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“To these detractors he was the scum of the legal system, a courtroom magician who could reach into the deck at any place and still pull out the race card.��

This magician/scum was Howard Elias, a notorious civil rights attorney, who was brilliant at gaming the system and keeping the Los Angeles Police Department on its toes. He was smart, he was influential, and he was black.

“Many in the city’s south neighborhoods credited Elias with single-handedly keeping the LAPD from behaving as an occupying army. Howard Elias was one of the few people in the city who could be absolutely hated and fervently celebrated in different quarters at the same time.��

I can’t recall if I’ve shared this before, because I’m pretty sure Connelly has mentioned it in a previous book. It’s the clever ruse Elias has been using to make money at the taxpayers�� expense while seeming to be saving them from paying damages. I’m going to quote the whole thing because I’d love to know if this is still federal law.

“In the dog bite lawsuit, which became Elias’s signature case, the jury found that the rights of the plaintiff had been violated. But since that plaintiff was a burglar with a long track record of prior arrests and convictions, the jury awarded him only one dollar in damages. Their intent was clear, to send a message to the police department rather than to make a criminal wealthy. But that didn’t matter to Elias. A win was a win. Under the federal guidelines he then submitted a bill to the city for $340,000 in legal fees. The city screamed and audited it, but still ended up paying more than half. In effect, the jury �� and the many before and since �� believed they were delivering a rebuke to the LAPD, but they were also paying for Elias’s half-hour late-night infomercials on Channel 9, his Porsche and his Italian courtroom suits, his opulent home up in Baldwin Hills.��

But I digress. The real issue is that the LA cops are still raw from the terrible riots in 1992, and the murder only a few year later of a prominent black civil rights lawyer is just the kindling needed to set the next event on fire. The public wants �� demands �� that a cop be found guilty, and fast. Of course it’s a cop. Everyone knows it must be.

Except Bosch. He knows the history, but he wants proof and details and is going to stay awake for days on end if he has to (which he pretty much does). To make things harder, he’s trying to quit smoking and Eleanor wasn’t home when he woke up to answer the call. So where has she gone?

It’s another fraught investigation with Harry bumping heads with the higher-ups and the FBI and another unit, all supposedly “working together�� �� ASIF. He’s in charge, nominally, but he has to grit his teeth at press conferences while his superiors tell lies to the cameras and do everything possible to discredit his findings.

I enjoy his loyalty to his old mates and his growing respect for some new ones. He isn’t infallible and is seriously distressed when he finds a good friend had lied to him about an old investigation. It really rocks him.

Harry feels real, but I keep wishing he would get some sleep. I suspect he’ll be back on the smokes before long, too.

On to #7. Below are my reviews of the first five books.


(#1) My review of The Black Echo


(#2) My review of The Black Ice

(#3) My review of The Concrete Blonde

(#4) My review of The Last Coyote