Another installment in Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch series, this recent (2017) book follows Bosch through two plot lines: 1) the re-opening of an old murder file where a convicted killer alleges Bosch framed him; and 2) a recent double murder tied to the opioid epidemic.
This was the fourth Harry Bosch novel I’ve read, and for the first 75 pages I swore I’d read it before (I actually flipped forward a little to see if I recognized the plot points). I think part of déjà vu sense was that I’ve read these books out of order, and this novel introduced a character who shows up in one of the later installments.
Once I got past the déjà vu, this novel was a bit ‘meh’: firstly, I thought Connelly was trying to cash in on the ‘big news story’ of the opioid epidemic without really exploring it- the ethical depravity lay almost entirely with the Russians running the scam. Secondly, Connelly made some decisions and judgements that I found clichéd and frustrating: one of the female characters was a ‘drug user with a heart of gold’, and Bosch just wanted to save her- yawn; when another female character turned out to not need saving, she not only was denied empathy, but actually inspired revulsion/disgust in Bosch and his male chief (she was a ‘cold-hearted’ woman)- side eye; finally, Connelly implied that the Innocence Project, a non-profit which aims to free wrongfully convicted individuals, is really just out to perform a hit job on the good and decent police officers protecting our city- eye roll.
Connelly can and should do better. This one wasn’t my favorite, but it also wasn’t bad enough to write off the Bosch series- we’ll see how he does on his next at bat.
Cbr11Bingo- Birthday (Michael Connelly’s birthday is July 21, smack-dab in the middle of summer).
