The Dark Hours - Michael Connelly

 

Brand new LA set crime thriller from master storyteller Michael Connelly

Michael Connelly is most famous for creating the indelible detective Harry Bosch, rendered in the Amazon production Bosch starring Titus Welliver. Bosch is a hard-bitten, hard-working policeman who knows what is right and wrong, while the forces that be conspire to restrict his brand of policing in these more politically correct times.

As Bosch has grown up and in the narrative of his books, retired from the police force to become a private detective, we now follow Renee Ballard, a female police officer who works the same beat as Bosch used to do and is also facing the same troubles Bosch used to notice - colleagues who do not work as hard, no empathy for victims and hands tied by paperwork.

This new tale starts on New Years Eve, Ballard has to work the beat as all police officers must do on a busy night of the year in Los Angeles. In a pique of revelry, angelinos shoot bullets into the air amidst this unusual tradition a bullet goes astray leading to a murder investigation. The bullet leads to the reopening of a cold case led by Bosch.

The predatory Midnight Men are on the prowl, a duo of sex predators who attack women on major holidays - single women in their own home attacked and victimised. Ballard takes these attacks personally and chooses to hunt them down. Connelly has always had a great eye for detail in police work, as Bosch says 'get off your ass and knock on some doors' and Ballard's detective work in noticing the streetlights in terms of giving the perpetrators extra darkness is a wonderfully painted narrative detail.

As ever, there is a crispness to the dialogue spoken with real world dialogue apparent amidst a global pandemic and the swiftness of the narrative as Ballard spins numerous plates in the air while combining with Bosch to great effect. 

This makes for a winning combination and this is another winner from the desk of Connelly, a master of the crime genre.

The Dark Hours is out now from Orion Publishing on all formats 

The Law of Innocence - Michael Connelly

THE NEW LINCOLN LAWYER NOVEL OUT 10TH NOVEMBER

Highly enjoyable entry into the Mickey Haller universe with guest appearances by half-brother, Harry Bosch.

Ordinarily with Haller stories, he is facing down the law on the side of the victim, chasing for clues and crooked cops as he seeks justice for the person he is defending and sometimes those he defend are not all they seem.

In this new story from the prolific Connelly, Mickey - the famous Lincoln Lawyer so well adapted in the 2011 thriller directed by Brad Furman and written for the screen by John Romano, and famously portrayed by the smooth-talking Matthew McConnaughey - is himself charged with murder after a routine traffic stop finds a body in his trunk, one that Mickey cannot explain but as the victim is a former client of his who owed him money it gets all a bit convoluted. 

The book descends into more a courtroom tussle, and puts Mickey in a difficult situation. He has to prove that he is not innocent just not guilty which is the law within the courtroom, he is worried that his professional career will suffer if he is not properly acquited and wishes an apology from the court and District Attorney if possible. Constantly the law of innocence is asked as Mickey staves off the first degree murder charges against him.

                                  

The swiftness of plot and effortless character arc and narrative is second to none; the inclusion of Bosch is deliberate but not overbearing, as a secondary character from his own universe may overtake proceedings but Bosch serves as an important part of Mickey's defence team to seek the truth.

I spent the whole time with the voices of Matthew McConnaughey and Titus Weliver in my head; this would be a tale ripe for adaptation - and Connelly makes it very much of the here and now with the tale taking place over November 2019 to March 2020 with the threat and worry over a possible pandemic incoming to the populus of Los Angeles, with little touches such as people wearing masks and general unknowingness of an impending doom.

As a fan of Connelly's work and the Amazon Prime original series Bosch this is thoroughly enjoyable fare of the highest order from a writer working at full speed and the top of his game.

The Law of Innocence is published on November 10th from Orion Books

Fair Warning - Michael Connelly

Michael Connelly returns with a new gripping thriller for the page turner this Summer.

Connelly the writer behind Harry Bosch, returns with another character he has written before - Jack McEvoy; a journalist for a consumer website who is on the hunt for a serial killer of women.

McEvoy himself has his baggage, a broken relationship with his love who was his source and she lost her job for that, to save him jail time.

Connelly as ever is in the Los Angeles setting as his milieu and playground; traversing from Downtown to Hollywood to Pasadena to Cedars Senai. These landmarks are all prevalent in our minds eye so a well read reader will be able to picture most of the action, it is down to Connelly to keep us entertained.

That he does in bundles as McEvoy has to combat two policemen who have it in for him as a suspect when a body pops up not far from McEvoy. That sets in motion the wheels for the narrative of a story that involves genetics and genealogy as the plot revolves around women with broken history looking for a link for their past which they believe to be an answer in their own DNA, using those online DNA profiling.

The twist is that the dark web gets ahold of this private information, and then sell it to women-hating cell groups who then pick off women who are risky propositions and then easy targets for a serial killer.

McEvoy untangles this dark web of intrigue and uncovers a conspiracy involving unsavoury characters whose motives are nothing but welcoming, culminating in a showdown with the character calling himself 'The Shirke' so named after a carnivorous bird, a man who believes himself to be atop of the flighted food chain.

Connelly cleverly writes his narrative to build McEvoy as both an investigator but also the fear of being a suspect, and how closely the police work with the awareness and fear themselves of making mistakes a theme familiar to viewers of the Bosch television series.

As ever, Connelly writes with a swiftness and clarity which is refreshing as ever and will be enjoyed by old and new fans alike. One of the world's best thriller writers has done it again.

Fair Warning is out now on all formats.

Dark Sacred Night

Michael Connelly returns with the latest novel featuring Detective Harry Bosch

Set in and around Los Angeles, Bosch is not necessarily the lead protagonist of this novel. He is partnered up with the younger female Renee Ballard, a detective who must navigate the dreaded graveyard shift.

The wonderful plot device that Connelly uses is that we have the dual threat of following both Bosch and Ballard as they go around investigating, and while Bosch can seemingly focus all his efforts on solving the case of Daisy Clayton, a murder case that has not been solved for 10 years.

Ballard is used as a political statement - a younger member of the police force who must navigate all various channels of enquiry as well as the actual beat of hitting the street and resolving disputes. 

In the middle part of the book, Ballard investigates the disappearance of an elected official's son; she visits the apartment where he resides, questions the room-mate and then notices a rug has been moved.  It shows that the flat-mate has murdered the missing son, this is great writing and shows the ingenuity and intelligence of Ballard in such matters, in another chapter she attends a strip joint that is worried about someone breaking in and robbing them, this turns out to be youths sneaking a peek at female flesh.

This constant dipping in and out of actual day to day work away from the deeper dive into the Clayton murder case keeps the reader on its toes while appreciating the sincerity of Ballard married with the sheer doggedness of Bosch - a nice union which has perhaps breathed new life into the old sage. A sequel or new book the The Night Fire is out in October of this year

Connelly shares the writing style of contemporaries Child and James Patterson, it is quick and zips along at a clip that allows the book to be devoured in several sittings.  Like James Ellroy who famously writes about Los Angeles and Hollywood, Connelly writes about the city using the vast landscape of the sprawling cityscape to his advantage with a milieu of background characters and cameos breathing life into the story whenever needed.

Dark Sacred Night is one of those thrilling books that can be perfect for the beach or the bedroom, a master storyteller at the peak of his powers.

Out from Orion Books in Paperback from 16th May.

My thanks to Tracy Fenton for the review opportunity and being part of the blog tour