246 reviews for:

The Narrows

Michael Connelly

3.99 AVERAGE


The thrilling sequel to "The Poet"

Connelly's ability to build his Los Angeles universe, tie his characters' background and stories together and continue to extend their already richly developed personalities is pure magic. In The Narrows, Harry Bosch, LA homicide detective retired and now erstwhile private investigator, is asked to look into the death of his friend Terry McCaleb. McCaleb's widow is not convinced that his death was as simple as it seems and knows that Terry would have wanted Bosch to tie up any loose ends.

The revelation that The Narrows is, in fact, a sequel to his first stand-alone novel, comes early in the novel. Bosch's labyrinthine investigations have put him onto the trail of Robert Backus, the former FBI agent turned rogue serial killer (known as The Poet) who had been presumed dead at the end of that novel. It's now clear that Backus has re-surfaced and is back on the killing trail with a brutally renewed vigour. In fact, he's got his sights set on anyone that took part in his first takedown and #1 on that hit list is FBI agent, Rachel Walling.

Despite the fact that Connelly's skilled plotting never leaves anything to be desired in the way of thrills and shivers, red herrings, surprises and about-faces, the real beauty to the Harry Bosch novels is the intricate attention to procedural details and a deep, complex, angst-ridden psychological structure for each and every character that is capable of overwhelming any sniffing reader with a real-world aroma. Connelly's characters' perfumes are a rich and heady metaphorical mixture ranging from delicate, beautiful floral notes to overtones of bleak, raw, undiluted sewage.

Harry Bosch fans who have ridden Connelly's success train from that very first novel, The Black Echo, will smile as the blossom of Bosch's love for his newly discovered daughter continues to open, as he struggles to understand and resolve his frustrating relationship with his ex-wife, Eleanor Wish (now working as a professional gambler in the Las Vegas casino circuit), and as he falls into the complication of a new attraction for FBI agent, Rachel Walling.

Harry Bosch is a classic character in the making who will stand beside the likes of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot for many, many years to come. Highly recommended.

Paul Weiss


Tastes as good as the rest

I thought the story was interesting and worth reading but the writing itself is not high quality. I found the author to be too explicit in the sense that he tells the reader what's happening or how a character is feeling instead of showing.
adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Good story. First book I've read that included Rachel the FBI agent's.
dark mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Bosch gets called in by the wife of a recently dead friend to solve what she says is his murder.

My first Bosch book. Been wanting to read the series for a while after seeing the Amazon adaptation.

In some respects it's standard detective fiction, but I like the way Connolly focuses on Bosch's family life and pays attention to place. L.A. gets plenty of description throughout, but it's sprinkled in small doses, so adds to the experience instead of pulling me out the way long exposition can.
dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I didnt see the end twist coming and it makes me incredibly sad