276°
Posted 20 hours ago

A Darkness More Than Night (Harry Bosch)

£9.9£99Clearance
ZTS2023's avatar
Shared by
ZTS2023
Joined in 2023
82
63

About this deal

Connelly has an excellent way of glazing over something in a book, usually at the beginning, that has happened between the previous book and the current one; a partner leaving, an incident that led Bosch into a pot of hot water, or a death. Connelly will not dwell on it, but the reader (at least any like me) will take tha splinter and not forget about it. It nags at you and leads you to wonder what happened and how it unfolded. We saw that with the Dollmaker case, Bosch's mother's murder, and now, with the previously hinted at issue of Bosch tossing his commander through a window and being suspended (which came up in THE LAST COYOTE). Here, we get a little more about what happened and why. We also get to learn a great deal more about the painter for whom Harry Bosch was named, and how that connection puts Bosch on the suspect list for some recent killings. Michael Connelly writes thoughtfully about homicide detectives that they "were usually of two kinds, those who saw their jobs as a skill or craft, and those who saw it as a mission in life." Another great book by Michael Connelly, this time getting together Terry McCaleb from Blood Work and Harry Bosch from several previous books. It was intriguing to see Bosch through McCaleb's eyes, and I thought his suspicion of Bosch was workable. I believe this book is much better because I've read Blood Work and the previous Bosch books. Otherwise the reader doesn't have a real sense of just how likely or unlikely the suspicion is or whether McCaleb is really as good as he thinks he is. If you don't read some of the previous books first, you will be missing a many of the nuances and undertones which are important to the enjoyment of the story. To dig Bosch further into the hole of suspicion, Winston and McCaleb uncover everything that came out about Bosch's mother in the Dollmaker civil suit. In a parallel and of course interconnected investigation, McCaleb is led to believe that Bosch may be guilty (again, no surprise that the MC tec is not really the culprit--as the main character culprit never is, yawn).

Bosch, on the other hand, is the classic lone wolf, with all the impedimenta that role means in popular fiction. "He was ready, ready to dance with the devil once more. He realized that his mission in life was all about moments like these. Moments that should be savored and remembered but that always caused a tight fisting of his guts." Like all heroes, Bosch lives for the "times he had glimpsed the normally hidden face of the monster." A scandal involving Harry would negate his testimony against Storey, and it looks like one is about to break thanks to Terry McCaleb. When Terry studies the scene-of-crime photos in the Edward Gunn murder file he observes deliberate symbols that remind him of a painting by 17th century Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch, called 'The Garden of Earthly Delights.' One of the best in the series of 18 about LA Police Detective Harry Bosch. In this 7th installment from 2001, former FBI profiler Terry McCaleb, recovering from a heart transplant covered in Connelly's excellent "Blood Work", is brought in on a brutal ritualistic murder case. His work ends up making Bosch a suspect and threatens to undermine his ongoing efforts in a murder trial of a prominent Hollywood director in an apparent case of rough sex that got out of hand. Thus we get the interplay of a thrilling investigation and an exciting courtroom scenario. Excellent development of the main characters and their motivations and pathways to insight. In the process we get some nice elucidation of noir themes developed by Chandler (the source of the book title). A quote on the corruption process: "When you look into the abyss, the abyss looks into you. You don't go into the darkness without it going onto you and taking its piece. Bosch may have gone in too many times. He's lost his way." A quote on the power of Hollywood to illustrate the dialog of darkness and light: The novel really begins to move along once Connelly gets past writing about Bosch’s mission. Bosch is most interesting when he’s dealing with others. Particularly enjoyable are those scenes when we follow Bosch as he tries to interview suspects and find clues, and it is interesting to see Bosch’s journey from being an outsider to an insider. The interactions with characters are very dark and moody and add to the elements of the book.

Winston tells him, "I've got a case here I was hoping you'd take a look at. In your spare time, I mean. I think it might be your sort of thing. I was hoping you'd give me a read, maybe point me someplace I haven't been yet." These books are typically humorless, (and not all that quotable--not a lot of lyrical writing in it). But as if hearing from his critics, we see a guy named Rorschach (also a character in Alan Moore’s classic apocalyptic crime series, Watchmen. (That’s meant to make you smile, folks). McCaleb finds in the evidence some religious iconography, which leads him to name the case “Holy Shit,” which is a term cops use for such crimes in the LAPD. Ha ha? But hey, at least Connelly is trying! stars. I had a few complaints, but the series is so good that I’m glad I read it, and I’m on to the next.

Right for the Wrong Reasons: Jaye Winston has a suspicion that the Gunn murder investigation cannot wait, and she is absolutely correct about that; the problem is, she suspects that it's a Serial Killer case and there will soon be another victim. The fact is, everything is part of a Frame-Up to discredit Harry Bosch's testimony at the David Storey trial. Had she not gotten Terry McCaleb involved, it's entirely possible that Storey's plan would have worked. In the meantime, Harry Bosch is the main witness at the murder trial of David Storey, a Hollywood director accused of murdering a young woman. In court Harry describes the evidence against Storey AND says that - when no one else was around - Storey admitted he killed the girl and boasted he'd get away with it.

BookBrowse Review

As I’ve said before, I’m enjoying this series. This is book 7 in the Harry Bosch series. As I finish one, I go right on to the next one. I’m doing them all as audiobooks, which might mean something. This one is not typical Bosch because the main detective work is being done by McCaleb, not Bosch. We are in McCaleb’s mind through most of the story. It was good, but I prefer Bosch as the main investigator, not McCaleb. This book is also listed as book 2 in the Terry McCaleb series. This could be read as a stand-alone, but I recommend reading it after McCaleb’s first book “Blood Work.” The murder trial story was mostly being done through trial testimony. This resulted in a “telling” feel rather than “showing.” So it wasn’t the best way to hear a story, but it was ok. I viewed this as a supporting story to the McCabe investigation. There is no end of things in the heart. Somebody once told me that. She said it came from a poem she believed in. She understood it to mean that if you took something to heart, really brought it inside those red velvet folds, then it would always be there for you. No matter what happened, it would be there waiting. She said this could mean a person, a place, a dream. A mission. Anything sacred. She told me that it is all connected in those secret folds. Always. It is all part of the same and will always be there, carrying the same beat as your heart. I am fifty-two years old and I believe it.” Embarcado en un importante y mediático juicio contra un conocido cineasta, las alarmas y los indicios contra Harry empiezan a saltar. El encargado de desvelarlos será uno de los personajes importantes que irá apareciendo en distintos libros del autor a lo largo de los años, el ex-agente del FBI, Terry McCaleb. Antiguo compañero y porque no, amigo, de Harry, se embarca en una complicada investigación a título personal (está retirado), donde las cosas no son lo que parecen....o si. Tendréis que leerlo y sacar vuestras propias conclusiones.

Asda Great Deal

Free UK shipping. 15 day free returns.
Community Updates
*So you can easily identify outgoing links on our site, we've marked them with an "*" symbol. Links on our site are monetised, but this never affects which deals get posted. Find more info in our FAQs and About Us page.
New Comment