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jwoodsum's review against another edition
4.0
Bosch's latest mystery is another great entry in the series; this latest finds Bosch mostly working solo to solve a cold case, a murder that took place during the LA riots. Listened to this book on c.d. and really missed Lou Cariou who really brought the Bosch series to life for me.
kodathedog's review against another edition
2.0
I've always been a fan but Harry Bosch is getting a little long in the tooth. He should retire.
zare_i's review against another edition
4.0
Another series I started at the end :) First time I heard about Hyeronimus "Harry" Bosch was when friend of mine said there is a great TV show that I should check out. Needless to say I am still to begin with watching it but what I noticed right away was that this TV show was based on a very successful series of novels.
So I picked up first one I could find, "The Black Box".
This is very slow burning novel. After getting involved in a rush investigation of a murder of news reporter during the LA riots in 1992 Bosch finally gets the chance to solve the case 20 years later when assigned to the cold-case squad.
As I said story is a slow at the beginning but again this is what I would expect from investigation of the old case. Scant evidence collected during the street riots, witnesses no longer alive .... all of this frustrates our protagonist who also needs to fight the internal police bureaucracy intent to send him to retirement as soon as possible. I have to say final twist was a surprise but again causes for so many atrocities are usually very simple and base.
Bosch comes to me like a mix between Lucas Davenport and Jack Reacher. He has that sense of justice and is merciless to killers and criminals (scene where he insists his partner writes down the letter for parole hearings of hard criminals paints a picture of a man who does not trust that sentenced criminals can change or repent in any way). Unlike Davenport though he is not setting the criminals up explicitly but sure managers to manipulate them into position from which they can only surrender or die in a gunfight.
All in all good novel. According to the comments and reviews this one seems to be one of the slower books in the series so this makes me feel very good :) more interesting books to read in the future.
Recommended to fans of the crime and police novels.
So I picked up first one I could find, "The Black Box".
This is very slow burning novel. After getting involved in a rush investigation of a murder of news reporter during the LA riots in 1992 Bosch finally gets the chance to solve the case 20 years later when assigned to the cold-case squad.
As I said story is a slow at the beginning but again this is what I would expect from investigation of the old case. Scant evidence collected during the street riots, witnesses no longer alive .... all of this frustrates our protagonist who also needs to fight the internal police bureaucracy intent to send him to retirement as soon as possible. I have to say final twist was a surprise but again causes for so many atrocities are usually very simple and base.
Bosch comes to me like a mix between Lucas Davenport and Jack Reacher. He has that sense of justice and is merciless to killers and criminals (scene where he insists his partner writes down the letter for parole hearings of hard criminals paints a picture of a man who does not trust that sentenced criminals can change or repent in any way). Unlike Davenport though he is not setting the criminals up explicitly but sure managers to manipulate them into position from which they can only surrender or die in a gunfight.
All in all good novel. According to the comments and reviews this one seems to be one of the slower books in the series so this makes me feel very good :) more interesting books to read in the future.
Recommended to fans of the crime and police novels.
hoserlauren's review against another edition
4.0
It's been a while since I read a Bosch novel but I still really enjoy them. It's just so easy to relate to Bosch and the way he conducts himself and his investigations. He pulled a cold case where he was one of the first detectives on the scene during the riots in the 90s. A reporter from Denmark was killed and her killer never found. Bosch knew at the time it was unlikely to be solved due to the chaos on the streets and he wants justice for this woman.
At the office, Bosch has another horrible lieutenant to manage; one that's just chasing the corporate ladder to the top. It seems that this LT has reported Bosch to the internal investigation team for misconduct. Poor Bosch can't seem to catch a break with managers. They all seem to be horrible.
Bosch also is a bit on eggshells with his daughter, trying to figure out how to be a good single father to a teenager, which I'm sure is no easy job even though she's a good kid. I really like the dynamic between these two and Maddie isn't written like a spoiled teenager.
At the office, Bosch has another horrible lieutenant to manage; one that's just chasing the corporate ladder to the top. It seems that this LT has reported Bosch to the internal investigation team for misconduct. Poor Bosch can't seem to catch a break with managers. They all seem to be horrible.
Bosch also is a bit on eggshells with his daughter, trying to figure out how to be a good single father to a teenager, which I'm sure is no easy job even though she's a good kid. I really like the dynamic between these two and Maddie isn't written like a spoiled teenager.
andycox84's review against another edition
4.0
The 18th book in this ongoing series is as fresh and riveting as "The Black Echo" was twenty years ago. Even if Connelly chose not to write anything more on his customary scale, most of his fans would be perfectly happy. But fear not, "The Black Box" is as focused and persuasive as anything else the author has written. For the die-hard "Boschites" or new readers, lucky enough to be discovering a Harry Bosch thriller for the first time, this is a cracking page turner and an excellent book, perfect to be read in one sitting.
ebokhyllami's review against another edition
3.0
En liten dupp i forfatterskapet rundt 15-16 bøker (som annonsert av Ingalill), men likevel god Bosch-bok fra Connelly. Hadde bare ikke det samme trykket og snerten som de første 12-14 bøkene. Definitivt lesbar! Jeg er bare blitt noe kresen etterhvert.
jeffrossbooks's review against another edition
3.0
I loved Nine Dragons. Somehow I have forgotten what The Drop was about. And this one feels a bit forgettable as well. I like that Connelly tries different things each time with his Bosch books, but this one lacks the depth of many of the previous in the series. There's a whole section where Bosch hangs out with his daughter and they go to a shooting range and the same ideas come back again and again, and yet they don't seem connected anywhere. It truly feels as if we just follow Bosch around for a few days while he pisses people off and gets engrossed in this crime. And yet we never really know how he is feeling about the case.
I recently finished Winslow's Savages and Kings of Cool, and though these books use a real screenplay type style, I still knew what the characters were feeling and thinking. It also felt as if there was a lot of space here for Connelly to examine Bosch in his declining years. Yet he doesn't. Bosch wears reading glasses, has some aches and pains, but...
I will read the next Connelly. I will always read the next Connelly, but I do hope he looks back on some of his earlier books and seeks that style out again.
I recently finished Winslow's Savages and Kings of Cool, and though these books use a real screenplay type style, I still knew what the characters were feeling and thinking. It also felt as if there was a lot of space here for Connelly to examine Bosch in his declining years. Yet he doesn't. Bosch wears reading glasses, has some aches and pains, but...
I will read the next Connelly. I will always read the next Connelly, but I do hope he looks back on some of his earlier books and seeks that style out again.
hidusty's review against another edition
4.0
Another great Bosch book. And probably one of the better ones too. It isn't the best, but it's very good. The pacing felt nice. The reveals were well timed and there were some surprises. Overall not a lot of development of the Bosch character, but what is presented is the Bosch we know and love.
jakewritesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
There's a longer piece I'd like to write some day about reading Michael Connelly's Bosch series in this era.
I like these stories for Connelly's writing prowess but there's always a question of how much they should be fronted. It is copaganda. Well-written copaganda. Entertaining copaganda. But copaganda. Bosch pisses on the 4th Amendment left and right, thumbs his nose at any direction from superiors, and generally treats a public servant's job like a license to bully people. Of course, he's frequently on the side of good: many of his targets are cops, ex-cops, corrupt public officials and REALLY BAD GUYS. But there's not much ambiguity filtering in. When Harry is on a case, he is right and when eh is wrong, it usually leads to an instance where he is eventually right.
This is a decent entry in the series and I will keep reading the series but I wish Bosch would have grown by this point. After all, I have. I'm guessing most readers have not.
I like these stories for Connelly's writing prowess but there's always a question of how much they should be fronted. It is copaganda. Well-written copaganda. Entertaining copaganda. But copaganda. Bosch pisses on the 4th Amendment left and right, thumbs his nose at any direction from superiors, and generally treats a public servant's job like a license to bully people. Of course, he's frequently on the side of good: many of his targets are cops, ex-cops, corrupt public officials and REALLY BAD GUYS. But there's not much ambiguity filtering in. When Harry is on a case, he is right and when eh is wrong, it usually leads to an instance where he is eventually right.
This is a decent entry in the series and I will keep reading the series but I wish Bosch would have grown by this point. After all, I have. I'm guessing most readers have not.