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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I like what Connelly tries to do here, showing how bad actors might take advantage of a chaotic time, and I like that he takes the story into the Central Valley, which is a part of California many people don't think of when they think of the state, even though so much of the country's food comes from there, but the story itself feels a little weak.
My favorite Bosch books are "Concrete Blonde" and "Trunk Music". "The Black Box" joins them. The setting starts in the 1992 riots in LA. A female Danish journalist is killed in an alley during the riots. As a cold case 20 years later, Bosch tries to figure out why she is in the U.S., and what really drew her to LA at this time. It was thought that she was following a war crimes investigation. It turns out it was for a very different reason. One of Connelly's best Bosch books in a while.
This was pure police procedural, and a bit boring to med for the first part. Fortunately, it got better because I almost quit reading it. A bit more cerebral than usual, and more involvement with his 16-year old daughter, who wants to become a cop, and would probably be very good.
This turned out to be a good story, possibly more memorable than many of his other ones. Perhaps not as much action, so if you need that, you may not like it.
This turned out to be a good story, possibly more memorable than many of his other ones. Perhaps not as much action, so if you need that, you may not like it.
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
May 1992: Los Angeles is on fire—it is a city torn asunder by race riots. Among the dead is the lovely Anneke Jespersen, whose almost transparent whiteness indicates that she’s somehow out of place in the alley where Detective Harry Bosch finds her. Time is crucial in the solution of a murder, and time is something Harry Bosch has none of that night. The city is ablaze with rage and real fire; looters rule and violent chaos reigns. Still, knowing that somehow sometime soon someone will have to attempt to solve the murder, Bosch does what he can; he takes photographs and finds a spent shell casing.
Advance 20 years. Bosch has joined some of his colleagues in an attempt to solve cold cases, and Anneke Jespersen’s case has haunted his memory. Why did a young Danish reporter die in a riot-riddled Los Angeles alley? If the shell casing exists, and it certainly does, where is the gun that fired it? Bosch is sure if he can find the owner of the gun, he will find his killer. He theorizes that within every murder is a black box similar to what airplanes carry—a recorder of the events of that flight. If he can find the gun then trace it, he will have found his black box. But things are never as easy as they appear to be in Harry Bosch’s world.
What story was Anneke Jespersen working on when she died? What brought her to the United States? No one in her native Denmark knows, and it’s up to Bosch to figure out what happened and what her connection is to a group of men from California who served in Operation Desert Storm.
This book seems torn from the pages of our news cycle. It is a story of rape and power and murder, and it comes to life in Connelly’s masterful prose in ways that will make you glad you took time to read the book.
Advance 20 years. Bosch has joined some of his colleagues in an attempt to solve cold cases, and Anneke Jespersen’s case has haunted his memory. Why did a young Danish reporter die in a riot-riddled Los Angeles alley? If the shell casing exists, and it certainly does, where is the gun that fired it? Bosch is sure if he can find the owner of the gun, he will find his killer. He theorizes that within every murder is a black box similar to what airplanes carry—a recorder of the events of that flight. If he can find the gun then trace it, he will have found his black box. But things are never as easy as they appear to be in Harry Bosch’s world.
What story was Anneke Jespersen working on when she died? What brought her to the United States? No one in her native Denmark knows, and it’s up to Bosch to figure out what happened and what her connection is to a group of men from California who served in Operation Desert Storm.
This book seems torn from the pages of our news cycle. It is a story of rape and power and murder, and it comes to life in Connelly’s masterful prose in ways that will make you glad you took time to read the book.
On pace for 4* right up until the last 10% (audiobook). I'd sacrifice a little excitement for more credibility.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5 Stars
This is my first Michael Connelly, but it definitely wont be my last one. I read it as part of a Buddy Read and I was pleasantly surprised.
During 1992 there were riots within LA. In these riots there was also deaths, one of which was a white woman, nicknamed Snow White as she was the only white woman murdered during these riots. twenty years later on the twentieth anniversary, the Unsolved Crimes Unit is reopening these murders, including the murder of 'Snow White'. Harry Bosch as requested the case as he was the original officer on the scene of the crime, only being on the case for less than an hour during 1992, the crime as always stayed with him.
Everything is against him when it come to solving this case, the politics of solving the death of the only white woman and how its going to look, which leads your own boss to try and encourage you to move on and put this case aside. This added a little extra layer to the book, rather that a general Detective mystery. It was really interesting to read. I didn't realise before starting this book, but this is actually the 16th book in the Harry Bosch series, although this can quite easily be read as a standalone and be enjoyed as so. You do miss some of the things, like little mentions of people that I can imagine would have been more significant if I had read these in order, but it had no impact on this book.
There is so little evidence to work with from the beginning, watching this book develop and seeing how the plot moved along was really good. A lot did rely on hunch work, but I did really enjoy this book and liked how it was written. How this book expanded from nothing. There are points in this book where you can see where it is a little dated and that it hasn't held up well, but overall, I did enjoy this book and will be reading some more of Connelly's book's.
This is my first Michael Connelly, but it definitely wont be my last one. I read it as part of a Buddy Read and I was pleasantly surprised.
During 1992 there were riots within LA. In these riots there was also deaths, one of which was a white woman, nicknamed Snow White as she was the only white woman murdered during these riots. twenty years later on the twentieth anniversary, the Unsolved Crimes Unit is reopening these murders, including the murder of 'Snow White'. Harry Bosch as requested the case as he was the original officer on the scene of the crime, only being on the case for less than an hour during 1992, the crime as always stayed with him.
Everything is against him when it come to solving this case, the politics of solving the death of the only white woman and how its going to look, which leads your own boss to try and encourage you to move on and put this case aside. This added a little extra layer to the book, rather that a general Detective mystery. It was really interesting to read. I didn't realise before starting this book, but this is actually the 16th book in the Harry Bosch series, although this can quite easily be read as a standalone and be enjoyed as so. You do miss some of the things, like little mentions of people that I can imagine would have been more significant if I had read these in order, but it had no impact on this book.
There is so little evidence to work with from the beginning, watching this book develop and seeing how the plot moved along was really good. A lot did rely on hunch work, but I did really enjoy this book and liked how it was written. How this book expanded from nothing. There are points in this book where you can see where it is a little dated and that it hasn't held up well, but overall, I did enjoy this book and will be reading some more of Connelly's book's.