Desert Star
Michael Connelly
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
Desert Star
Michael Connelly
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
Connelly delivers another winner.
Both cases are absorbing and Ballard's outings with Bosch have made her a sharper (and crankier) character. Best of all, Bosch gains intriguing depth as he faces down death, unsure of the legacy he's leaving his daughter, also now a cop, or the corpse-strewn streets of Los Angeles..
Connelly has long been a master at demonstrating the meticulousness with which good cops make cases, and here he is able to generate genuine suspense through a careful recounting of the procedural process, whether it involves feet on the street or fingers on the keyboard. Eventually, though, the bad guys behind the DNA swabs need confronting, and that gives Connelly the chance to show his action-writing chops. Longtime Bosch followers will be taking deep breaths after this one’s superb finale, especially given its implications for the future..
Another home run for Connelly as he brings Renée Ballard and Harry Bosch together again.
... thrilling.
As it turns out, the Pearlman case is considerably more interesting—partly because the break that leads the unit to a surprising new suspect turns out to be both fraught and misleading, partly because identifying the killer is only the beginning of Bosch’s problems. The windup of the Gallagher murders, a testament to sweating every detail and following every lead wherever it goes, is more heartfelt but less wily and dramatic. Fans of the aging detective who fear that he might be mellowing will be happy to hear that 'putting him on a team did not make him a team player'.