Series: A Harry Bosch Novel
Audio CD: 416 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company; Unabridged edition (November 26, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1600247245
ISBN-13: 978-1600247248
Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 1.6 x 5.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3,133 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #771,833 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #39 in Books > Books on CD > Authors, A-Z > ( C ) > Connelly, Michael #1242 in Books > Books on CD > Mystery & Thrillers #1779 in Books > Books on CD > Literature & Fiction > Unabridged
After so many Harry Bosch stories you would think they should start to run out of steam - IMHO this is not so. Michael Connelly is a consummate author who can keep a great character running and evolving and continue to produce a top-class page-turning police procedural.In the last book, after a short retirement Harry Bosch returned to the LAPD with a 5 year contract under the Deferred Retirement Option Plan - "The DROP". He now works with the Open Unsolved Unit chasing up cold cases. In 1999, at the height of the LA Riots, Bosch briefly gets involved with the discovery of the gunshot death of a pretty female free-lance Danish press photographer who was apparently killed as part of the riot. This case had always troubled Bosch and he gladly accepts the challenge although after all that time the trail has gone cold.Bosch is an impatient detective - to him momentum is everything. Once he is on the trail he is a bloodhound who never lets up until he finds a break. He calls this "The Black Box" because, similar to air crash investigation a single verified clue may open up the whole case. After diligent and clever police work Bosch finds his Black Box and discovers a web of intrigue and violence going back to the first Gulf War.Working the case in his normal independent manner is not helped by his a strained relationship with and lack of respect for the competence of his superiors at LAPD, especially his current Lieutenant (O'Toole - nickname "O'Fool"). "You are the worst kind of police officer, Bosch. You are arrogant, a bully, and you think the laws and regulations don't apply to you.
In 1992, Detective Harry Bosch and his partner, Jerry Edgar, were on emergency rotation during the infamous Los Angeles riots, and were "dispatched to any place they were needed--wherever a body turned up." Fires, looting, and gang violence transformed L. A. into a war zone, with "all semblance of dignity and moral code gone in the smoke that rose over the city." In order to deal with a tidal wave of looting, revenge killings, and scores of other incidents, the police had to cut corners. "In the chaos of the moment the mission was simple: preserve the evidence, document the scene as best and as fast as possible, and collect the dead."Bosch and Edgar roll up to an alley near Crenshaw Boulevard, where a thirty-two year old Danish photojournalist had been shot in the head at close range. The deceased is Anneke Jespersen, whom Edgar nicknames "Snow White." Bosch finds a 9mm shell casing at the scene but little else, and for twenty years, Jespersen's murder remains unsolved. In 2012, Harry takes another look, knowing that finding Jespersen's killer after so much time has elapsed is, at best, a long shot."The Black Box" is vintage Connelly, and Bosch is as stubborn and relentless as ever. He ignores his superiors when they try to derail him and pursues every lead, no matter how small, with a laser-like focus. Harry visits San Quentin to interview a gangbanger; traces an intriguing phone call that was placed ten years after Anneke's death; and asks for help from anyone who may be able to shed light on his case. With a bit of luck and solid detective work, he manages to narrow down his list of suspects to a few individuals who may have been responsible for a vicious crime and cover-up.
Harry is still working on closed cases and he decides to re-open the "Snow White" case. When he was an officer during the 1992 LA riots he came upon a murdered Danish reporter Anneke Jespersen, who was found dead by a National Guardsman. Harry was never able to solve that mystery and it basically went dormant for 20 years. The fact that he never found Jesperson's killer had always gnawed at him and the 20th anniversary sets him to dive back into it.In the meantime he has annoyed his new group leader (O'Toole) and pretty soon the PSB (formally Internal Affairs) is investigating Harry for improprieties when he visited his girlfriend"s (Hannah) son in prison. Harry is no longer a regular detective as he is in his four year DROP period and he could be let go for the merest infraction.As Harry starts to investigate the Jesperson case, he gets more blowback from O'Toole making him think that those that sit on the 10th floor are against him and are behind the PSB investigation. This makes Harry more determined to work on the case. Harry learns that a call was made to the police from Modesto, CA on the 10th anniversary of the murder and when Harry looks into that call, it is the clue he needs to really start the case going. His partner Chu had told Harry that every case has a "Black Box" which is the one clue that can break the case wide open.Harry has to work the case solo and let Chu work in the background because he is afraid that O'Toole will come after Chu too. Harry is relentless at persuing all clues in his usuall direct manner. The story gets hot and heavy as Harry must quickly solve the case before he is ousted from his job and must go after the bad guys without a partner for backup.
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