A review by octavia_cade
The Black Echo by Michael Connelly

dark mysterious slow-paced

3.0

This was alright. I found it a bit slow, to be honest - I can't help but think that it would be a lot more readable if two hundred odd pages were cut, which is odd considering that I think part of it could have done with more fleshing out. Bosch himself seems fairly indistinguishable from a lot of other homicide detectives, but the unusual thing about The Black Echo is the use of techniques and history from the Vietnam War... particularly that part of it which took place in tunnels underground. This isn't something I know a great deal about, but I tend to think that it could have been exploited better here. I feel that these tunnels, which must have been absolutely horrific, weren't as threatening or effective a narrative device as they might have been. Perhaps if the rather tedious Internal Affairs storyline had been cut, there could have been room for a greater emphasis on the part of the story that was actually different from other books of this type. As it is, while the book passed the time well enough, I was never really engaged at any point.