Michael Connelly – MostlyFiction Book Reviews We Love to Read! Sat, 28 Oct 2017 19:51:27 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.4.18 THE DROP by Michael Connelly /2011/the-drop-by-michael-connelly/ Sat, 17 Dec 2011 15:00:25 +0000 /?p=22185 Book Quote:

“He wanted a new case. He needed a new case. He needed to see the look on the killer’s face when he knocked on the door and showed his badge, the embodiment of unexpected justice come calling after so many years.”

Book Review:

Review by Eleanor Bukowsky  (DEC 17, 2011)

Harry Bosch is the real deal. Michael Connelly’s The Drop is another superb entry in this outstanding series about an L. A. cop who is cynical and battle-weary, yet still committed to doing his job. Harry has had his share of troubles over the years, but now that Maddie, his fifteen-year old daughter, is living with him, he has cleaned up his act. He no longer smokes and avoids overindulging in alcohol. Harry is determined to be there for his little girl as she grows into adulthood. Maddie, who is smart and observant, has announced that she plans to follow in her father’s footsteps. She already has the makings of a good detective; she notices small but significant details, handles a firearm like a pro, and can spot a liar by looking for “tells.” The scenes between Bosch and his precocious teenager sparkle with warmth, humor, and love.

Harry knows that his days working for the LAPD are numbered. He has already “unretired” once, but in order to stay on the job, he will need a special dispensation under a program called DROP (Deferred Retirement Option Plan). Meanwhile, he is working on two investigations. As a member of the Open-Unsolved Unit, he is assigned to a cold case that involves the abduction, rape, and strangulation of nineteen-year-old Lily Price. New DNA evidence has come to light, but the data that it reveals raises more questions than it answers. The chief of police also orders Harry to look into the apparent suicide of forty-six year old George Irving, the son of a former ex-cop turned councilman, Irvin Irving. The outspoken and arrogant councilman loathes Bosch, but respects his ability to ferret out the truth.

The author’s crisp writing, use of jargon (“high jingo” means that higher ups are involved, so watch your step), and colorful depiction of police procedure imbue The Drop with energy, immediacy, and realism. The reader observes Harry making some tough decisions. Should he pull in a possible perp for questioning or first try to gather more evidence? Should he surreptitiously search a suspect’s home before obtaining a search warrant? How should Bosch deal with the brass, the media, and his skittish partner, David Chu? When a new woman enters his life, Harry is attracted to her, but is the relationship worth pursuing

Connelly juggles his plot brilliantly while he keeps us guessing about the outcome. Although Bosch can be brusque, tactless, and dismissive, he is willing to put his reputation on the line and is unafraid to make powerful enemies in his obsessive pursuit of justice. At times, Harry worries that he is starting to lose his edge. He needn’t be concerned, since he still has the expertise to read a crime scene, interview witnesses, and follow all of the clues to their logical conclusion. Even the way that Bosch assembles his “murder books” testifies to his tireless dedication to catching predators. If Harry’s performance in The Drop is any indication, he still has what it takes to put the bad guys away.

AMAZON READER RATING: stars-4-5from 1,290 readers
PUBLISHER: Little, Brown and Company; First Edition edition (November 28, 2011)
REVIEWER: Eleanor Bukowsky
AVAILABLE AS A KINDLE BOOK? YES! Start Reading Now!
AUTHOR WEBSITE: Michael Connelly
EXTRAS: Excerpt
MORE ON MOSTLYFICTION: Harry Bosch reviews:

Michael Haller:

Stand-alone mysteries:

Bibliography:

LAPD Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch Series

Mickey Haller:

Other:

* Terry McCaleb is in these novels
** Harry Bosch is in these novels
*** The Poet is in these novels.
****Mickey Haller is in this novel

Nonfiction:

Movies from Books:

]]> THE FIFTH WITNESS by Michael Connelly /2011/the-fifth-witness-by-michael-connelly/ Sun, 10 Apr 2011 13:53:20 +0000 /?p=17293 Book Quote:

“There is a big picture to this case and the defense is going to show it to you.  The prosecution would like you to believe that this is a simple case of vengeance.  But murder is never simple and if you look for shortcuts in an investigation or a prosecution then you are going to miss things.”

Book Review:

Review by Eleanor Bukowksy  (APR 10, 2011)

Michael (Mickey) Haller is still working out of the back seat of his armor-plated Lincoln Town Car, but he now specializes in helping people prevent or delay foreclosure on their homes. In the shattered economy and with housing prices in freefall, business has been brisk. Although criminal defense is his first love, Mickey has changed course, knowing that “the only growth industry in the law business was foreclosure defense.”

It may not be exciting, but it pays the bills. In fact, Mickey has hired an associate, Jennifer Aronson who, along with his driver, Rojas, office manager (and ex-wife), Lorna, and investigator, Cisco, comprise his entire staff.  Mickey does an about-face when one of his clients, Lisa Trammel, is arrested for the murder of Mitchell Bondurant, head of Westland National Bank’s mortgage loan division. Lisa, who had previously hired Mickey to help her stay in her home, is charged with waiting for Bondurant in a parking garage, and attacking him in a fit of rage. Mickey throws himself into Trammel’s case with determination, creativity, and vigor. Opposing counsel is Andrea Freeman, a savvy and ambitious prosecutor who knows all of Mickey’s tricks and has quite a few of her own.   Haller tries to draw attention away from his client, and points out that there are others who had reason to want Bondurant dead.  Freeman sticks to the nitty-gritty—eyewitness, blood, and DNA evidence that point to Trammel as the perpetrator.

The Fifth Witness, by Michael Connelly, is a fast-paced, darkly humorous, and absorbing legal thriller in which everything gels: the lively and memorable cast, the beautifully constructed plot, and the entertaining byplay between the judge and the two opposing attorneys. Haller and Freeman are smart enough to use each piece of evidence, no matter how peripheral or circumstantial, to full advantage. On the personal front, Mickey spends some quality time with his fourteen-year-old daughter, Hayley, and his other ex-wife, Maggie, whom he still adores and hopes to win back.

Mickey, with the help of his able team, uses every device he can think of to get his client off; however, in the back of his mind, he is uncomfortable. Although everyone is entitled to a vigorous defense, how far should Mickey go to sway the jury? In this timely book, Connelly addresses the housing mess that still affects many beleaguered Americans, presents us with an electrifying trial, and proves once again that he is still at the top of his game.

AMAZON READER RATING: from 468 readers
PUBLISHER: Little, Brown and Company; First Edition edition (April 5, 2011)
REVIEWER: Eleanor Bukowsky
AVAILABLE AS A KINDLE BOOK? YES! Start Reading Now!
AUTHOR WEBSITE: Michael Connelly
EXTRAS: Reading Guide and Excerpt
MORE ON MOSTLYFICTION: Harry Bosch reviews:

Michael Haller:

Stand-alone mysteries:

Bibliography:

LAPD Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch Series

Mickey Haller:

Other:

* Terry McCaleb is in these novels
** Harry Bosch is in these novels
*** The Poet is in these novels.
****Mickey Haller is in this novel

Nonfiction:

Movies from Books:

]]> THE REVERSAL by Michael Connelly /2010/the-reversal-by-michael-connelly/ Tue, 05 Oct 2010 14:19:00 +0000 /?p=12661 Book Quote:

“It always bothered Bosch when he saw justice and the law being manipulated by smart lawyers. His part of the process was pure. He started at a crime scene and followed the evidence to a killer.”

Book Review:

Review by Eleanor Bukowsky (OCT 5, 2010)

Michael Connelly brings together criminal defense attorney Michael (Mickey) Haller and his half-brother, the cynical and battle-scarred LAPD Detective Harry Bosch, in Connelly’s latest legal thriller, The Reversal. Mickey calls himself “the defender of the damned,” a job he has had for over twenty years. “During that time,” he states, “I’d grown a suspicion and distrust of prosecutors and police….” Still, the Los Angeles District Attorney convinces Mickey to become an independent special prosecutor in the second trial of forty-eight year old Jason Jessup. The defendant has spent twenty-four years in San Quentin for abducting and strangling twelve-old Melissa Landy. Over the last two decades, Jessup has vociferously proclaimed his innocence while filing numerous motions and appeals in an attempt to have his conviction overturned.

Because of possible irregularities during the first prosecution as well as new DNA evidence, the California Supreme Court reversed Jessup’s conviction and sent the case back to Los Angeles County “for either retrial or dismissal of the charges.” Against his better judgment, Mickey agrees to prosecute Jessup, partly because it will give him an opportunity to work with deputy district attorney Maggie McPherson (one of his two ex-wives) and investigator Harry Bosch.

Jessup has a groundswell of support from the liberal media and an organization of lawyers known as the Genetic Justice Project. Although the physical evidence against the defendant is a bit shaky, the eyewitness testimony of Melissa’s sister, Sarah, who was thirteen when the murder occurred, has never wavered. Now thirty-seven, Sarah still stands by her identification of Jessup as Melissa’s abductor. However, Sarah has a history of drug use and run-ins with the law which the defense will undoubtedly exploit in an attempt to discredit her.

This is one of Connelly’s most suspenseful and engrossing legal thrillers in years. It has incisive and realistic dialogue, compelling courtroom scenes, well-drawn characters, a smooth and lucid prose style, and an absorbing, well-constructed plot. The only false note is that when Mickey is on the scene, he is the first-person narrator; the rest of the time, Connelly writes in the third person. This is slightly jarring; Connelly might have been better off sticking to the third person throughout. In any event, Haller shares the spotlight with Bosch and McPherson. In addition, FBI profiler Rachel Walling makes a strong cameo appearance when Bosch asks for her help in analyzing Jessup’s behavior. Harry stands out as the person most invested in nailing Jessup, partly because he is the single parent of a cherished daughter, and partly because he has worked tirelessly on hundreds of homicides during his thirty-five year career as a cop. He is passionate about finding the bad guys and putting them away so that they cannot do any more damage.

In The Reversal, the author demonstrates how politics and public opinion influence the legal process; how the stress of trying a high-profile case can lead to mistakes in judgment; and how, no matter how carefully they plan, lawyers and detectives should expect the unexpected. Readers who enjoy feel-good endings may balk at the novel’s disquieting finale. Others may find Connelly’s conclusion thought-provoking, daring, and original. It certainly demonstrates how life’s vicissitudes and the capriciousness of fate can undermine the search for truth and pervert the course of justice.

AMAZON READER RATING: stars-3-5from 94 readers
PUBLISHER: Little, Brown and Company (October 5, 2010)
REVIEWER: Eleanor Bukowsky
AVAILABLE AS A KINDLE BOOK? YES! Start Reading Now!
AUTHOR WEBSITE: Michael Connelly
EXTRAS: Reading Guide and Excerpt
MORE ON MOSTLYFICTION: MostlyFiction (like many others) are great fans of Michael Connelly. As such, we have reviewed a lot of his books over the years:

For these Harry Bosch reviews, go here:
City of Bones, Lost Light, The Narrows, The Closers, Echo Park, and The Overlook

For a review his latest Harry Bosch, Nine Dragons, go here.

For these Michael Haller reviews, go here:
The Lincoln Lawyer and Brass Verdict

For these stand-alone mysteries, go here:
Bloodwork and Chasing the Dime

And go here for a  review of The Scarecrow

Bibliography:

LAPD Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch Series

Mickey Haller:

Other:

* Terry McCaleb is in these novels
** Harry Bosch is in these novels
*** The Poet is in these novels.
****Mickey Haller is in this novel

Nonfiction:

Movies from Books:

]]> NINE DRAGONS by Michael Connelly /2009/nine-dragons-by-michael-connelly/ Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:09:32 +0000 /?p=5568 Book Quote:

“He came to fully realize that his relentless pursuit of the killer had put others in jeopardy…. The burden of guilt he would now carry would be the heaviest of his life and he was not sure he was up to it.”

Book Review:

Review by Eleanor Bukowsky (OCT 13, 2009)

In Michael Connelly’s Nine Dragons, Detective Harry Bosch, who works in the Robbery-Homicide Division of the Los Angeles Police Department, is sent with his partner to investigate a “rob job” at a liquor store that resulted in the shooting death of the proprietor, John Li. After speaking to Li’s family and viewing surveillance discs, Bosch comes up with two theories. Either a teenage shoplifter who was banished from the liquor store committed the crime, or a member of the Chinese Triad (thugs who extort money and engage in other illegal activities) killed Li for refusing to pay protection money. For a variety of reasons, Bosch leans towards the second explanation. When he realizes that his ignorance of Chinese language and culture might impede his investigation, Harry enlists the aid of Detective David Chu to interview witnesses and provide him with relevant background information.

This case becomes personal when someone close to Harry is abducted. Bosch suspects that the kidnapping may be retaliation for the arrest of a Triad member who is suspected of killing Li. Harry flies to Hong Kong, where he tries to track down a villain about whom he knows next to nothing. He has no name or physical description, just a photograph of a room from a video sent to him via cell phone. Without police backup, Harry attempts to nab the bad guy. At one point, his ex-wife, Eleanor, chastises him, “Harry, enough with the one man army! Don’t run off like that again.” Her words of wisdom, unfortunately, fall on deaf ears.

This is a dispiriting novel that is filled with mistaken assumptions, betrayal, and needless tragedy. Bosch is in way over his head; his impulsiveness and poor judgment prove very costly. Nine Dragons is a plot-driven book with plenty of action, cool forensics, and a number of twists and turns, some predictable, others not. However, since it lacks well-nuanced characters and themes, this somewhat disjointed and overly complicated novel does not rise to the level of Connelly’s best work. Harry learns the hard way that that behaving like a desperado may work in old westerns, but in real life, it is prudent to have backup and a sensible plan before rushing into dangerous situations. In spite of his good intentions, Bosch’s usually unerring instincts fail him with disastrous results. He must settle for picking up the pieces after selfishness, greed, and recklessness damage innocent lives.

AMAZON READER RATING: stars-3-5from 374 readers
PUBLISHER: Little, Brown and Company (October 13, 2009)
REVIEWER: Eleanor Bukowsky
AVAILABLE AS A KINDLE BOOK? YES! Start Reading Now!
AUTHOR WEBSITE: Michael Connelly
EXTRAS: Excerpt
MORE ON MOSTLYFICTION: Harry Bosch reviews:

Michael Haller:

Stand-alone mysteries:

Bibliography:

LAPD Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch Series

Mickey Haller:

Other:

* Terry McCaleb is in these novels
** Harry Bosch is in these novels
*** The Poet is in these novels.
****Mickey Haller is in this novel

Nonfiction:

Movies from Books:

]]> THE SCARECROW by Michael Connelly /2009/scarecrow-by-michael-connelly/ Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:06:11 +0000 /?p=5578 Book Quote:

“The U.S. Supreme Court had upheld the legality of the police’s lying to a suspect if the lie would reasonably be seen as such by an innocent person…but I didn’t feel too good about it. It never seemed right or fair to me that the representatives of our government were allowed to employ lies and tricks—just like the bad guys—with the full approval of the Supreme Court.”

Book Review:

Review by Mary Whipple (OCT 13, 2009)

Author of twenty-two popular novels in the past seventeen years, Michael Connelly has won just about every award possible for mystery writing, not just in the U.S. but also throughout the world, where his novels have been translated into thirty-five languages. Winner of the Edgar, the Anthony, and almost a dozen other U.S. awards, he has also won the Maltese Falcon Award (Japan), the Grand Prix (France), the Premio Bancarella Award (Italy), and the Pepe Carvalho Award (Spain.) Drawing on his years of experience as a crime reporter in Florida and Los Angeles, where he had a close relationship with the local police and other agencies, he imbues his main characters—newspaper reporters, LAPD detectives, lawyers, and even FBI agents—with a verisimilitude which many other writers cannot hope to achieve.

Jack McEvoy and Rachel Walling, who were the main characters in Connelly’s first novel, The Poet, about a serial killer, return in this novel, in which they are chasing another serial killer. This is not just an “ordinary” serial killer, however. This killer is a genius with the computer, able to get into any personal account anywhere to deny service, plant phony evidence and/or pornography, close out bank accounts, cancel plane reservations, or spy on e-mails and interoffice communications. What’s worse–he works for an internet security agency, and he is so clever that no one is even aware that a seemingly straightforward murder investigation involves a serial killer at all.

Jack McEvoy, a respected and relatively well paid reporter for the Los Angeles Times, has just been given two weeks to finish up his stories before he is laid off from the paper. Like all newspapers these days, the Times is having financial problems, the result of lower ad revenues and more people reading the paper on-line, and by letting Jack go, the paper can bring along one of the new (and much less expensive) youngsters. Jack (like Connelly), the author of a book about a serial killer called The Poet several years ago, has decided that if he’s going to leave the paper, he’s going to write a final story so sensational that he will be long remembered. When he receives a phone call from a woman who claims that the police have jailed her juvenile son for a murder he never committed, Jack and a photographer go off to the projects to interview her. Though Alonzo Winslow may have been involved in any number of other crimes, including the sale of drugs, Jack becomes convinced that he did not, in fact, confess to the murder for which he is currently in jail—the torture and suffocation of a woman who was then stuffed into the trunk of a car, a plastic bag around her neck.

Jack is expected to train his successor, Angela Cook, and introduce her to his contacts, but Angela knows that Jack could be her ticket to success at the paper, and she is savvy and attractive enough to understand how to use her charm on the boss in an effort to “poach” on Jack’s final story, a mistake she will regret. Jack is soon up to his eyeballs in complications, chasing down leads and eventually using the internet to look up old cases. He becomes convinced that several old cases are connected to the case involving Alonzo Winslow, and that a new murder, which takes place soon after, is the work of the same deranged killer. When he discovers that someone has accessed L.A. Times company memos, his own e-mail, his telephone, and virtually all his accounts, including his bank account and credit cards, as he is preparing to travel, he realizes that “I was being [messed] with on a level I had never experienced before.”

Connelly keeps the action coming fast and furiously, and when Jack contacts FBI agent Rachel Walling, a former love with whom he solved the case of The Poet, years ago, the action ratchets up even further, providing a complicated love interest at the same time. The author’s prose style is efficient and effective as he alternates first-person accounts by Jack McEvoy at the L. A. Times with third-person narratives involving the computer expert in Arizona who seems to be pulling all the strings and playing games with his pursuers. With red herrings galore, the novel will keep Connelly fans involved for hours.

Unfortunately, though Jack McEvoy and Rachel Walling develop into characters with some individuality through their actions, Connelly reveals almost nothing about the computer genius at the heart of the mystery. An early but fleeting scene from the man’s childhood is not explained or developed until the last pages of the book, and his motivation for this series of grisly murders is never explained. While this may increase the tension and the sense of drama as Jack is pursuing the mysterious killer, it makes the ending much less satisfying than it would have been if we had been allowed entrée into the “whys” of his behavior. Ironically, Connelly himself anticipates this criticism when Jack McEvoy eventually decides to write a book about this case, announcing that his editor has told him that “The record of grim deeds [the man] committed cannot overshadow the motivations behind it…I must be able to tell more than what happened. I must tell why. It’s breadth and depth…” It is too bad that Michael Connelly did not heed the same advice during the more than four hundred pages of this novel.

AMAZON READER RATING: stars-4-0from 261 readers
PUBLISHER: Little, Brown and Company (October 13, 2009)
REVIEWER: Mary Whipple
AVAILABLE AS A KINDLE BOOK? YES! Start Reading Now!
AUTHOR WEBSITE: Michael Connelly
EXTRAS: Excerpt
MORE ON MOSTLYFICTION: MostlyFiction (like many others) are great fans of Michael Connelly. As such, we have reviewed a lot of his books over the years:For these Harry Bosch reviews, go here:
City of Bones, Lost Light, The Narrows, The Closers, Echo Park, and The Overlook

For a review his latest Harry Bosch, Nine Dragons, go here.

For these Michael Haller reviews, go here:
The Lincoln Lawyer and Brass Verdict

For a review of the latest Micky Haller:
The Fifth Witness

For a review of his latest Michael Haller, The Reversal, go here.

For these stand-alone mysteries, go here:
Bloodwork and Chasing the Dime

Bibliography:

LAPD Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch Series

Mickey Haller:

Other:

* Terry McCaleb is in these novels
** Harry Bosch is in these novels
*** The Poet is in these novels.
****Mickey Haller is in this novel

Nonfiction:

Movies from Books:

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