The Black Ice (Harry Bosch) by Michael Connelly
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Book Reviews of The Black Ice (Harry Bosch)
Book Review: Great read
Summary: 5 Stars
Michael Connelly is one of the best mistery writer and this was one of his better efforts.Book Review: The Black Ice
Summary: 5 Stars
One of his best - don't miss it. If you like Michael Connelly, you will like this one.Book Review: Follows in the Footsteps of Raymond Chandler and Ross Mcdonald
Summary: 4 Stars
"The Black Ice," (1993) is the powerful second novel, following on The Black Echo (Harry Bosch), in Michael Connelly's best-selling Harry Bosch series of mystery novels. The series, Los Angeles-set police procedurals, looks at life on the "noir" side; Connelly is a former journalist, a crime beat writer for the Los Angeles Times, who certainly earned his spurs in murder while earning his daily bread. His recent standalones, The Scarecrow, The Brass Verdict,and The Lincoln Lawyer, have all been #1 New York Times Bestsellers; as has Crime Beat: A Decade of Covering Cops and Killers, a non-fiction collection of his journalism.
Anyone who lives in relatively northern climes knows what "black ice" means to us: if snow has melted during a sunny day, then refreezes in the colder night, it will constitute black ice: hard to see, and dangerous. This meaning of the term certainly informs the book. But Connelly here gives another meaning to black ice. It is apparently the street name given by Mexican cartels to a powerful combination of cocaine, heroin, and PCP dust that was, at one time, supposed to be the next big thing in the drug world. Whether it ever was or not, I've no idea. At any rate, Connelly posits a world in which Hawaiian drug cartels, which invented the product and called it "glass," are fighting the Mexican cartels for control of the LA market in it. This has apparently resulted in four murders; one Hawaiian drug mule, one Mexican laborer, and two LA cops.
The book boasts riveting, tight relatively fresh plots, though we have seen a lot of the same elsewhere; excellent narrative and descriptive writing, and snappy dialogue. It is informed by Connelly's deep, accurate knowledge of police work, after several years' experience on the cop shop beat. And, it is written with great knowledge of, and love for, Los Angeles, the author's adopted home town. It clearly follows in the footsteps of earlier outstanding hardboiled LA authors Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald, but adds the further ingredients of a police procedural, as it charts the early career of Connelly's creation, LAPD Detective Bosch, now assigned to Hollywood Homicide, still fighting the Vietnam War in his nightmares. It also introduces many characters we will come to know better in later Bosch novels - Connelly must really be a whiz at pre-planning his work. At any rate, mention is made of Bosch's partner on the force, Jerry Edgar, and two of the force's superior officers, Irvin Irving and Harvey Pounds. Also Bremmer, crime reporter of the LA Times. And Bosch's mother, a murdered LA prostitute. And the father he never knew, prominent defense attorney Jerry Haller. And, accordingly, Bosch's half-brother, prominent defense attorney Mickey Haller. And, perhaps most resonant to me, the coyote that lives in the gully below Bosch's house, whom he's named "Timido."
Connelly is a wonderful writer, my favorite among American mystery authors, and I've read all his books save "Scarecrow." (Like many other readers, I imagine, I prefer his series works to his standalones: like many other writers, his mysteries seem more powerful if they are filtered through the sensibilities of his detective protagonist.) At any rate, Connelly's plots drive like Mack trucks; furthermore, they are complex, and resonant. He explicates his love of jazz as he goes. And his descriptive writing: well, it's heartfelt, written by a man in love with a city, and it's so precise that a stranger could find his way around LA with a few of his books as guides. If you've come to Connelly through his newer books, you really owe yourself the two earliest novels. They set a benchmark he -- or anyone else-- would have trouble reaching.
Book Review: "I found out who I was"
Summary: 4 Stars
The first thing that stood out about this book is how good the writing was. I started reading it and even though the events where not following at a very fast pace, I found myself halfway through the book in no time. The main reason behind this was the skill Connelly displayed for describing the different characters, and the ability for creating engaging dialogues.
There are two reasons why I did not give this novel the top rating. The first one is that I felt a little cheated by one of the points near the end. Halfway through the book most readers will likely start thinking about a likely solution to the mystery, but will discard this due to a very specific piece of information, which at the end gets explained in a not too convincing way. The other reason for a less than excellent rating is the number of mistakes on Spanish expressions. It is surprising that an author of this quality cannot take the time to verify that the little Spanish he is using throughout the novel is accurate. Instead, we find several cases of gender incompatibility in the expressions, and misspelled words, like beer as "Cervesa" instead of the correct "Cerveza", not once, but many times in a row.
The good points are much more prominent though, and it is really hard to pinpoint all of them. I would have to say that the thing I like most about these novels is the main character. Harry Bosch is a detective that does not care about politics in the department, or about what the press may think; he just wants to find the culprits and deliver justice for the victims. He also has a heavy personal baggage related to his childhood and upbringing, which still affects him to this day and makes for some mesmerizing psychological aspects. But this character is just one piece of the puzzle, since the author clearly has a great ability for weaving an interesting plot and then uses the detective to start revealing the facts layer by layer, as if he was peeling an onion until getting to its core. And in this case, there are many layers to consider. Harry gets involved in a series of murder investigations that include among its victims a member of the force, an informant, and a laborer. Adding some romance to the dangerous mix works wonders, and we are drawn into the story as a moth to the fire.
I am confident that most mystery readers will find this book to be very satisfactory. The fact that the author has created a complex main character, and has displayed a natural writing ability leads me to believe that this series can only get better. I am looking forward to reading the next installment!
Book Review: This is NOT about cross-border shopping!
Summary: 4 Stars
Calexico Moore, a depressed NYPD detective who is treading on the illegal dark fringes of the drug culture he's investigating, eats both barrels of his own shotgun in a dreary motel room only days before Christmas. With Moore gone and another officer about to be placed on permanent disability leave because of alcohol abuse, the homicide unit is clearly under-staffed and overwhelmed with an outstanding case load. Lieutenant Harvey "98" Pounds, in a callous bureaucratic gesture, pleads with Harry Bosch to pull some overtime and begs him to clear just one case before New Year's - that will put the unit's clearance ratio over 50%, a marginally acceptable level in the eyes of the public and the police brass! Bosch digs in and quickly determines that not only are two of the outstanding murders related but the confusing road he must travel to solve them enters the high stakes world of designer drug smuggling and also crosses paths with the tortuous trail that led Calexico Moore to the motel room in which he took his own life.
Most readers will agree that the Harry Bosch series is within the "police procedural" genre. But the ending twist and resolution to these complex murders rivals the endings of the finest thrillers on bookstore shelves today.
As a character piece, "The Black Ice" firmly entrenches Harry Bosch as a very complex man to fathom with depths that are almost impossible to plumb - compassionate at times and yet outrageously brutal and callous at others; openly contemptuous of the rules of the police bureaucracy and yet rigid in the establishment of his own personal code of conduct and integrity; often shallow in his relationship with women and yet clearly longing for the depth of a meaningful relationship based in true love and compatibility; he is also an obvious "user", entirely willing to use a personal relationship for the achievement of his own short-term goals. In short, he is entirely human and not entirely likeable - but as a complex protagonist in a thrilling police procedural that you will be cheering for - well ... Connelly has simply hit the nail right on the head!
Because of an underlying thread of multi-layer character development, references to past events and the slow but sure revelation of Bosch's history, "The Black Ice" is best served as the second entrée in a multi-course meal which begins with the first Bosch novel, "The Black Echo", followed by "The Concrete Blonde". Ten further courses are available for your gustatory delight! Enjoy.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss