, Maltese Falcon Award (Japan), .38 Caliber Award (France), Grand Prix Award (France), Premio Bancarella Award (Italy), and the Pepe Carvalho award (Spain) .
Michael was the President of the Mystery Writers of America organization in 2003 and 2004. In addition to his literary work, Michael is one of the producers and writers of the TV show, “Bosch,� which is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Michael lives with his family in Los Angeles and Tampa, Florida.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 6,477 reviews
July 30, 2015
I’ve designed a gadget that will notify me when I run across clichés in crime thrillers with a *BEEP*. Let’s give it a test run on this Michael Connelly novel, shall we?
So this is the first book in the series featuring a LAPD detective named Hieronymus “Harry� Bosch *BEEP*. .. Shit, why is it going off already? Oh, right. Quirky name for a main character. It seems to be calibrated correctly. Let’s proceed.
In this novel published in 1992, Harry is a Vietnam veteran *BEEP* traumatized by his war experiences *BEEP* as a so-called tunnel rat who fought the VC in their network of underground passages. Harry is a driven detective whose inability to compromise often puts him at odds with his fellow cops *BEEP*. He has no family or life outside of his work *BEEP*, and he’s a borderline burn-out who lives on a diet of coffee, cigarettes and beer. *BEEP*
Harry gets called to check out a dead body in a drainage pipe that everyone on the scene instantly assumes is a junkie who overdosed, but he has a hunch that it was actually a murder. *BEEP* Part of the reason Harry is convinced it was homicide is that he recognizes the victim as one of his fellow Vietnam tunnel rats. *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* Damn, the old war buddy schtick really swung the needle into the red on this thing.
Harry quickly finds evidence that the victim was involved in a high profile bank robbery that had involved tunneling into a vault and emptying the safe deposit boxes. When Harry tries to get the FBI’s attention, he meets a beautiful female agent *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* named Eleanor Wish, but he also lands in hot water with his lieutenant who gets angry and yells at him a lot even though he hasn’t done anything wrong . *BEEP*. He also becomes the target of overzealous Internal Affairs cops *BEEP* that hound him even as he works with the FBI to try and solve the case. This quickly leads to a romance with Agent Wish *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*..and *BEEP*�.Uh oh.. I think it’s overloading�*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* Is that smoke?? *BEEP* *BEEP* BEEP* Where’s the off switch? *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP**BEEEEEeeeeeeepppppp…pp..pp*
Crap. I think Connelly broke it.
Anyhow, the odd thing about his book is that even though it’s got just about every cop thriller cliché you’ve ever heard of, it still works pretty well. It’s entertaining in a straight forward kind of way, and Harry’s gruff and grouchy persona is kind of refreshing since most cop/detectives are portrayed as unrelenting smart asses these days.
A couple of things drag it down a bit. First, this is the third Connelly novel I’ve read set in the �90s and like the other two, there’s something about his stuff that seems more dated than a Perry Como album. I think it’s because he obviously liked describing the cutting edge tech of the day like police computer databases that are practically antiques now, and the way he dwells on them makes you feel like you’re watching a T. Rex walk the earth.
The second one involves Harry doing something very stupid and later you realize that Connelly only had him do it for the sake of setting up a climactic scene near the end.
Still, I did like a lot about this one and will probably try another in the series at some point. Hopefully, my cliché meter will be repaired and up to the task by then.
So this is the first book in the series featuring a LAPD detective named Hieronymus “Harry� Bosch *BEEP*. .. Shit, why is it going off already? Oh, right. Quirky name for a main character. It seems to be calibrated correctly. Let’s proceed.
In this novel published in 1992, Harry is a Vietnam veteran *BEEP* traumatized by his war experiences *BEEP* as a so-called tunnel rat who fought the VC in their network of underground passages. Harry is a driven detective whose inability to compromise often puts him at odds with his fellow cops *BEEP*. He has no family or life outside of his work *BEEP*, and he’s a borderline burn-out who lives on a diet of coffee, cigarettes and beer. *BEEP*
Harry gets called to check out a dead body in a drainage pipe that everyone on the scene instantly assumes is a junkie who overdosed, but he has a hunch that it was actually a murder. *BEEP* Part of the reason Harry is convinced it was homicide is that he recognizes the victim as one of his fellow Vietnam tunnel rats. *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* Damn, the old war buddy schtick really swung the needle into the red on this thing.
Harry quickly finds evidence that the victim was involved in a high profile bank robbery that had involved tunneling into a vault and emptying the safe deposit boxes. When Harry tries to get the FBI’s attention, he meets a beautiful female agent *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* named Eleanor Wish, but he also lands in hot water with his lieutenant who gets angry and yells at him a lot even though he hasn’t done anything wrong . *BEEP*. He also becomes the target of overzealous Internal Affairs cops *BEEP* that hound him even as he works with the FBI to try and solve the case. This quickly leads to a romance with Agent Wish *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*..and *BEEP*�.Uh oh.. I think it’s overloading�*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* Is that smoke?? *BEEP* *BEEP* BEEP* Where’s the off switch? *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP**BEEEEEeeeeeeepppppp…pp..pp*
Crap. I think Connelly broke it.
Anyhow, the odd thing about his book is that even though it’s got just about every cop thriller cliché you’ve ever heard of, it still works pretty well. It’s entertaining in a straight forward kind of way, and Harry’s gruff and grouchy persona is kind of refreshing since most cop/detectives are portrayed as unrelenting smart asses these days.
A couple of things drag it down a bit. First, this is the third Connelly novel I’ve read set in the �90s and like the other two, there’s something about his stuff that seems more dated than a Perry Como album. I think it’s because he obviously liked describing the cutting edge tech of the day like police computer databases that are practically antiques now, and the way he dwells on them makes you feel like you’re watching a T. Rex walk the earth.
The second one involves Harry doing something very stupid and later you realize that Connelly only had him do it for the sake of setting up a climactic scene near the end.
Still, I did like a lot about this one and will probably try another in the series at some point. Hopefully, my cliché meter will be repaired and up to the task by then.
August 4, 2024
Published in 1992, this is the book that introduced L.A.P.D. homicide detective, Harry Bosch. The series, which runs twenty-four books thus far, has remained strong throughout and is, almost certainly, the gold standard of modern police procedurals.
When we first meet Harry, he's already forty-two years old and has been the product of one institution after another for virtually his entire life. His father left the family when Harry was very young and Harry never really knew him. Harry's mother turned to prostitution and was murdered when Harry was eleven. After her death, he was assigned to California's version of child protective services. He spent the rest of his youth in a series of foster homes, then joined the army and served in Vietnam. Upon leaving the service, he joined the L.A.P.D., eventually becoming something of a star in the Homicide Division.
The fact that Bosh was a Vietnam vet and already forty-two in his initial outing would ultimately put his creator, Michael Connelly, in something of a box. By the time the series was to the current halfway point, Harry was already in his middle fifties and staring at retirement, a situation which limited the author's options. Still, Connelly has addressed the problem in innovative ways, although one wonders whether, if he had it to do all over again, he might have dealt with the situation in a different fashion.
Given that he's forty-two, with a long career already behind him, Bosch appears in these pages as a character that's already almost fully formed. He's a rare animal in the L.A.P.D. in that he genuinely cares about the job and about achieving justice for the victims of the crimes he investigates. Later in the series, he will articulate his motto, which is that "Everybody counts or nobody counts." But it's clear that he's already driven by this principle when we first meet him.
For Harry, it's often a pretty lonely road in a department that basically seems to be filled with self-serving cops and bureaucrats who are much less interested in serving justice than they are in achieving their own ends. For example, Harry's partner has a side career in real estate and makes it very clear that the real estate job is much more important to him than being a cop. All he wants to do is put in his twenty years, collect his pension, and go into real estate full time. And if one of his current jobs gets in the way of the other, more than likely it will be the police work that suffers.
If anything, the people in the chain of command above Harry are even worse. They're much more interested in advancing their own careers and protecting the image of the department than they are in the department's mission to serve and protect. And this means that Bosch is going to be in trouble almost all the time, in this book and throughout his career. Everybody admits that Harry is a brilliant detective, but he's not a team player and his actions occasionally embarrass the department. Accordingly, the Powers That Be would just as soon force Harry off the job and he's constantly battling against his superiors and against detectives from the Internal Affairs Division who will go to almost any lengths to dig up dirt against him.
Not that Harry is all that congenial himself. For whatever reason, perhaps because of his background, he doesn't relate very well to other people and it seems at times as though he goes out of his way to offend people, even when they're trying to get along with him.
A prime example is his smoking. By 1992, the health hazards of smoking and of second-hand smoke were pretty well established and already, lots of offices, restaurants and other such places were supposed to be smoke-free. Harry could care less and assumes that the rules simply don't apply to him. He's constantly lighting up in places where smoking is prohibited and in the presence of people who specifically ask him not to smoke. Even in the company of a woman he's allegedly trying to impress, Bosch still insists on smoking, even though it clearly annoys her. In fact, he becomes something of an asshole on this issue. It's hardly the way to win friends and influence people, but Harry clearly doesn't care.
The Black Echo begins when Harry is called to a death site near a dam. It appears that a heroin addict has crawled into a large pipe and overdosed. The case should be open and shut, and Harry's partner, the real estate salesman, clearly wants to declare it an OD and get back to the open house that he's hosting. But the scene doesn't look right to Harry and he pushes forward with the investigation.
Things really get interesting when the body is finally pulled out of the pipe and Harry vaguely recognizes the victim as William Meadows who served with Bosch in Vietnam. The two were "tunnel rats" who went deep underground to explore and destroy enemy tunnels. As Harry presses forward he discovers any number of other incongruities and ties Meadows to a crime that is currently under investigation by the F.B.I.
Bosch contacts the F.B.I., hoping to link their two investigations in an attempt to solve both the murder case that Harry is pursuing and the crime that the Fibbies are investigating. But the Bureau is just as hide-bound and as self-serving as the L.A.P.D., and Harry runs into roadblocks there as well.
Any other detective would almost certainly give up and just follow orders to lay off. But not Harry Bosch. He will pursue this case to the bitter end, no matter who he has to alienate or what he has to sacrifice in the process. And in this case it takes him through a brilliantly plotted story that leads to a tremendous climax.
From the very beginning Harry Bosch has been one of the most compelling figures ever to inhabit the world of crime fiction and he continues to fill that role twenty-four years down the road from this book. The Black Echo is a great beginning to what has become a fabulous series.
When we first meet Harry, he's already forty-two years old and has been the product of one institution after another for virtually his entire life. His father left the family when Harry was very young and Harry never really knew him. Harry's mother turned to prostitution and was murdered when Harry was eleven. After her death, he was assigned to California's version of child protective services. He spent the rest of his youth in a series of foster homes, then joined the army and served in Vietnam. Upon leaving the service, he joined the L.A.P.D., eventually becoming something of a star in the Homicide Division.
The fact that Bosh was a Vietnam vet and already forty-two in his initial outing would ultimately put his creator, Michael Connelly, in something of a box. By the time the series was to the current halfway point, Harry was already in his middle fifties and staring at retirement, a situation which limited the author's options. Still, Connelly has addressed the problem in innovative ways, although one wonders whether, if he had it to do all over again, he might have dealt with the situation in a different fashion.
Given that he's forty-two, with a long career already behind him, Bosch appears in these pages as a character that's already almost fully formed. He's a rare animal in the L.A.P.D. in that he genuinely cares about the job and about achieving justice for the victims of the crimes he investigates. Later in the series, he will articulate his motto, which is that "Everybody counts or nobody counts." But it's clear that he's already driven by this principle when we first meet him.
For Harry, it's often a pretty lonely road in a department that basically seems to be filled with self-serving cops and bureaucrats who are much less interested in serving justice than they are in achieving their own ends. For example, Harry's partner has a side career in real estate and makes it very clear that the real estate job is much more important to him than being a cop. All he wants to do is put in his twenty years, collect his pension, and go into real estate full time. And if one of his current jobs gets in the way of the other, more than likely it will be the police work that suffers.
If anything, the people in the chain of command above Harry are even worse. They're much more interested in advancing their own careers and protecting the image of the department than they are in the department's mission to serve and protect. And this means that Bosch is going to be in trouble almost all the time, in this book and throughout his career. Everybody admits that Harry is a brilliant detective, but he's not a team player and his actions occasionally embarrass the department. Accordingly, the Powers That Be would just as soon force Harry off the job and he's constantly battling against his superiors and against detectives from the Internal Affairs Division who will go to almost any lengths to dig up dirt against him.
Not that Harry is all that congenial himself. For whatever reason, perhaps because of his background, he doesn't relate very well to other people and it seems at times as though he goes out of his way to offend people, even when they're trying to get along with him.
A prime example is his smoking. By 1992, the health hazards of smoking and of second-hand smoke were pretty well established and already, lots of offices, restaurants and other such places were supposed to be smoke-free. Harry could care less and assumes that the rules simply don't apply to him. He's constantly lighting up in places where smoking is prohibited and in the presence of people who specifically ask him not to smoke. Even in the company of a woman he's allegedly trying to impress, Bosch still insists on smoking, even though it clearly annoys her. In fact, he becomes something of an asshole on this issue. It's hardly the way to win friends and influence people, but Harry clearly doesn't care.
The Black Echo begins when Harry is called to a death site near a dam. It appears that a heroin addict has crawled into a large pipe and overdosed. The case should be open and shut, and Harry's partner, the real estate salesman, clearly wants to declare it an OD and get back to the open house that he's hosting. But the scene doesn't look right to Harry and he pushes forward with the investigation.
Things really get interesting when the body is finally pulled out of the pipe and Harry vaguely recognizes the victim as William Meadows who served with Bosch in Vietnam. The two were "tunnel rats" who went deep underground to explore and destroy enemy tunnels. As Harry presses forward he discovers any number of other incongruities and ties Meadows to a crime that is currently under investigation by the F.B.I.
Bosch contacts the F.B.I., hoping to link their two investigations in an attempt to solve both the murder case that Harry is pursuing and the crime that the Fibbies are investigating. But the Bureau is just as hide-bound and as self-serving as the L.A.P.D., and Harry runs into roadblocks there as well.
Any other detective would almost certainly give up and just follow orders to lay off. But not Harry Bosch. He will pursue this case to the bitter end, no matter who he has to alienate or what he has to sacrifice in the process. And in this case it takes him through a brilliantly plotted story that leads to a tremendous climax.
From the very beginning Harry Bosch has been one of the most compelling figures ever to inhabit the world of crime fiction and he continues to fill that role twenty-four years down the road from this book. The Black Echo is a great beginning to what has become a fabulous series.
March 7, 2017
First impressions can be so deceptive. Well, actually, first, second and third impressions, but who's judging? Me. Totally me.*
Still on the search for a new mystery series, and Michael Connelly's name keeps coming up, mainly because I always misspell John Connolly. John's writing is frequently lyrical and equally brutal, so there's only so much I can take. Perhaps the American Michael will be less demanding? Why, yes, he is. How much less demanding? Well, take this little sample from early on in Harry Bosch's murder investigation:
"He became restless. He looked down into the green glass ashtray and saw that all the butts were unfiltered Camels. Was that Meadow's brand or his killer's? He got up and walked around the room. The faint smell of urine hit him again. He walked back into the bedroom. He opened the drawers of the bureau and stared at their contents once more. Nothing turned in his mind. He went to the window and looked out at the back end of another apartment building across an alley. There was a man with a supermarket cart in the alley. He was poking through a Dumpster with a stick. The car was half full of aluminum cans. Bosch walked away and sat down on the bed and put his head back against the wall where the headboard should have been and the white paint was a dingy gray. The wall felt cool against his back."
Speechless. Mrs. Meunch, my ninth grade Advanced English teacher, would have emptied her pen of red ink had I turned in that paragraph. Dull, repetitive, uninteresting construction and description, as well as virtually meaningless in plot advancement. But here's where first impressions mislead: given that Connelly worked as a journalist, I didn't think his writing skills were that limited on purpose, and a sample chapter at the end of this book for his series starring a lawyer provided proof of a more sophisticated style. I suspect he was trying to echo both the staccato noir voice, as well as the neutral, progressive statements one might find in a police or medical report, that are supposed to be how things 'are' instead of with interpretation. It probably doesn't hurt that the style might also appeal to the mass market in digestibility.
That said, it ended up being an entertaining read. Connelly can't help himself, and as the investigation heats up, the language becomes more complex to handle the demands of perception and action. It ended up pulling me through the dusty Dr. Seuss language into a complex web of conflict between Harry Bosch, his current supervisor, Internal Affairs, the FBI and a hidden killer. Although I felt sure some of the situations introduced were red herrings--and boy, was Bosch downright stupid a couple of times--I wasn't sure of where it would end up. I liked that there was some unpredictability, as so few mass-market books actually surprise me.
The book shows it's age, particularly the lack of cell phones, with the time period reliance on pagers and pay phones. Harry was always trying to get someone to run something on a computer for him (!) and everyone was bitching about typewritten reports, and the proportion of typewriters to detectives. However, that may be an appeal for some readers. I'm thinking it'd be worth giving to my dad, former cop and Vietnam vet, who still hasn't used a cell phone and only adopted an answering machine with technological support from friends.
Overall, while Harry Bosch is no Matt Scudder, I'd say it's not a bad series to break up my fantasy and sci-fi reads. We'll see if it follows the Spencer pattern of going downhill once Connelly achieves mass-market success.
* This book also meets the Mom Seal of Approval: "it's hard to put down."
Three and a half stars.
Still on the search for a new mystery series, and Michael Connelly's name keeps coming up, mainly because I always misspell John Connolly. John's writing is frequently lyrical and equally brutal, so there's only so much I can take. Perhaps the American Michael will be less demanding? Why, yes, he is. How much less demanding? Well, take this little sample from early on in Harry Bosch's murder investigation:
"He became restless. He looked down into the green glass ashtray and saw that all the butts were unfiltered Camels. Was that Meadow's brand or his killer's? He got up and walked around the room. The faint smell of urine hit him again. He walked back into the bedroom. He opened the drawers of the bureau and stared at their contents once more. Nothing turned in his mind. He went to the window and looked out at the back end of another apartment building across an alley. There was a man with a supermarket cart in the alley. He was poking through a Dumpster with a stick. The car was half full of aluminum cans. Bosch walked away and sat down on the bed and put his head back against the wall where the headboard should have been and the white paint was a dingy gray. The wall felt cool against his back."
Speechless. Mrs. Meunch, my ninth grade Advanced English teacher, would have emptied her pen of red ink had I turned in that paragraph. Dull, repetitive, uninteresting construction and description, as well as virtually meaningless in plot advancement. But here's where first impressions mislead: given that Connelly worked as a journalist, I didn't think his writing skills were that limited on purpose, and a sample chapter at the end of this book for his series starring a lawyer provided proof of a more sophisticated style. I suspect he was trying to echo both the staccato noir voice, as well as the neutral, progressive statements one might find in a police or medical report, that are supposed to be how things 'are' instead of with interpretation. It probably doesn't hurt that the style might also appeal to the mass market in digestibility.
That said, it ended up being an entertaining read. Connelly can't help himself, and as the investigation heats up, the language becomes more complex to handle the demands of perception and action. It ended up pulling me through the dusty Dr. Seuss language into a complex web of conflict between Harry Bosch, his current supervisor, Internal Affairs, the FBI and a hidden killer. Although I felt sure some of the situations introduced were red herrings--and boy, was Bosch downright stupid a couple of times--I wasn't sure of where it would end up. I liked that there was some unpredictability, as so few mass-market books actually surprise me.
The book shows it's age, particularly the lack of cell phones, with the time period reliance on pagers and pay phones. Harry was always trying to get someone to run something on a computer for him (!) and everyone was bitching about typewritten reports, and the proportion of typewriters to detectives. However, that may be an appeal for some readers. I'm thinking it'd be worth giving to my dad, former cop and Vietnam vet, who still hasn't used a cell phone and only adopted an answering machine with technological support from friends.
Overall, while Harry Bosch is no Matt Scudder, I'd say it's not a bad series to break up my fantasy and sci-fi reads. We'll see if it follows the Spencer pattern of going downhill once Connelly achieves mass-market success.
* This book also meets the Mom Seal of Approval: "it's hard to put down."
Three and a half stars.
September 2, 2011
I came at Michael Connelly backwards, reading the entire Mickey Haller series before any of his Harry Bosch books. And after encountering Bosch in , I wasn't that compelled to read more about him. But then I found the Kindle version of this on sale for 99c, so I couldn't really say no at that point.
I was not disappointed, but blown away instead. This is a perfect detective mystery tale. Connelly's storytelling gifts are many and varied. He is a master of pacing, has a knack for creating multi-dimensional characters, writes realistic dialogue, a creates a robust plot. The best part is that even after you think you figured out the caper, you haven't, because there are so many layers to Connelly's writing that you've only peeled it back to the next.
I was not disappointed, but blown away instead. This is a perfect detective mystery tale. Connelly's storytelling gifts are many and varied. He is a master of pacing, has a knack for creating multi-dimensional characters, writes realistic dialogue, a creates a robust plot. The best part is that even after you think you figured out the caper, you haven't, because there are so many layers to Connelly's writing that you've only peeled it back to the next.
December 22, 2022
I am ending my speed rating and reviewing with two 5* ratings
Bosch and I are already well acquainted from the TV series but I did not expect to enjoy the novel so much. Especially since it's a debut. It was an excellent procedural with rounded characters, fast paced plot and good, well researched writing. The final star came from the narration by the man himself, Titus Welliver, the actor playing Bosch in the TV series.
Bosch and I are already well acquainted from the TV series but I did not expect to enjoy the novel so much. Especially since it's a debut. It was an excellent procedural with rounded characters, fast paced plot and good, well researched writing. The final star came from the narration by the man himself, Titus Welliver, the actor playing Bosch in the TV series.
January 15, 2024
Harry Bosch #1, Bosch Universe #1: ...and thus I begin on my mission to read a shed load of Harry Bosch universe books in 2024, starting with the first in the series. Harry Bosch one-time big-shot Hollywood movies bound super detective is a bit of do-it-my-way wildcard loner, and because of such we find him working for LAPD Homicide on the overnight shift, when he's sent to investigate an overdose case in an underground tunnel. His real po-lice skills sees him determine that the OD could be a murder, but what really throws him, is that he knew the victim personally!! An interesting opening book, with a pretty interesting character in Harry Bosh and a not so interesting case with too many coincidences, but there is good plotting. A 6 out of 12, Three Star read for me :)
2024 read
2024 read
December 31, 2023
The Black Echo by Michael Connelly introduces readers to Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective Harry Bosch. When he’s called to the scene of an apparent overdose in a drainpipe near the reservoir, he realizes the body is that of someone he knows from Vietnam. Additionally, he is experiencing post traumatic stress disorder and encountering departmental and interagency politics.
Harry is methodical, superstitious, rumpled, and doesn’t believe in coincidences. He likes order, is a loner, and accepts violence as a part of his day-to-day life. The other characters have a variety of depths appropriate to their roles and most are memorable.
This didn’t feel like it should be the first book in the series. It refers to previous cases that has Harry in the role that he is in now. Despite this, it is a well-paced novel with plenty of action and a man facing a choice between justice and vengeance as he faces memories of actions taken twenty years ago. Harry experiences anger, sadness, war memories, rage, and a feeling of emptiness. It was interesting to go back to a time when people still used pagers, pay telephones, typewriters, and shared computers. One quibble that I had was that the book had multiple long parts instead of chapters.
Overall, this is a book that kept me turning the pages to see what would happen next. It was intriguing and gripped me from beginning to end. This was a good start to the series.
I purchased a copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date January 21, 1992.--------------------------------------
My 4.25 rounded to 4 stars review is coming soon.
Harry is methodical, superstitious, rumpled, and doesn’t believe in coincidences. He likes order, is a loner, and accepts violence as a part of his day-to-day life. The other characters have a variety of depths appropriate to their roles and most are memorable.
This didn’t feel like it should be the first book in the series. It refers to previous cases that has Harry in the role that he is in now. Despite this, it is a well-paced novel with plenty of action and a man facing a choice between justice and vengeance as he faces memories of actions taken twenty years ago. Harry experiences anger, sadness, war memories, rage, and a feeling of emptiness. It was interesting to go back to a time when people still used pagers, pay telephones, typewriters, and shared computers. One quibble that I had was that the book had multiple long parts instead of chapters.
Overall, this is a book that kept me turning the pages to see what would happen next. It was intriguing and gripped me from beginning to end. This was a good start to the series.
I purchased a copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date January 21, 1992.--------------------------------------
My 4.25 rounded to 4 stars review is coming soon.
June 27, 2021
As research for a novel I'm writing, I've been reading relevant detective fiction and stealing everything of value. My story takes place in L.A. of 1991 and burgling Michael Connelly turned out to be a bonanza. Not only has Connelly written 22 Harry Bosch novels--basis for the Amazon series Bosch, which in its sixth season, combines one or more books, updated to present day, per season--but the literary Harry Bosch, LAPD Robbery-Homicide detective, begins in Los Angeles of the early '90s. I'd read a short story in Los Angeles Noir that Connelly wrote about an accident investigator that was superb. The Black Echo is definitely up to that high standard.
Instead of a review, let me share some notes.
Publish date: January 21, 1992
Story: LAPD Det. Harry Bosch spends Memorial Day weekend working a case of a dead man found in a storm drain pipe in the Hollywood Reservoir. Presumed to be a junkie overdose, Bosch sees clues that don't add up and also identifies the corpse as Billy Meadows, a fellow tunnel rat Bosch served with in Vietnam and had some contact with after the war. Kicked off the elite Robbery-Homicide squad for shooting a serial killer known as the Dollmaker who turned out to be reaching for his toupee instead of a weapon, Bosch is working homicide cases out of the Hollywood station.
Bosch is disliked by his superiors for his maverick methods. Two IAD officers named Lewis and Clarke who are obsessed with getting dirt begin to tail him. Bosch discovers that Meadows was a suspect in a brazen robbery in which the thieves tunneled underneath an L.A. bank vault and emptied safe deposit boxes of their valuables over the Memorial Day weekend the previous year. The thieves are at large, so Bosch is asked to assist FBI Special Agent Eleanor Wish in determining whether Meadows' likely murder and the bank heist are connected.
L.A. scenery: Connelly takes us from a murder scene in the Hollywood Reservoir to the runaway/hustling scene in Hollywood to an interrogation at Hollywood station. I loved the detail Connelly included about "the Slider," a modified chair that slopes just enough to push the subject's face right at his interrogators across the table and prevents him from getting comfortable. Another murder scene is set in a visitor tunnel at the Hollywood Bowl and the climax takes place in the sewer network under L.A. that will be familiar to fans of the '50s science fiction classic Them! in which giant atomic mutant ants built a nest under the city.
1990s nostalgia: Who remembers answering machines? These were once exposition delivery devices in movies and TV. The character walks in, sees a blinking light and plays their messages, usually from bill collectors (character is broke) or the ex (character is hard to live with). You had to remember to leave your machine "on" if you wanted to screen your phone calls while home, otherwise the machine wouldn't pick up! Bosch also relies on phone booths, spare change and a handheld address book he carries with him to communicate.
Opening paragraph: The boy couldn't see in the dark, but he didn't need to. Experience and long practice told him it was good. Nice and even. Smooth strokes, moving his whole arm while gently rolling his wrist. No runs. Beautiful.
Title in text: "Meadows," he said and shook his head at the memory of the man. "Meadows was something else ... Back then, we were all just a bunch of kids, afraid of the dark. And those tunnels were so damn dark. But Meadows, he wasn't afraid. He'd volunteer and volunteer and volunteer. Out of the blue and into the black. That's what he said going on a tunnel mission was. We called it the black echo. It was like going to hell. You're down there and you could smell your own fear. It was like you were dead when you were down there."
Select prose: They were in the neighborhood. The street was lined with run-down motels that had looked depressing the day they were finished being built. Bosch pointed out one of these, the Blue Chateau, and told her to park. It was as depressing as all the others on the street. Concrete block, early fifties design. Painted light blue with darker blue trim that was peeling. It was a two-story courtyard building with towels and clothes hanging out of almost every open window. It was a place where the interior would rival the exterior as an eyesore, Bosch knew. Where runaways crowded eight or ten to a room, the strongest getting the bed, the others the floor or the bathtub. There were places like this on many of the blocks near the Boulevard. There always had been and always would be.
Closing paragraph: Bosch hung the print in the hallway near his front door, and from time to time he would stop and study it when he came in, particularly from a weary day or night on the job. The painting never failed to fascinate him, or to evoke memories of Eleanor Wish. The darkness. The stark loneliness. The man sitting alone, his face turned to the shadows. I am that man, Harry Bosch would think each time he looked.
Thoughts: Connelly knows his turf and provided an abundance of sharp detail that made his world come alive for me. Bosch is a complete cliché--genius maverick cop with PTSD who drinks and smokes too much and lives the job--but The Black Echo was exciting. It was too long for my taste by 40,000 or 50,000 words and I felt the material with the vengeful IAD officers (Lewis & Clarke, really?) was overcooked, but I was hooked by the mystery and had to keep reading to find out what turns the case would take and how Bosch would get out of the jam he was in.
Word count: 136.329 words
Instead of a review, let me share some notes.
Publish date: January 21, 1992
Story: LAPD Det. Harry Bosch spends Memorial Day weekend working a case of a dead man found in a storm drain pipe in the Hollywood Reservoir. Presumed to be a junkie overdose, Bosch sees clues that don't add up and also identifies the corpse as Billy Meadows, a fellow tunnel rat Bosch served with in Vietnam and had some contact with after the war. Kicked off the elite Robbery-Homicide squad for shooting a serial killer known as the Dollmaker who turned out to be reaching for his toupee instead of a weapon, Bosch is working homicide cases out of the Hollywood station.
Bosch is disliked by his superiors for his maverick methods. Two IAD officers named Lewis and Clarke who are obsessed with getting dirt begin to tail him. Bosch discovers that Meadows was a suspect in a brazen robbery in which the thieves tunneled underneath an L.A. bank vault and emptied safe deposit boxes of their valuables over the Memorial Day weekend the previous year. The thieves are at large, so Bosch is asked to assist FBI Special Agent Eleanor Wish in determining whether Meadows' likely murder and the bank heist are connected.
L.A. scenery: Connelly takes us from a murder scene in the Hollywood Reservoir to the runaway/hustling scene in Hollywood to an interrogation at Hollywood station. I loved the detail Connelly included about "the Slider," a modified chair that slopes just enough to push the subject's face right at his interrogators across the table and prevents him from getting comfortable. Another murder scene is set in a visitor tunnel at the Hollywood Bowl and the climax takes place in the sewer network under L.A. that will be familiar to fans of the '50s science fiction classic Them! in which giant atomic mutant ants built a nest under the city.
1990s nostalgia: Who remembers answering machines? These were once exposition delivery devices in movies and TV. The character walks in, sees a blinking light and plays their messages, usually from bill collectors (character is broke) or the ex (character is hard to live with). You had to remember to leave your machine "on" if you wanted to screen your phone calls while home, otherwise the machine wouldn't pick up! Bosch also relies on phone booths, spare change and a handheld address book he carries with him to communicate.
Opening paragraph: The boy couldn't see in the dark, but he didn't need to. Experience and long practice told him it was good. Nice and even. Smooth strokes, moving his whole arm while gently rolling his wrist. No runs. Beautiful.
Title in text: "Meadows," he said and shook his head at the memory of the man. "Meadows was something else ... Back then, we were all just a bunch of kids, afraid of the dark. And those tunnels were so damn dark. But Meadows, he wasn't afraid. He'd volunteer and volunteer and volunteer. Out of the blue and into the black. That's what he said going on a tunnel mission was. We called it the black echo. It was like going to hell. You're down there and you could smell your own fear. It was like you were dead when you were down there."
Select prose: They were in the neighborhood. The street was lined with run-down motels that had looked depressing the day they were finished being built. Bosch pointed out one of these, the Blue Chateau, and told her to park. It was as depressing as all the others on the street. Concrete block, early fifties design. Painted light blue with darker blue trim that was peeling. It was a two-story courtyard building with towels and clothes hanging out of almost every open window. It was a place where the interior would rival the exterior as an eyesore, Bosch knew. Where runaways crowded eight or ten to a room, the strongest getting the bed, the others the floor or the bathtub. There were places like this on many of the blocks near the Boulevard. There always had been and always would be.
Closing paragraph: Bosch hung the print in the hallway near his front door, and from time to time he would stop and study it when he came in, particularly from a weary day or night on the job. The painting never failed to fascinate him, or to evoke memories of Eleanor Wish. The darkness. The stark loneliness. The man sitting alone, his face turned to the shadows. I am that man, Harry Bosch would think each time he looked.
Thoughts: Connelly knows his turf and provided an abundance of sharp detail that made his world come alive for me. Bosch is a complete cliché--genius maverick cop with PTSD who drinks and smokes too much and lives the job--but The Black Echo was exciting. It was too long for my taste by 40,000 or 50,000 words and I felt the material with the vengeful IAD officers (Lewis & Clarke, really?) was overcooked, but I was hooked by the mystery and had to keep reading to find out what turns the case would take and how Bosch would get out of the jam he was in.
Word count: 136.329 words
December 2, 2017
Michael Connelly introduced his signature protagonist, Harry Bosch, in the 1992 novel The Black Echo. Over twenty Harry Bosch novels have been published in this successful run for Connelly’s lone wolf, battle scarred hero detective.
“There is no such thing as a coincidence.�
So states Hieronymus Bosch, named from the fifteenth century Dutch painter of fantastic themes. Bosch was a “tunnel rat� in Vietnam � a soldier whose job it was to enter the warrens created and maintained by the enemy and fight underground. It would seem to be a wild coincidence that he is on duty when a call comes through for him to investigate the finding of a dead body in a drainage tunnel in LA; and it turns out that Harry knew the dead man, a fellow tunnel rat from his time in country.
So begins Bosch’s investigation into what happened to his old buddy, and Connelly’s popular run of mystery novels.
While this was certainly entertaining and fun, and Bosch is a charismatic detective, mixing elements of the hard-boiled investigator with a modern day, cagey world weariness, this made me think of watching film of a very young athlete who would one day become a hall of famer. Connelly’s later work is more polished, his structure more detailed and his characterizations more defined. As good as it is, this still reads like a debut novel from a talented but still very new author.
For a spot on description of the numerous clichés, see Kemper’s excellent review.
A good start, and it is no coincidence that Bosch has remained a staple for modern day crime thrillers.
“There is no such thing as a coincidence.�
So states Hieronymus Bosch, named from the fifteenth century Dutch painter of fantastic themes. Bosch was a “tunnel rat� in Vietnam � a soldier whose job it was to enter the warrens created and maintained by the enemy and fight underground. It would seem to be a wild coincidence that he is on duty when a call comes through for him to investigate the finding of a dead body in a drainage tunnel in LA; and it turns out that Harry knew the dead man, a fellow tunnel rat from his time in country.
So begins Bosch’s investigation into what happened to his old buddy, and Connelly’s popular run of mystery novels.
While this was certainly entertaining and fun, and Bosch is a charismatic detective, mixing elements of the hard-boiled investigator with a modern day, cagey world weariness, this made me think of watching film of a very young athlete who would one day become a hall of famer. Connelly’s later work is more polished, his structure more detailed and his characterizations more defined. As good as it is, this still reads like a debut novel from a talented but still very new author.
For a spot on description of the numerous clichés, see Kemper’s excellent review.
A good start, and it is no coincidence that Bosch has remained a staple for modern day crime thrillers.
November 1, 2020
Reconozco que si no hubiera sido escogido en un Club de Lectura, probablemente nunca habría leído este libro. En general, en esta línea, prefiero la novela negra que la policial, no por un sentido de morbo pero sí porque normalmente las personalidades de los involucrados tienden a ser más interesantes y las motivaciones más complejas.
Sin embargo, me llevé una gratísima sorpresa. Además de introducirnos en el universo de Harry Bosch (que va por su novela 27), personaje fetiche de Michael Connelly, El eco negro es una novela increíblemente bien estructurada, donde todo cuadra perfectamente al llegar a las últimas páginas, en un final realmente impactante e inesperado.
Me encantó el personaje de Harry Bosch, así como el estilo de Connelly. Excelentes descripciones y muy fáciles de seguir, por lo que no se pierde el ritmo de la lectura en ningún momento, a diferencia de lo que me ha pasado con varios otros autores, que precisamente se caen al momento de describir las escenas de acción. Realmente me entretuve mucho.
Punto adicional por la sensación vintage que se produce al leer esta novela 25 años después de su primera publicación (máquinas de escribir, bíper, teléfonos públicos, fumar en las oficinas) y por abordar el triste panorama que tuvieron que enfrentar los veteranos de Vietnam.
Reto #12 PopSugar 2017: Un bestseller de un género que normalmente no leas
Sin embargo, me llevé una gratísima sorpresa. Además de introducirnos en el universo de Harry Bosch (que va por su novela 27), personaje fetiche de Michael Connelly, El eco negro es una novela increíblemente bien estructurada, donde todo cuadra perfectamente al llegar a las últimas páginas, en un final realmente impactante e inesperado.
Me encantó el personaje de Harry Bosch, así como el estilo de Connelly. Excelentes descripciones y muy fáciles de seguir, por lo que no se pierde el ritmo de la lectura en ningún momento, a diferencia de lo que me ha pasado con varios otros autores, que precisamente se caen al momento de describir las escenas de acción. Realmente me entretuve mucho.
Punto adicional por la sensación vintage que se produce al leer esta novela 25 años después de su primera publicación (máquinas de escribir, bíper, teléfonos públicos, fumar en las oficinas) y por abordar el triste panorama que tuvieron que enfrentar los veteranos de Vietnam.
Reto #12 PopSugar 2017: Un bestseller de un género que normalmente no leas
July 17, 2018
Out of the blue and into the black is what they called going into a tunnel. Each one was a black echo. Nothing but death in there. But, still, they went.....
Reading a new detective series right from where it all began is always exciting & the Harry Bosch series seems to be the perfect series for it. The Black Echo is the debut novel by American crime author Michael Connelly, published back in 1992. This is the first of Connelly's Bosch series (with 20 books published & 21st to be published soon).
Set in Los Angeles in the early 1990s, Harry Bosch, working with the LAPD, is on the case of a dead man found in a drainage pipe. Harry recognizes the corpse as that of a fellow soldier in Vietnam; both were 'tunnel rats' (who searched for Viet Cong in the network of burrows beneath Vietnamese villages) What starts as a routine case of homeless man dying of a drug overdose, takes unimaginable twists & turns. The further this investigations takes him, the further Harry is driven back to his personal abyss in Vietnam. The ‘Black Echo�; a term used to describe claustrophobic dark silence that tunnel rats experienced when ordered to enter deep tunnels to kill hidden enemies. For Harry, the return to the repressed memories of his past is a nightmare. While, Harry is investigating probably the biggest career, he is also battling his mental demons. The power struggle between LAPD & the FBI and two Internal Affairs investigators who have him under surveillance, adds another twist to the story.
“The Black Echo� was unique & exciting, mainly because the plot is much more complex and much more original that it at first seems and the story keeps on introducing new twists, just when you think you know what’s going to come. The story is fairly long but you never feel bored at any point of time. The whole story is set in the 90s which feels unique in this age, when cops used pagers & pay-phones to make calls; typewriters & no DNA evidence, all of which add to the story, instead of making it feel dated.
Every detail of Bosch’s world, even a minor one, has a role to play. Even his flashbacks from Vietnam, advance the story forward in some way. The plot was strong with plenty of sub-plots to keep things moving forward. Harry’s backstory was handled craft fully. You don’t every detail of his past life but are told enough to know him or what is necessary. Even Harry’s older cases are discussed in enough detail to we know what happened. Yet, all those back stories do not distract from the main story. It’s slipped in at every turn so that it doesn’t slow things down. It can be tough to really keep the pace of the book going this book and author does well to not let the story get bogged down at any point.
Connelly shows off his deep knowledge of cop procedure, from the examination of the death-scene to the routine questioning of suspects to the characterisations of his fellow cops and superiors. Also the internal politics between the LAPD, FBI & IA is brilliantly depicted. Connelly was crime beat reporter for the LA times and he expertly expertly combines his experience of the federal and local investigative procedures with great accuracy.
As a troubled cop, Connelly’s characterisation of Harry is brilliant. Connelly has made Bosch realistic, giving him faults and flaws but also redeeming factors. Harry is methodical but also reckless & superstitious. He is troubled by his personal life but is ruthless in the job. Harry is a flawed hero of the modern times without any attempt made to glorify him or his actions. The only thing I was disappointed with was the reveal of the inside man: I could’ve seen it coming for a long time. But maybe I’m just used to reading too many detective novels.
Not a surprise that this book won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for "Best First Novel" in 1992 and i think it was truly well deserved. Overall, this book successfully delivers everything that anyone could ask for from a crime thriller and if you enjoy the crime genre, I would definitely recommend it.
May 30, 2021
In the 80’s it didn’t take me long to learn to look dubiously at book recommendations from authors, particularly if the recommender and "recommendee" lived in the same vicinity. I would still note, say, Donald Westlake recommending Lawrence Block recommending Brian Garfield, but I would also wait for outside confirmation. With the advent of the internet vicinity was no longer an accurate indicator. For example, shortly after the turn of the century the gang from Busted Flush Press lived nowhere near each other and yet unrelentingly sang the praises of their fellows. Often that praise, both in the past and more recently, was justified. Almost as often there was disappointment--which of course is inevitable. Any art form is subjective. But on occasion there was more to the disappointment than personal perspective.
So I came to Black Echo and Michael Connelly proceeded by universal acclaim stopping just short of worship. How is it possible to live up to that kind of advance billing? My standard response, in hopes of giving myself the best chance of enjoying the experience, is to temper expectations, particularly in the case of a first novel. What a waste of energy that turned out to be. Long before I’d finished the book I knew I had joined the chorus.
We first meet Harry Bosch as a detective out of the Hollywood Division of the LAPD, which to an outsider might sound like a premium assignment. It’s not. Bosch had once been a celebrity cop, successful enough in the world of 1992 (pre-reality TV) for a movie and series to be based on his work, but after a skirmish with Internal Affairs, Hollywood was as far down as he could be demoted short of outright termination. A grudge is still held by certain members of the department, in part because Bosch is a loner at heart and does not appreciate being a member of a family like the LAPD. We learn immediate that most do not like working with him, although he does inspire a few loyalties. His current partner, while preferring his other outside interest, will do his job and back Bosch when needed. And the coroner goes out of his way to assist him. But for the most part there are very few on his side, apparently with reason. We often witness Bosch being surly or rude to people who are voluntarily assisting him. It begs the question: Why should we, the reader, like Bosch? Care about him? Root for him? The answer? Because the author has decided that we should.
Michael Connelly displays his considerable skill immediately. As the detective on call, Bosch is summoned a reservoir where a junkie has overdosed in a three-foot-wide pipe. Immediately Connelly establishes character, mood, and a sense of scene. And he also understands the general rule concerning the use of coincidence: once per story and as close to the beginning as possible. Connelly breaks the former but the reader doesn’t mind. The second coincidence is to bypass the boredom inherent in routine investigation. The first is to establish a personal connection to the case for Bosch. He recognizes the victim as someone with whom he had served in Vietnam. Again, Connelly wisely has Bosch discover signs questioning the accidental OD before he discovers the identity of the corpse.
It doesn’t take long for the case to open out into something bigger. The FBI become involved. And Internal Affairs decides to use the opportunity to take another run at dismissing Bosch. At first I feared their involvement would serve as a means of propping up the middle part of the book, to provide obstacles for Bosch to circumvent. I need not have worried there either; they had a legitimate part to play. Connelly avoided every pitfall and checked every box.
And I even got a confession. Black Echo is procedural at heart so detailed confessions are an unanticipated bonus. This, I freely admit, is a personal preference. I enjoy the hero tracking down the killer, beating the ticking clock and saving the day. And I enjoy the detective expounding on how his deductions explained all the false clues while still leading to the correct solution. But above all I love confessions, preferably with some genuine emotion. I don’t just want to know why, I want to hear why. In a reality-based story like this I had no right to expect anything of the kind. And, truth be told, Black Echo would have been a great read without my unexpected gift. With it--even if you don’t share my love of confessions--it remains a great read. Again, a testament to the skill of Connelly. It doesn’t jar. The confession flows naturally from everything that preceded it, the next inevitable step as the story winds itself to a close.
Sometimes the popular opinion is right. And I gladly stand with the crowd.
So I came to Black Echo and Michael Connelly proceeded by universal acclaim stopping just short of worship. How is it possible to live up to that kind of advance billing? My standard response, in hopes of giving myself the best chance of enjoying the experience, is to temper expectations, particularly in the case of a first novel. What a waste of energy that turned out to be. Long before I’d finished the book I knew I had joined the chorus.
We first meet Harry Bosch as a detective out of the Hollywood Division of the LAPD, which to an outsider might sound like a premium assignment. It’s not. Bosch had once been a celebrity cop, successful enough in the world of 1992 (pre-reality TV) for a movie and series to be based on his work, but after a skirmish with Internal Affairs, Hollywood was as far down as he could be demoted short of outright termination. A grudge is still held by certain members of the department, in part because Bosch is a loner at heart and does not appreciate being a member of a family like the LAPD. We learn immediate that most do not like working with him, although he does inspire a few loyalties. His current partner, while preferring his other outside interest, will do his job and back Bosch when needed. And the coroner goes out of his way to assist him. But for the most part there are very few on his side, apparently with reason. We often witness Bosch being surly or rude to people who are voluntarily assisting him. It begs the question: Why should we, the reader, like Bosch? Care about him? Root for him? The answer? Because the author has decided that we should.
Michael Connelly displays his considerable skill immediately. As the detective on call, Bosch is summoned a reservoir where a junkie has overdosed in a three-foot-wide pipe. Immediately Connelly establishes character, mood, and a sense of scene. And he also understands the general rule concerning the use of coincidence: once per story and as close to the beginning as possible. Connelly breaks the former but the reader doesn’t mind. The second coincidence is to bypass the boredom inherent in routine investigation. The first is to establish a personal connection to the case for Bosch. He recognizes the victim as someone with whom he had served in Vietnam. Again, Connelly wisely has Bosch discover signs questioning the accidental OD before he discovers the identity of the corpse.
It doesn’t take long for the case to open out into something bigger. The FBI become involved. And Internal Affairs decides to use the opportunity to take another run at dismissing Bosch. At first I feared their involvement would serve as a means of propping up the middle part of the book, to provide obstacles for Bosch to circumvent. I need not have worried there either; they had a legitimate part to play. Connelly avoided every pitfall and checked every box.
And I even got a confession. Black Echo is procedural at heart so detailed confessions are an unanticipated bonus. This, I freely admit, is a personal preference. I enjoy the hero tracking down the killer, beating the ticking clock and saving the day. And I enjoy the detective expounding on how his deductions explained all the false clues while still leading to the correct solution. But above all I love confessions, preferably with some genuine emotion. I don’t just want to know why, I want to hear why. In a reality-based story like this I had no right to expect anything of the kind. And, truth be told, Black Echo would have been a great read without my unexpected gift. With it--even if you don’t share my love of confessions--it remains a great read. Again, a testament to the skill of Connelly. It doesn’t jar. The confession flows naturally from everything that preceded it, the next inevitable step as the story winds itself to a close.
Sometimes the popular opinion is right. And I gladly stand with the crowd.
January 7, 2022
An excellent mystery & main character, if a bit dour. I really liked the amount of detail & logic in this. Great twists & very realistic. Even the 'bad' guys were well done or maybe they were especially well done. Not all were as bad as I first thought - jerks, but they had reasons. Again, very realistic. On to the next in the series.
The series, as I've been able to put it together, is not just one, but is intertwined with Connelly's other series. I've put the books & stories in order by combing Connelly's web site & some others. If you spot an error, I'd really appreciate a heads up.
Connelly, Michael - Reading Order Updated 25Jun2019 (Thanks, John!) with all novels & short stories broken out with links. Note that GR has 'Harry Bosch Universe' & 'Harry Bosch World' lists. Mine varies from both by including ALL Connelly's characters appearing in the chronology correctly, even the minor ones. I did that because there are references that would otherwise be missed. (Thanks to GregT (not on GR) for his insight into this before I got into the series.) Here is the Wikipedia Harry Bosch entry which also helps with the order.
01 - (Harry Bosch #1), 1992
02 - (Harry Bosch #2), 1993
03 - (Harry Bosch #3), 1994
04 - (Harry Bosch #4), 1995
05 - (Jack McEvoy #1), (1996)
5.5 "Suicide Run"(2007) in , 2011 was moved from 17.5 to 11.6 & then to 5.5. Harry is working with Edgar out of the Hollywood division & Kiz Rider is a lab tech. (Thanks, John!)
06 - (Harry Bosch #5), 1997
07 - (Terry McCaleb #1), 1998
08 - (Harry Bosch #6), 1999
09 - (Cassie Black #1) (2000)
9.5 - Cielo Azul(2001) in , 2011 Moved because
10 - (Harry Bosch #7, also Terry McCaleb #2), 2001
10.4 - (per John (see comment 14 below) ...The Detective (not the main character) is Robert Renner. He later appears in The Closers where he works with Harry in Open-Unsolved. Janis Langwiser, an Assistant DA in Angels Flight and A Darkness More Than Night, is a defense attorney in this book. She was Harry's defense attorney in Lost Light. One other minor mentions is the main character's sister, who was a victim of Norman Church in The Concrete Blonde. The story happens in September 2002...)
10.5 - Christmas Even (2002) in (2011)
11 - (Harry Bosch #8), 2002 (Last book partnered with Edgar)
12 - (Harry Bosch #9), 2003
13 - (Harry Bosch #10), 2004
14 - (Mickey Haller #1), 2004
15 - (Harry Bosch #11), 2005
15.5 - Angle of Investigation (2005) in (2011)
16 - (Harry Bosch #12), 2006
17 - (Harry Bosch #13), 2007
17.4 - Father’s Day (2007) in (2011) (HB's first investigation?)
17.6 - One Dollar Jackpot(2007) in , 2011
18 - (Harry Bosch #14, also Mickey Haller #2), 2008
19 - (Jack McEvoy #2), 2009
20 - (Harry Bosch #15, Mickey Haller appears briefly), 2009
20.5 - - Harry Bosch Short Story 2010
20.6 - The Perfect Triangle, 2010 Mickey Haller short story, published in (May 2010)
21 - (Mickey Haller #3, (Harry Bosch #16), 2010
22 - (Mickey Haller #4 � Harry Bosch appeared only briefly, 2011)
23 - (Harry Bosch #17), 2011 (Meets Hannah)
23.5 - Blood Washes Off, 2011 - Harry Bosch Short Story, published in (May 2011) (Inconsistent with timeline: He is in RHD, but Open-Unsolved)
23.6 - The Crooked Man, 2014 (Harry Bosch short story, published in ) Not correct chronology due to inconsistencies in the story.
24 - (Harry Bosch #18), 2012
24.5 - A Fine Mist of Blood, 2012 - Harry Bosch Short Story, published in (April 2012)
24.6 - (2012) (SS) Stand alone, not part of this universe.
24.6 - , 2014 (Harry Bosch #18.5)
25 - (Mickey Haller #5 � Harry Bosch appeared only briefly), 2013
26 - (Harry Bosch #19), 2014
27 - (Harry Bosch #20), 2015
28 - (Harry Bosch #21), 2016
28.5 - “Burnt Matches,� featuring Mickey Haller, to be published in : Tales of Fast Cars, Desperate Drives and Dark Roads (coming October 2016)
* “Nighthawks,� featuring Harry Bosch, to be published in In Sunlight or In Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper (coming December 2016)
29 - (Renée Ballard #1), 2017
30 - (Harry Bosch #20), Oct2017
31 - (Renée Ballard #2, Harry Bosch #21)
32 - (Renée Ballard #3, Harry Bosch #22)
33 - (Jack McEvoy #3)
34 - (Mickey Haller #6)
35 - - (Renee Ballard #4, Harry Bosch #23)
From :
Harry Bosch Series:
Harry Bosch Background: Born in 1950 in Los Angeles to Marjorie Phillips Lowe. He was named Hieronymus Bosch after the 15th century Dutch artist and nicknamed “Harry.� He became an orphan at 11 when his mother, a prostitute, was murdered. He grew up living in a youth hall and foster homes. He joined the army and did two tours in Vietnam. Harry returned to Los Angeles and joined the LAPD in 1972. He became a detective after five years in patrol.
Books in published order:
The Black Echo (1992)
The Black Ice (1993)
The Concrete Blonde (1994)
The Last Coyote (1995)
Trunk Music (1997)
Angels Flight (1999)
A Darkness More Than Night (2001)
City Of Bones (2002)
Lost Light (2003)
The Narrows (2004)
The Closers (2005)
Echo Park (2006)
The Overlook (2007)
The Brass Verdict (2008)
Nine Dragons (2009)
The Reversal (2010)
The Fifth Witness (2011) (one page brief appearance)
The Drop (2011)
The Black Box (2012)
The Gods of Guilt (2013) (one page brief appearance)
The Burning Room (2014)
The Crossing (November 2015)
Mickey Haller Series:
Mickey Haller Background: Born in 1965 in Los Angeles to a B-list movie actress from Mexico and the famous criminal defense attorney, J. Michael Haller. He was named after his father, who died when Mickey was five. After law school, he worked in the Public Defenders� Office for about 3 years. He left and went into private practice as a criminal defense attorney, opening up Michael Haller and Associates.
Books in published order:
The Lincoln Lawyer (2005)
The Brass Verdict (2008)
Nine Dragons (2009) (small part)
The Reversal (2010)
The Fifth Witness (2011)
The Gods of Guilt (2013)
The Crossing (November 2015)
Other Main Characters
Rachel Walling Appearances:
The Poet (1996)
The Narrows (2004)
Echo Park (2006)
The Overlook (2007)
The Scarecrow (2009)
The Reversal (2010) (small part)
The Black Box (2012) (small part)
The Burning Room (2014, brief appearance)
Jack McEvoy Appearances:
The Poet (1996)
A Darkness More Than Night (2001) (small part)
The Brass Verdict (2008) (small part)
The Scarecrow (2009)
Terry McCaleb Appearances:
Blood Work (1998)
A Darkness More Than Night (2001)
The Narrows (2004)
Cassie Black Appearances:
Void Moon (2000)
The Narrows (2004) (small part, using an alias)
The series, as I've been able to put it together, is not just one, but is intertwined with Connelly's other series. I've put the books & stories in order by combing Connelly's web site & some others. If you spot an error, I'd really appreciate a heads up.
Connelly, Michael - Reading Order Updated 25Jun2019 (Thanks, John!) with all novels & short stories broken out with links. Note that GR has 'Harry Bosch Universe' & 'Harry Bosch World' lists. Mine varies from both by including ALL Connelly's characters appearing in the chronology correctly, even the minor ones. I did that because there are references that would otherwise be missed. (Thanks to GregT (not on GR) for his insight into this before I got into the series.) Here is the Wikipedia Harry Bosch entry which also helps with the order.
01 - (Harry Bosch #1), 1992
02 - (Harry Bosch #2), 1993
03 - (Harry Bosch #3), 1994
04 - (Harry Bosch #4), 1995
05 - (Jack McEvoy #1), (1996)
5.5 "Suicide Run"(2007) in , 2011 was moved from 17.5 to 11.6 & then to 5.5. Harry is working with Edgar out of the Hollywood division & Kiz Rider is a lab tech. (Thanks, John!)
06 - (Harry Bosch #5), 1997
07 - (Terry McCaleb #1), 1998
08 - (Harry Bosch #6), 1999
09 - (Cassie Black #1) (2000)
9.5 - Cielo Azul(2001) in , 2011 Moved because
10 - (Harry Bosch #7, also Terry McCaleb #2), 2001
10.4 - (per John (see comment 14 below) ...The Detective (not the main character) is Robert Renner. He later appears in The Closers where he works with Harry in Open-Unsolved. Janis Langwiser, an Assistant DA in Angels Flight and A Darkness More Than Night, is a defense attorney in this book. She was Harry's defense attorney in Lost Light. One other minor mentions is the main character's sister, who was a victim of Norman Church in The Concrete Blonde. The story happens in September 2002...)
10.5 - Christmas Even (2002) in (2011)
11 - (Harry Bosch #8), 2002 (Last book partnered with Edgar)
12 - (Harry Bosch #9), 2003
13 - (Harry Bosch #10), 2004
14 - (Mickey Haller #1), 2004
15 - (Harry Bosch #11), 2005
15.5 - Angle of Investigation (2005) in (2011)
16 - (Harry Bosch #12), 2006
17 - (Harry Bosch #13), 2007
17.4 - Father’s Day (2007) in (2011) (HB's first investigation?)
17.6 - One Dollar Jackpot(2007) in , 2011
18 - (Harry Bosch #14, also Mickey Haller #2), 2008
19 - (Jack McEvoy #2), 2009
20 - (Harry Bosch #15, Mickey Haller appears briefly), 2009
20.5 - - Harry Bosch Short Story 2010
20.6 - The Perfect Triangle, 2010 Mickey Haller short story, published in (May 2010)
21 - (Mickey Haller #3, (Harry Bosch #16), 2010
22 - (Mickey Haller #4 � Harry Bosch appeared only briefly, 2011)
23 - (Harry Bosch #17), 2011 (Meets Hannah)
23.5 - Blood Washes Off, 2011 - Harry Bosch Short Story, published in (May 2011) (Inconsistent with timeline: He is in RHD, but Open-Unsolved)
23.6 - The Crooked Man, 2014 (Harry Bosch short story, published in ) Not correct chronology due to inconsistencies in the story.
24 - (Harry Bosch #18), 2012
24.5 - A Fine Mist of Blood, 2012 - Harry Bosch Short Story, published in (April 2012)
24.6 - , 2014 (Harry Bosch #18.5)
25 - (Mickey Haller #5 � Harry Bosch appeared only briefly), 2013
26 - (Harry Bosch #19), 2014
27 - (Harry Bosch #20), 2015
28 - (Harry Bosch #21), 2016
28.5 - “Burnt Matches,� featuring Mickey Haller, to be published in : Tales of Fast Cars, Desperate Drives and Dark Roads (coming October 2016)
* “Nighthawks,� featuring Harry Bosch, to be published in In Sunlight or In Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper (coming December 2016)
29 - (Renée Ballard #1), 2017
30 - (Harry Bosch #20), Oct2017
31 - (Renée Ballard #2, Harry Bosch #21)
32 - (Renée Ballard #3, Harry Bosch #22)
33 - (Jack McEvoy #3)
34 - (Mickey Haller #6)
35 - - (Renee Ballard #4, Harry Bosch #23)
From :
Harry Bosch Series:
Harry Bosch Background: Born in 1950 in Los Angeles to Marjorie Phillips Lowe. He was named Hieronymus Bosch after the 15th century Dutch artist and nicknamed “Harry.� He became an orphan at 11 when his mother, a prostitute, was murdered. He grew up living in a youth hall and foster homes. He joined the army and did two tours in Vietnam. Harry returned to Los Angeles and joined the LAPD in 1972. He became a detective after five years in patrol.
Books in published order:
The Black Echo (1992)
The Black Ice (1993)
The Concrete Blonde (1994)
The Last Coyote (1995)
Trunk Music (1997)
Angels Flight (1999)
A Darkness More Than Night (2001)
City Of Bones (2002)
Lost Light (2003)
The Narrows (2004)
The Closers (2005)
Echo Park (2006)
The Overlook (2007)
The Brass Verdict (2008)
Nine Dragons (2009)
The Reversal (2010)
The Fifth Witness (2011) (one page brief appearance)
The Drop (2011)
The Black Box (2012)
The Gods of Guilt (2013) (one page brief appearance)
The Burning Room (2014)
The Crossing (November 2015)
Mickey Haller Series:
Mickey Haller Background: Born in 1965 in Los Angeles to a B-list movie actress from Mexico and the famous criminal defense attorney, J. Michael Haller. He was named after his father, who died when Mickey was five. After law school, he worked in the Public Defenders� Office for about 3 years. He left and went into private practice as a criminal defense attorney, opening up Michael Haller and Associates.
Books in published order:
The Lincoln Lawyer (2005)
The Brass Verdict (2008)
Nine Dragons (2009) (small part)
The Reversal (2010)
The Fifth Witness (2011)
The Gods of Guilt (2013)
The Crossing (November 2015)
Other Main Characters
Rachel Walling Appearances:
The Poet (1996)
The Narrows (2004)
Echo Park (2006)
The Overlook (2007)
The Scarecrow (2009)
The Reversal (2010) (small part)
The Black Box (2012) (small part)
The Burning Room (2014, brief appearance)
Jack McEvoy Appearances:
The Poet (1996)
A Darkness More Than Night (2001) (small part)
The Brass Verdict (2008) (small part)
The Scarecrow (2009)
Terry McCaleb Appearances:
Blood Work (1998)
A Darkness More Than Night (2001)
The Narrows (2004)
Cassie Black Appearances:
Void Moon (2000)
The Narrows (2004) (small part, using an alias)
July 1, 2017
Great series! compelling,complicated and there are many layers to the plot to which the author handle with ease by unraveling the storyline..great writing (paperback!)
January 20, 2020
4.5�
“One cop's word against another's was something they wouldn't touch in this department. Deep down, they knew a cop's word by itself was worthless. That was why Internal Affairs cops always worked in pairs.�
This is my first crack at the extremely popular Bosch series, and it’s no surprise that I liked it. We’re introduced to a middle-aged cop who may have ‘executed� � rather than, as he claimed, ‘defended himself against� � a particularly evil villain. As a consequence, he’s been moved on and is now part of the Los Angeles Police Dept.
The book opens with a young kid tagging a big pipe in the middle of the night when he hears a vehicle and hides in time to see someone drag a body into the pipe. He makes an anonymous call to the cops and hightails it out of there. Dead body.
This was written in 1992, so it’s a time of pagers and payphones and tape recorders � no instant communication here. I was surprised all the phones were working, incidentally. A bit like some old detective shows where they can pull up and park in front of wherever they’re going, but I digress.
Anonymous rhymes with Hieronymus, Bosch tells us. Mother liked the old Dutch painter, so why not? Bosch, ma’am. Hieronymus Bosch. Doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as Bond � James Bond, does it?
Harry’s a Vietnam vet, suffers badly, sleeps poorly, enjoys a drink, and lives on coffee and cigarettes. So he’s ready to go see a body anytime, day or night. Is he okay? The psych evaluation after his shooting seems to hedge its bets.
�. . . the evaluation report on a psychological given Bosch the year before to determine if he should be allowed to return to duty after killing an unarmed man. The department psychologist wrote:
. . .
He speaks in terms of violence or the aspect of violence or the aspect of violence being an accepted part of his day-to-day life, for all of his life.
. . .
He will be able to pull the trigger. In fact, his conversation reveals no ill effects at all from the shooting, unless his sense of satisfaction with the outcome of the incident—the suspect's death—should be deemed inappropriate��
“The suspect’s death.� That’s the practically-public-enemy I mentioned earlier, the one Bosch claimed might have been reaching for a gun when Bosch ‘stopped� him. (Or ‘topped� him?) They should have given him a medal for taking the guy off the streets, but the law doesn’t work that way.
Someone later quotes J. Edgar Hoover as saying “Justice is incidental to law and order.� I’ve seen many similar observations, and I’m inclined to agree. But I also remember a film about a so-called Star Chamber where a group of judges used to meet and compare notes on villains who got off, and then they arranged an assassination. It was a very satisfying thought, until they targeted the wrong guy, and it all went pear-shaped. I guess law and order may have to do until we find a better system. But I digress again, sorry.
Bosch has to work with the FBI, which gives him no pleasure, and the fact that the victim in the pipe was someone he used to know who worked with him in the miles of tunnels in Vietnam causes more flare-ups of his war memories.
There are a couple of inept FBI agents, Lewis and Clarke, who do get referred to disparagingly as ‘the explorers�.
“Each man was built wide and low to the ground for better handling. Each had a slightly forward tilt to his body, as if he were wading out to sea, crashing through breakers with his face.�
There is also a lovely female FBI agent, which breaks the monotony of the otherwise testosterone-filled story. It helps us understand Harry to have someone like her asking about his background. I can’t imagine any of the other characters having that kind of conversation with him. They bond over a painting I have always loved, Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks. I would think a lot of cops and people working at night would identify with this.
Illustration of Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks� 1942
There was a section in the middle where I worried we were going to get bogged down in the logistics of the rather complicated operation of smoking out the bad guys, so to speak, but then the action ramped up, and it soon became clear why things were spelled out.
Suffice to say I learned a lot about tunnels in Vietnam and L.A. No wonder the world is full of sinkholes these days. I’ve also read about the people who hid in enormous underground cave systems during WWII, so I’m wondering how many levels of the planet we could actually be living on. I digress yet again.
All in all, a great read, and I’m looking forward to the next one now.
“One cop's word against another's was something they wouldn't touch in this department. Deep down, they knew a cop's word by itself was worthless. That was why Internal Affairs cops always worked in pairs.�
This is my first crack at the extremely popular Bosch series, and it’s no surprise that I liked it. We’re introduced to a middle-aged cop who may have ‘executed� � rather than, as he claimed, ‘defended himself against� � a particularly evil villain. As a consequence, he’s been moved on and is now part of the Los Angeles Police Dept.
The book opens with a young kid tagging a big pipe in the middle of the night when he hears a vehicle and hides in time to see someone drag a body into the pipe. He makes an anonymous call to the cops and hightails it out of there. Dead body.
This was written in 1992, so it’s a time of pagers and payphones and tape recorders � no instant communication here. I was surprised all the phones were working, incidentally. A bit like some old detective shows where they can pull up and park in front of wherever they’re going, but I digress.
Anonymous rhymes with Hieronymus, Bosch tells us. Mother liked the old Dutch painter, so why not? Bosch, ma’am. Hieronymus Bosch. Doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as Bond � James Bond, does it?
Harry’s a Vietnam vet, suffers badly, sleeps poorly, enjoys a drink, and lives on coffee and cigarettes. So he’s ready to go see a body anytime, day or night. Is he okay? The psych evaluation after his shooting seems to hedge its bets.
�. . . the evaluation report on a psychological given Bosch the year before to determine if he should be allowed to return to duty after killing an unarmed man. The department psychologist wrote:
. . .
He speaks in terms of violence or the aspect of violence or the aspect of violence being an accepted part of his day-to-day life, for all of his life.
. . .
He will be able to pull the trigger. In fact, his conversation reveals no ill effects at all from the shooting, unless his sense of satisfaction with the outcome of the incident—the suspect's death—should be deemed inappropriate��
“The suspect’s death.� That’s the practically-public-enemy I mentioned earlier, the one Bosch claimed might have been reaching for a gun when Bosch ‘stopped� him. (Or ‘topped� him?) They should have given him a medal for taking the guy off the streets, but the law doesn’t work that way.
Someone later quotes J. Edgar Hoover as saying “Justice is incidental to law and order.� I’ve seen many similar observations, and I’m inclined to agree. But I also remember a film about a so-called Star Chamber where a group of judges used to meet and compare notes on villains who got off, and then they arranged an assassination. It was a very satisfying thought, until they targeted the wrong guy, and it all went pear-shaped. I guess law and order may have to do until we find a better system. But I digress again, sorry.
Bosch has to work with the FBI, which gives him no pleasure, and the fact that the victim in the pipe was someone he used to know who worked with him in the miles of tunnels in Vietnam causes more flare-ups of his war memories.
There are a couple of inept FBI agents, Lewis and Clarke, who do get referred to disparagingly as ‘the explorers�.
“Each man was built wide and low to the ground for better handling. Each had a slightly forward tilt to his body, as if he were wading out to sea, crashing through breakers with his face.�
There is also a lovely female FBI agent, which breaks the monotony of the otherwise testosterone-filled story. It helps us understand Harry to have someone like her asking about his background. I can’t imagine any of the other characters having that kind of conversation with him. They bond over a painting I have always loved, Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks. I would think a lot of cops and people working at night would identify with this.
Illustration of Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks� 1942
There was a section in the middle where I worried we were going to get bogged down in the logistics of the rather complicated operation of smoking out the bad guys, so to speak, but then the action ramped up, and it soon became clear why things were spelled out.
Suffice to say I learned a lot about tunnels in Vietnam and L.A. No wonder the world is full of sinkholes these days. I’ve also read about the people who hid in enormous underground cave systems during WWII, so I’m wondering how many levels of the planet we could actually be living on. I digress yet again.
All in all, a great read, and I’m looking forward to the next one now.
March 24, 2025
Началото на серия от книги, от която до днес са излезли 37 романа и които вълнуват читателите си повече от две десетилетия!
Йеронимус (Хари) Бош е детектив в отдел "Убийства" от полицейски участък Холивуд, ЛА. Кариерата му е в застой - застрелял е сериен убиец на проститутки с прякор "Кукловода" и собствените му колеги са се опитали безуспешно да го смачкат и натопят.
Една неделна сутрин е повикан за предполагаемо самоубийство на хероинов наркоман. Изненадан, Бош разпознава в трупа мъж служил заедно с него преди двайсетина години във Виетнам. Тунелните плъхове са воювали в мрака на партизанските тунели из джунглата, в условия превърнали живота и на оцелелите в малък ад. Черното ехо не знае пощада�
На Бош му се струва, че това е инсценировка и се захваща упорито с разследването. Което го води към странен банков обир и красивата агентка от ФБР Елинор Уиш.
Отлична криминална история, която държи в напрежение до самия си край. Препоръчвам!
Препрочитам поредицата, защото читателската ми година тръгна зле и ми се иска да се насладя на литература за която съм уверен, че ще ми допадне!
Йеронимус (Хари) Бош е детектив в отдел "Убийства" от полицейски участък Холивуд, ЛА. Кариерата му е в застой - застрелял е сериен убиец на проститутки с прякор "Кукловода" и собствените му колеги са се опитали безуспешно да го смачкат и натопят.
Една неделна сутрин е повикан за предполагаемо самоубийство на хероинов наркоман. Изненадан, Бош разпознава в трупа мъж служил заедно с него преди двайсетина години във Виетнам. Тунелните плъхове са воювали в мрака на партизанските тунели из джунглата, в условия превърнали живота и на оцелелите в малък ад. Черното ехо не знае пощада�
На Бош му се струва, че това е инсценировка и се захваща упорито с разследването. Което го води към странен банков обир и красивата агентка от ФБР Елинор Уиш.
Отлична криминална история, която държи в напрежение до самия си край. Препоръчвам!
Препрочитам поредицата, защото читателската ми година тръгна зле и ми се иска да се насладя на литература за която съм уверен, че ще ми допадне!
February 28, 2021
4/5 Estrellas
He decidido entrar en el Universo Harry Bosch por el principio, y me he llevado una grata sorpresa. Me he encontrado una novela policiaca clásica que, pese a ser una de las primeras del autor, está sólidamente construida y que permite adivinar que lo que queda por delante (nada menos que 25 libros, sólo de esta serie), va a ser intensamente disfrutable.
Evidentemente este primer libro no es totalmente redondo, empieza a perfilarse nuestro protagonista, Harry Bosch (Hieronymus, como el pintor, realmente, pincelada de humor americano). Acosado por las consecuencias de un caso anterior, ha sido "desterrado" de la Brigada Especial de Homicidios al Departamento de Homicidios y Robos de la Policía de Hollywood en Los Ángeles. Solitario, insomne y un poco amargado, se encuentra con un caso que lo retrotrae a su terrible pasado en la Guerra de Vietnam, como soldado especializado en el rastreo de túneles del Vietcong. A partir de este punto, se despliega toda una trama investigadora, en general bien hilada, con partes en las que se pierde un poco el interés y la intensidad de la investigación (supongo que esto irá mejorando en los siguientes libros), en la que tendrá que enfrentarse a sus propios demonios y donde todo el mundo parece tener algo que ocultar. Este libro fue escrito en 1992 (hace caso 30 años), es decir, en la era pre-móvil, es muy llamativo como se tienen que ir apañando los investigadores, buscado cabinas telefónicas, con avisos al busca y dejándose mensajes. Qué rápido ha pasado el tiempo y como ha cambiado la tecnología. Otro de los puntos fuertes de empezar la serie por el principio será ver como se van adaptando los investigadores a los nuevos tiempos y a las nuevas tecnologías (el último libro de la serie salió en 2019).
Entre las cosas que menos me han gustado, está el tema de Asuntos internos, cuyo ensañamiento en perseguir a Harry roza casi el esperpento y que, aunque están bastante bien integrados en la trama, en algunos momentos la hacen poco creíble. Al final todo queda bien resuelto en un desenlace bastante previsible.
Para ser el primer libro, es bastante bueno y se entiende perfectamente el éxito que ha ido cosechando el autor desde estos primeros libros. Sin ninguna duda, esta serie pasa a formar parte de mis futuras lecturas, entre las que la iré dosificando poco a poco.
Recomendable.
He decidido entrar en el Universo Harry Bosch por el principio, y me he llevado una grata sorpresa. Me he encontrado una novela policiaca clásica que, pese a ser una de las primeras del autor, está sólidamente construida y que permite adivinar que lo que queda por delante (nada menos que 25 libros, sólo de esta serie), va a ser intensamente disfrutable.
Evidentemente este primer libro no es totalmente redondo, empieza a perfilarse nuestro protagonista, Harry Bosch (Hieronymus, como el pintor, realmente, pincelada de humor americano). Acosado por las consecuencias de un caso anterior, ha sido "desterrado" de la Brigada Especial de Homicidios al Departamento de Homicidios y Robos de la Policía de Hollywood en Los Ángeles. Solitario, insomne y un poco amargado, se encuentra con un caso que lo retrotrae a su terrible pasado en la Guerra de Vietnam, como soldado especializado en el rastreo de túneles del Vietcong. A partir de este punto, se despliega toda una trama investigadora, en general bien hilada, con partes en las que se pierde un poco el interés y la intensidad de la investigación (supongo que esto irá mejorando en los siguientes libros), en la que tendrá que enfrentarse a sus propios demonios y donde todo el mundo parece tener algo que ocultar. Este libro fue escrito en 1992 (hace caso 30 años), es decir, en la era pre-móvil, es muy llamativo como se tienen que ir apañando los investigadores, buscado cabinas telefónicas, con avisos al busca y dejándose mensajes. Qué rápido ha pasado el tiempo y como ha cambiado la tecnología. Otro de los puntos fuertes de empezar la serie por el principio será ver como se van adaptando los investigadores a los nuevos tiempos y a las nuevas tecnologías (el último libro de la serie salió en 2019).
Entre las cosas que menos me han gustado, está el tema de Asuntos internos, cuyo ensañamiento en perseguir a Harry roza casi el esperpento y que, aunque están bastante bien integrados en la trama, en algunos momentos la hacen poco creíble. Al final todo queda bien resuelto en un desenlace bastante previsible.
Para ser el primer libro, es bastante bueno y se entiende perfectamente el éxito que ha ido cosechando el autor desde estos primeros libros. Sin ninguna duda, esta serie pasa a formar parte de mis futuras lecturas, entre las que la iré dosificando poco a poco.
Recomendable.
May 30, 2020
I thought I'd finally start the Harry Bosch series as it's always highly regarded, The Black Echo is such a great introduction for the LAPD Homicide Detective.
The novel opens with a normal run of the mill murder investigaton as a body is discovered off Mulholland Drive, once Bouch realises that he knows the victim as Billy Meadows from their time together during the Vietnam War the plot really kicks into gear.
It's such a smart way to learn of Harry's past as he recounts the experiences of being a 'tunnel rat' and how the horrors and isolation has affected him.
The story takes place during the end of May, with each part covering an individual day.
Even though each section is long it's easy to get draw into the mystery, it was only seeing the page count jump that I happened to notice.
A really strong and accomplished debut.
The novel opens with a normal run of the mill murder investigaton as a body is discovered off Mulholland Drive, once Bouch realises that he knows the victim as Billy Meadows from their time together during the Vietnam War the plot really kicks into gear.
It's such a smart way to learn of Harry's past as he recounts the experiences of being a 'tunnel rat' and how the horrors and isolation has affected him.
The story takes place during the end of May, with each part covering an individual day.
Even though each section is long it's easy to get draw into the mystery, it was only seeing the page count jump that I happened to notice.
A really strong and accomplished debut.
February 18, 2024
Bosch is my favourite on screen detective, and I love the series. Titus Welliver is excellent as Harry Bosch, and the rest of the cast is very good as well. I resolved to read at least a few of the books and have started with the first one. As I expected, Bosch is a well-developed character in the book too � confident, methodical, astute, with a touch of arrogance, and flashes of good humour. I would not call this plot great but hey, this is the first Bosch book!
It is a Sunday morning and Harry Bosch gets a call about a dead body in a pipe at Mulholland Dam. He goes over to the site after asking his partner Jerry Edgar to join. Though it looks as if the man died of a drug overdose, Bosch has his doubts based on his reading of the scene. Bosch later finds that he knew the dead man Meadows, who was in the army with him in Vietnam. He was a brave man who worked the tunnels. On his return, Meadows seems to have struggled to reintegrate. There has also been a bank robbery in town with thieves tunnelling their way from underground. Agent Eleanor Wish of the FBI is investigating that case and teams up with Bosch as Meadows might be a link between the two cases.
This is a slow-paced investigative story with solid procedural work. The character of Bosch, of course, is the highlight. Though largely outcome-driven, there are rare flashes of good humour. Like the instance when he is questioned by fellow officers and he quips “Can you loosen my handcuff, please� just because the interview was being recorded (he was not handcuffed)! The characters of Jerry Edgar as his competent partner and manipulative Deputy Chief Irving I expect will develop more in the following books. I found the tension Bosch has with a few others in the department to be poorly explained. I found the plot to be not the best and the ending a little disappointing, especially the twist involving Eleanor Wish I felt was completely unnecessary & poor.
Overall, a good start to the series with solid procedures. I hope to read the next one in the series soon.
My rating: 3.5 / 5.
It is a Sunday morning and Harry Bosch gets a call about a dead body in a pipe at Mulholland Dam. He goes over to the site after asking his partner Jerry Edgar to join. Though it looks as if the man died of a drug overdose, Bosch has his doubts based on his reading of the scene. Bosch later finds that he knew the dead man Meadows, who was in the army with him in Vietnam. He was a brave man who worked the tunnels. On his return, Meadows seems to have struggled to reintegrate. There has also been a bank robbery in town with thieves tunnelling their way from underground. Agent Eleanor Wish of the FBI is investigating that case and teams up with Bosch as Meadows might be a link between the two cases.
This is a slow-paced investigative story with solid procedural work. The character of Bosch, of course, is the highlight. Though largely outcome-driven, there are rare flashes of good humour. Like the instance when he is questioned by fellow officers and he quips “Can you loosen my handcuff, please� just because the interview was being recorded (he was not handcuffed)! The characters of Jerry Edgar as his competent partner and manipulative Deputy Chief Irving I expect will develop more in the following books. I found the tension Bosch has with a few others in the department to be poorly explained. I found the plot to be not the best and the ending a little disappointing, especially the twist involving Eleanor Wish I felt was completely unnecessary & poor.
Overall, a good start to the series with solid procedures. I hope to read the next one in the series soon.
My rating: 3.5 / 5.
September 12, 2017
Not quite 5 stars, but close. The book went off on a slow start which made me think it would be a 3 star, but halfway it got more pace and became more tense. The information about Vietnam was interesting and I liked Harry Bosch as a character.
August 20, 2007
I read an article in the L.A. Times about Michael Connelly, and his background as a crime reporter intrigued me, so I decided to read his books. I started with The Black Echo, the first book in the Hieronymous Bosch series, and I am very glad that I read these books in order. Connelly is a masterful writer in that he is constantly referencing past cases and old details in his Bosch series. Some of the characters from his other novels also tend to make guest appearances.
This book sucked me in to its storyline, and once I finished, I knew I had to read everything else Connelly had written. A few novels were less satisfying to me than others (Chasing the Dime, anyone), but I eagerly await each new Connelly novel. I appreciate his conflicted hero and his precise moral code. I also love how each Connelly novel creates such a sense of place. Los Angeles is lucky to have a writer that understands the city so well.
This book sucked me in to its storyline, and once I finished, I knew I had to read everything else Connelly had written. A few novels were less satisfying to me than others (Chasing the Dime, anyone), but I eagerly await each new Connelly novel. I appreciate his conflicted hero and his precise moral code. I also love how each Connelly novel creates such a sense of place. Los Angeles is lucky to have a writer that understands the city so well.
July 10, 2017
No suelo leer novela negra. Ni policial. Es un género que, a parte de algún escritor, no suele llamarme mucho la atención. Pues bien, sin duda Michael Connelly, es a día de hoy uno de esos escritores que trataré de seguir. Decir que este inicio de serie me ha encantado es quedarme corta. El personaje de Bosch me ha gustado mucho, sobre todo por lo humano que es (con sus defectos y virtudes), así como la estructura de la novela y ese giro final que, aunque intuyes algo, no deja de sorprenderte.
September 24, 2015
This is the first instalment in the extensive Harry Bosch series, and also happens to be the first one that I have read (or heard in this case). I really enjoyed it.
Harry Bosch is a detective in the LAPD homicide division in Hollywood. While investigating a body found in an old tunnel, he recognises it as a fellow ex marine Meadows who served with him in the Vietnamese war. They were both “tunnel rats� who fought below Vietnam in the extensive tunnels. After recognising him, and realising it wasn’t a simple drug overdose that it looked like, Harry gets pulled into a bigger investigation. His bosses want him out of the force at any cost, and his enemies want him dead. The hunt is on for the killer before he finds himself the next victim.
This book pretty much had everything I enjoy in a novel. Bit of violence, a mystery, romance, sex, and lots of twists and turns. I enjoyed the audio version narrated by Dick Hill. He played Harry really well and I got totally wrapped up in it. However his female voices left a lot to be desired (not his fault, he is a man after all) and I struggled to listen to his impersonation of women. Especially the lead female character Eleanor.
Harry is an awesome character. I will be very interested to see how he develops in the later novels, when I get there. I also enjoyed that it was written in the early 90’s. No smart phones or internet� Everything took much longer, and the characters were constantly having to find payphones to contact other people. Not sure how we all survived back then!
I enjoyed the different storylines within the novel. Loved how everyone was out to get poor Harry, even though he was totally innocent. Sure, he didn’t go exactly by the book but he wasn’t crooked. Loved the tension and romance between him and Eleanor. Loved his ex partner. Thought all the characters were great in their own right. Even Lewis and Clarke!
The only thing I didn’t like about The Black Echo was the TOTALLY PREDICTABLE twist at the end. I must have figured it out about a quarter of the way into the book and it frustrated me that Bosch didn’t pick it up until the end. I think this was the main reason why I dropped a star.
I have the second in the series “The Black Ice�, also narrated by Dick Hill, ready to go on my iPhone. Looking forward to it.
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Harry Bosch is a detective in the LAPD homicide division in Hollywood. While investigating a body found in an old tunnel, he recognises it as a fellow ex marine Meadows who served with him in the Vietnamese war. They were both “tunnel rats� who fought below Vietnam in the extensive tunnels. After recognising him, and realising it wasn’t a simple drug overdose that it looked like, Harry gets pulled into a bigger investigation. His bosses want him out of the force at any cost, and his enemies want him dead. The hunt is on for the killer before he finds himself the next victim.
This book pretty much had everything I enjoy in a novel. Bit of violence, a mystery, romance, sex, and lots of twists and turns. I enjoyed the audio version narrated by Dick Hill. He played Harry really well and I got totally wrapped up in it. However his female voices left a lot to be desired (not his fault, he is a man after all) and I struggled to listen to his impersonation of women. Especially the lead female character Eleanor.
Harry is an awesome character. I will be very interested to see how he develops in the later novels, when I get there. I also enjoyed that it was written in the early 90’s. No smart phones or internet� Everything took much longer, and the characters were constantly having to find payphones to contact other people. Not sure how we all survived back then!
I enjoyed the different storylines within the novel. Loved how everyone was out to get poor Harry, even though he was totally innocent. Sure, he didn’t go exactly by the book but he wasn’t crooked. Loved the tension and romance between him and Eleanor. Loved his ex partner. Thought all the characters were great in their own right. Even Lewis and Clarke!
The only thing I didn’t like about The Black Echo was the TOTALLY PREDICTABLE twist at the end. I must have figured it out about a quarter of the way into the book and it frustrated me that Bosch didn’t pick it up until the end. I think this was the main reason why I dropped a star.
I have the second in the series “The Black Ice�, also narrated by Dick Hill, ready to go on my iPhone. Looking forward to it.
For more reviews visit my blog
Find me on Twitter
January 11, 2015
Having read a few of the later Harry Bosch novels it was time I started at the beginning of the series and read them in order. I am very glad I read this one! Okay so Harry is a bit of a cliche but he is also very likeable in a strange sort of way. He reminds me a little of Jack Reacher with his war damaged personality and his total disregard for authority. I enjoyed the twists and turns of the story and especially liked the procedural details and seeing the way a case develops as various clues are discovered. Towards the end of the book I actually became a bit bogged down with information overload and maybe a few too many twists but the ending was thrilling enough to redeem anything. A great read and I will move on happily to the next in the series.
December 5, 2023
Well there is something said for actually reading the first book in a series. Yes, most series are written so that books can be read standalone. But in reading the first Harry Bosch I meet Eleanor Wish and background on Harry’s exploits as a tunnel rat in Vietnam.
This story is based on the death of an ex-tunnel rat that Harry knew that he believes is murdered. Then spins to links with the FBI and a bank heist. As ever the police procedure side is covered brilliantly as are the fire fights. Harry is a dedicated, clever, heavy smoking, petulant and righteous detective. Great to have on the team unless he works for you or as boss you have a political streak.
Part of this story covered in the excellent Bosch tv series on Amazon. Also great to know I have books 2 and 3 on my shelf👌
This story is based on the death of an ex-tunnel rat that Harry knew that he believes is murdered. Then spins to links with the FBI and a bank heist. As ever the police procedure side is covered brilliantly as are the fire fights. Harry is a dedicated, clever, heavy smoking, petulant and righteous detective. Great to have on the team unless he works for you or as boss you have a political streak.
Part of this story covered in the excellent Bosch tv series on Amazon. Also great to know I have books 2 and 3 on my shelf👌
June 6, 2021
¿Conectar -con los personajes- o no conectar?
Esa es la cuestión.
Si logras “conectar� te metes en la historia, la vives, te interesa y estás deseando saber qué pasa, cual es la siguiente vivencia, pensamiento o peripecia de esos seres a los que acabas de conocer pero pueden ser importantes en tus siguientes horas de lectura.
Hace nada un amigo -Overhaul- ha reseñado Flores para Algernon. NO me parezco nada al personaje principal de esa novela, Charlie, pero en la lectura vives con él, te alegras con él, hasta lloras con él.
¿A que las bases están claras? Seguro.
Vale, pues en El eco negro tenemos a Harry Bosch.
� Fuma sin importante quién tenga al lado (yo cuando fumaba lo tenía MUY en cuenta para no molestar).
� Está, cómo no, traumatizado (oye, pues yo soy normalito, normalito).
� No tiene ni un amigo con 40 años (uffff, tampoco coincido ahí).
� El humor no lo ha visto ni de lejos. Ni en pensamientos ni en expresiones (estoooooo, no soy Sir Terry pero algo de eso tengo en mi vida).
Eso, que tampoco coincido mucho con Harry Bosch. Tampoco lo hacía con Charlie Gordon (el de Algernon). Y sin embargo con aquél se me escapaba la lagrimica aun siendo cerca de Bilbao y con Harry ni fú ni fá. Harry es un detective endurecido de manual. De los clásicos. Sin aditivos. El libro está bien porque la trama está bien hilada, es honrada. No nos hace trampas el autor con giros sacados de la manga, el lineal pero correcta. Eso salva al libro. Eso y el oficio del autor, que por supuesto sí se lo reconozco.
Para mí es poco decir “salva� el libro. Yo quiero disfrutar las páginas, estar deseando enganchar el libro y no soltarlo. Que no me molesten, que me dejen leer. Que me joda que se acabe y que casi a mitad del mismo ya esté buscando qué más tiene escrito el autor. Que sin acabar esté pensando qué contaros para que le metáis a la saca y gocéis como yo lo he hecho.
Pues con Harry Bosch no he encontrado nada de eso. Tb decir que no soy ningún fiera del género. Ejemplos para que veáis mis gustos en el género y por ello si s podéis fiar o no de mis estrellas:
NO he triunfado (ninguno ha llegado al �8/10�) con:
Los nórdicos (salvo Millennium).
Dasier Hammett.
Raymon Chandler.
Agatha Christie.
Lincoln Child.
Douglas Preston.
Clive Clusser.
John Connolly.
Fred Vargas.
Daniel Silva.
پë.
Lackberg.
Arthur Machen.
Murakami.
Amelie Nothomb.
SÍ me gustan Camilleri, Gómez Jurado, Lorenzo Silva, Winslow, Eva García, Follett, Le Carré, Carmen Mola, Forsyth, Barker, Géllida, Kerr, Larsson, Redondo (alguno), Rosa Montero, Zafón.
Pues eso.
P.D: Labijose, porfa, no me borres de tus amistades.
Esa es la cuestión.
Si logras “conectar� te metes en la historia, la vives, te interesa y estás deseando saber qué pasa, cual es la siguiente vivencia, pensamiento o peripecia de esos seres a los que acabas de conocer pero pueden ser importantes en tus siguientes horas de lectura.
Hace nada un amigo -Overhaul- ha reseñado Flores para Algernon. NO me parezco nada al personaje principal de esa novela, Charlie, pero en la lectura vives con él, te alegras con él, hasta lloras con él.
¿A que las bases están claras? Seguro.
Vale, pues en El eco negro tenemos a Harry Bosch.
� Fuma sin importante quién tenga al lado (yo cuando fumaba lo tenía MUY en cuenta para no molestar).
� Está, cómo no, traumatizado (oye, pues yo soy normalito, normalito).
� No tiene ni un amigo con 40 años (uffff, tampoco coincido ahí).
� El humor no lo ha visto ni de lejos. Ni en pensamientos ni en expresiones (estoooooo, no soy Sir Terry pero algo de eso tengo en mi vida).
Eso, que tampoco coincido mucho con Harry Bosch. Tampoco lo hacía con Charlie Gordon (el de Algernon). Y sin embargo con aquél se me escapaba la lagrimica aun siendo cerca de Bilbao y con Harry ni fú ni fá. Harry es un detective endurecido de manual. De los clásicos. Sin aditivos. El libro está bien porque la trama está bien hilada, es honrada. No nos hace trampas el autor con giros sacados de la manga, el lineal pero correcta. Eso salva al libro. Eso y el oficio del autor, que por supuesto sí se lo reconozco.
Para mí es poco decir “salva� el libro. Yo quiero disfrutar las páginas, estar deseando enganchar el libro y no soltarlo. Que no me molesten, que me dejen leer. Que me joda que se acabe y que casi a mitad del mismo ya esté buscando qué más tiene escrito el autor. Que sin acabar esté pensando qué contaros para que le metáis a la saca y gocéis como yo lo he hecho.
Pues con Harry Bosch no he encontrado nada de eso. Tb decir que no soy ningún fiera del género. Ejemplos para que veáis mis gustos en el género y por ello si s podéis fiar o no de mis estrellas:
NO he triunfado (ninguno ha llegado al �8/10�) con:
Los nórdicos (salvo Millennium).
Dasier Hammett.
Raymon Chandler.
Agatha Christie.
Lincoln Child.
Douglas Preston.
Clive Clusser.
John Connolly.
Fred Vargas.
Daniel Silva.
پë.
Lackberg.
Arthur Machen.
Murakami.
Amelie Nothomb.
SÍ me gustan Camilleri, Gómez Jurado, Lorenzo Silva, Winslow, Eva García, Follett, Le Carré, Carmen Mola, Forsyth, Barker, Géllida, Kerr, Larsson, Redondo (alguno), Rosa Montero, Zafón.
Pues eso.
P.D: Labijose, porfa, no me borres de tus amistades.
December 25, 2022
A magnificent debut novel!
THE BLACK ECHO, Michael Connelly's debut novel and LAPD Detective Harry Bosch's premiere appearance to a grateful reading public, opens with Bosch being assigned to what is supposed to be a pro forma investigation. A "hype", a derelict drug addict, has been found dead of an apparent heroin overdose in a drainage pipe. The expectation is that a routine report would be filed and that would be that. But within moments of crawling into the pipe to examine the scene, Bosch begins to spot details that don't fit the accidental overdose scenario. More than that, Bosch is surprised to learn that he knows the deceased - Billie Meadows, a fellow "tunnel rat" veteran from Vietnam.
From the opening paragraphs of the novel, Connelly's magnificent story-telling introduces the reader to Bosch's dark, troubled persona and his now familiar investigative style - doggedly picking at the unhealed scab of tiny details that don't fit, skillfully peeling away the layers of deceit on an onion that doesn't smell quite right until the kernel of truth at the centre lies exposed. In this case, Bosch quickly finds police records showing that Meadows was a prime suspect in a major bank robbery that fell under federal jurisdiction. Even though he is assigned to work with FBI Agent Eleanor Wish, their obvious reluctance to share information on the details of their investigation into the bank heist has Bosch smelling a rat! And finding the rat - trailing that rat from present-day Los Angeles to 1974 Saigon, into the jungles of Vietnam and back - the rat he knows is on the inside of either LAPD or the FBI, proves elusive indeed until Bosch makes his way past the final turn of this complex maze of subterfuge.
The dark underpinnings of Bosch's meticulously crafted complex character start here - his disdain for authority; his unwillingness to fit the mould of the "police family"; the troubled nature of a psyche that is undoubtedly all too common in Vietnam veterans; his fear of surrendering to an unconditional love; the disturbing family history that began with his birth to a hooker who was subsequently murdered and his childhood travails at the hands of government agencies; the surprising extent of Bosch's visceral reaction to the murder of a street punk. Pathos is presented without pity or despair and Bosch emerges a very real and very human police officer indeed.
Much of this ground will be familiar to veteran Bosch fans but THE BLACK ECHO will serve to bring an even deeper level of understanding to his motives and his conduct. For those that have yet to savour Connelly's brilliant creation and his mastery of the police procedural genre, THE BLACK ECHO is definitely THE place to start.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
THE BLACK ECHO, Michael Connelly's debut novel and LAPD Detective Harry Bosch's premiere appearance to a grateful reading public, opens with Bosch being assigned to what is supposed to be a pro forma investigation. A "hype", a derelict drug addict, has been found dead of an apparent heroin overdose in a drainage pipe. The expectation is that a routine report would be filed and that would be that. But within moments of crawling into the pipe to examine the scene, Bosch begins to spot details that don't fit the accidental overdose scenario. More than that, Bosch is surprised to learn that he knows the deceased - Billie Meadows, a fellow "tunnel rat" veteran from Vietnam.
From the opening paragraphs of the novel, Connelly's magnificent story-telling introduces the reader to Bosch's dark, troubled persona and his now familiar investigative style - doggedly picking at the unhealed scab of tiny details that don't fit, skillfully peeling away the layers of deceit on an onion that doesn't smell quite right until the kernel of truth at the centre lies exposed. In this case, Bosch quickly finds police records showing that Meadows was a prime suspect in a major bank robbery that fell under federal jurisdiction. Even though he is assigned to work with FBI Agent Eleanor Wish, their obvious reluctance to share information on the details of their investigation into the bank heist has Bosch smelling a rat! And finding the rat - trailing that rat from present-day Los Angeles to 1974 Saigon, into the jungles of Vietnam and back - the rat he knows is on the inside of either LAPD or the FBI, proves elusive indeed until Bosch makes his way past the final turn of this complex maze of subterfuge.
The dark underpinnings of Bosch's meticulously crafted complex character start here - his disdain for authority; his unwillingness to fit the mould of the "police family"; the troubled nature of a psyche that is undoubtedly all too common in Vietnam veterans; his fear of surrendering to an unconditional love; the disturbing family history that began with his birth to a hooker who was subsequently murdered and his childhood travails at the hands of government agencies; the surprising extent of Bosch's visceral reaction to the murder of a street punk. Pathos is presented without pity or despair and Bosch emerges a very real and very human police officer indeed.
Much of this ground will be familiar to veteran Bosch fans but THE BLACK ECHO will serve to bring an even deeper level of understanding to his motives and his conduct. For those that have yet to savour Connelly's brilliant creation and his mastery of the police procedural genre, THE BLACK ECHO is definitely THE place to start.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
January 4, 2025
There are certain genre writers who, within their given genres, transcend, through phenomenal writing and a deep understanding of the human condition, the formulaic structures and cliches of the run-of-the-mill horror story, science fiction epic, or murder mystery.
Stephen King, Peter Straub, and Dan Simmons are examples in the horror genre. Ursula K. Le Guin, Harlan Ellison, and Neal Stephenson are examples in the sci-fi set. James Lee Burke, Elizabeth George, and Michael Connelly exemplify the best in mystery writing.
Connelly, best-selling author of over 25 books, has been setting the bar pretty high in the mystery/crime thriller genre for almost three decades, and I have no idea why I have NEVER, until now, read a single book by him. Shame on me.
I rectified that serious deficiency by picking up his first novel (written in '92), "The Black Echo", the first to introduce his beloved protagonist Heironymous "Harry" Bosch, an LAPD homicide detective who isn't afraid to shake things up in his city, department, and private life.
Bosch is not a popular cop. He doesn't have friends. He doesn't date. And he's pissed so many people off over the years---criminals AND fellow cops---that he constantly has to look over his shoulder for the killers or the Internal Affairs officers out to get him. When he's not working, he's sitting at home, listening to his extensive jazz collection, drinking copious amounts of beer, and suffering from chronic insomnia. Needless to say, he works a lot.
So, when he gets the call to check out a DB (dead body) at Mulholland Dam at an ungodly hour during a holiday weekend, he jumps at the chance. What starts out, though, as a seemingly simple "dump-and-drive" escalates into something more. The body is someone Bosch knows. Rather, knew, during the dark days of 'Nam, of which he is still suffering bouts of PTSD.
During the war, Bosch and the vic were "tunnel rats", soldiers assigned to clearing out the underground caves of the Viet Cong, a particularly dangerous and terrifying job. Bosch quickly uncovers a vicious crew of bank thieves comprised of ex-Vietnam veterans, nearly all of them tunnel rats. Their target isn't money, however, but millions of dollars in diamonds brought over to this country by Vietnamese higher-ups protected by the U.S. government.
Soon, Bosch not only has two unscrupulous IAD officers breathing down his neck (for a completely unrelated incident) but also agents of the FBI and the CIA are butting in with jurisdictional nonsense that are distracting everyone from the real investigation.
On top of that, Harry soon suspects that someone within his own department is working with the bad guys. Most of these people wouldn't mind seeing him dead, for various reasons. Bosch doesn't give a shit, though, as long as they stay out of his way and let him do his fucking job.
Fans of good mystery, suspense, and crime thrillers certainly won't be disappointed with Connelly. If you're like me, you may just find a new favorite author.
Stephen King, Peter Straub, and Dan Simmons are examples in the horror genre. Ursula K. Le Guin, Harlan Ellison, and Neal Stephenson are examples in the sci-fi set. James Lee Burke, Elizabeth George, and Michael Connelly exemplify the best in mystery writing.
Connelly, best-selling author of over 25 books, has been setting the bar pretty high in the mystery/crime thriller genre for almost three decades, and I have no idea why I have NEVER, until now, read a single book by him. Shame on me.
I rectified that serious deficiency by picking up his first novel (written in '92), "The Black Echo", the first to introduce his beloved protagonist Heironymous "Harry" Bosch, an LAPD homicide detective who isn't afraid to shake things up in his city, department, and private life.
Bosch is not a popular cop. He doesn't have friends. He doesn't date. And he's pissed so many people off over the years---criminals AND fellow cops---that he constantly has to look over his shoulder for the killers or the Internal Affairs officers out to get him. When he's not working, he's sitting at home, listening to his extensive jazz collection, drinking copious amounts of beer, and suffering from chronic insomnia. Needless to say, he works a lot.
So, when he gets the call to check out a DB (dead body) at Mulholland Dam at an ungodly hour during a holiday weekend, he jumps at the chance. What starts out, though, as a seemingly simple "dump-and-drive" escalates into something more. The body is someone Bosch knows. Rather, knew, during the dark days of 'Nam, of which he is still suffering bouts of PTSD.
During the war, Bosch and the vic were "tunnel rats", soldiers assigned to clearing out the underground caves of the Viet Cong, a particularly dangerous and terrifying job. Bosch quickly uncovers a vicious crew of bank thieves comprised of ex-Vietnam veterans, nearly all of them tunnel rats. Their target isn't money, however, but millions of dollars in diamonds brought over to this country by Vietnamese higher-ups protected by the U.S. government.
Soon, Bosch not only has two unscrupulous IAD officers breathing down his neck (for a completely unrelated incident) but also agents of the FBI and the CIA are butting in with jurisdictional nonsense that are distracting everyone from the real investigation.
On top of that, Harry soon suspects that someone within his own department is working with the bad guys. Most of these people wouldn't mind seeing him dead, for various reasons. Bosch doesn't give a shit, though, as long as they stay out of his way and let him do his fucking job.
Fans of good mystery, suspense, and crime thrillers certainly won't be disappointed with Connelly. If you're like me, you may just find a new favorite author.
Read
April 27, 2023I found it too long-winded and boring, with too many descriptions and details.
Also, the plot had a very slow pace and the inner thoughts never ended�
Dnf 18%
January 16, 2023
What a great debut novel for both the author and the series. It's your typical homicide detective yarn, but it's done so stylishly. The whole ex military angle has been done to death and this story focuses on ghosts from Bosch's Vietnam past. I'm hoping other entries get away from this. As far as how Bosch conducts himself, he's far from your standard military man. He lives off of cigarettes and coffee with no hint of being organized besides his investigation work.
I wasn't blown away by this book as it didn't really do anything unique. My main critique is that it was too damn long. I prefer my detectives novels shorter so I can get through them quickly. This one seemed to keep going after what felt like the end. Connelly was like a magician revealing one more trick for the audience. It was cool, but totally unnecessary in my opinion.
I wasn't blown away by this book as it didn't really do anything unique. My main critique is that it was too damn long. I prefer my detectives novels shorter so I can get through them quickly. This one seemed to keep going after what felt like the end. Connelly was like a magician revealing one more trick for the audience. It was cool, but totally unnecessary in my opinion.
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