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A review by gmvader
Echo Park by Michael Connelly
4.0
This is the third Harry Bosch book I’ve read. In all of those books Bosch has gone through some experiences that would change any man into a different person. To Connelly’s credit, I think Bosch actually does. Certain things about Bosch never change. He’s impulsive, obsessive compulsive and has trust issues that border on paranoia. His experiences change hime, from book to book so that the Harry Bosch in Echo Park is a little calmer, a little less willing to punch his boss in the face and then steal his badge while on suspension, than the one in The Last Coyote.
He’s also wrong sometimes. This is one of the things I like most about Connelly’s writing. Bosch follows a logical lead and comes to a conclusion and everything that he knows and that we know sounds like he is right. Sometimes he is — sometimes he isn’t. Usually the story is constructed solidly enough that I’m just as fooled as Bosch is until the table turns.
Bosch is also surrounded by a string of side characters that change and grow throughout the books. People get killed, promoted, fired, change jobs, have heart attacks, run for office. It makes the world feel very real.
Connelly writes with skill that comes from long practice. The action is always clear, dialog is always natural and understandable, descriptions are minimal but enough that each scene is rendered with all the important details. In short he has sharpened his mystery writing down to a razor’s edge.
I have yet to be disappointed in one of Connelly’s novels. Bosch would be a hard man to be friends with but he’s a fascinating man to read about.
He’s also wrong sometimes. This is one of the things I like most about Connelly’s writing. Bosch follows a logical lead and comes to a conclusion and everything that he knows and that we know sounds like he is right. Sometimes he is — sometimes he isn’t. Usually the story is constructed solidly enough that I’m just as fooled as Bosch is until the table turns.
Bosch is also surrounded by a string of side characters that change and grow throughout the books. People get killed, promoted, fired, change jobs, have heart attacks, run for office. It makes the world feel very real.
Connelly writes with skill that comes from long practice. The action is always clear, dialog is always natural and understandable, descriptions are minimal but enough that each scene is rendered with all the important details. In short he has sharpened his mystery writing down to a razor’s edge.
I have yet to be disappointed in one of Connelly’s novels. Bosch would be a hard man to be friends with but he’s a fascinating man to read about.