The Concrete Blonde (Harry Bosch)
by Michael Connelly
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Book Summary Information
Author: Michael ConnellyEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-02-01
ISBN: 044661758X
Number of pages: 512
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Book Reviews of The Concrete Blonde (Harry Bosch)
Book Review: The black heart doesn't beat alone
Summary: 5 Stars
When I first discovered Connelly (long after everyone else did, obviously), I began by reading several of his more recent novels. There were good parts and not so good parts and, overall, I wasn't unduly impressed. I wondered where his great reputation had come from. So I went back and began reading his books from the beginning. As I suspected, his earlier stuff is far, far better than his recent work. This one is his third novel about Harry Bosch, Los Angeles native and twenty-year homicide detective. Harry, whose whole existence is wrapped up in being a cop and in catching killers, is also a significant bit of gristle in the body of the LAPD. He doesn't bend, he doesn't suffer fools, he doesn't tolerate betrayal, and he's been frequently in trouble with his superiors and with the system. That's just the sort of person Harry is, take him or leave him. Four years ago, he was involved in the hunt for a serial killer, dubbed "the Dollmaker" by the media, and was responsible for eventually finding him and killing him. He did it his way, naturally, and, while being cleared of any wrongdoing by the department, he nevertheless was disciplined by being yanked out of the elite Robbery-Homicide Division and sent down to Hollywood Division, which is not a nice place. But he's managing -- and , in fact, having been around Hollywood all his life -- the real, scruffy Hollywood, not the glamorous image -- he may actually prefer it. Now the Dollmaker's widow has brought a civil suit against the city for wrongful death and Harry has to listen to the widow's lawyer re-interpreting all his actions in the worse possible light. But the lawyer is an extremely talented firebrand when it comes to excessive force cases and he can't help admiring her. Then another body turns up following receipt of a tip-off note, buried in concrete this time, and it looks like the Dollmaker is still out there. Did Harry really kill the wrong man? Was he actually innocent? That's every honest cop's nightmare and it gets its hold on Harry, who has to balance sitting at the defense table in court with trying to pursue this new case in order to save his own soul. I'll say nothing further about the plot (just in case you haven't read the book), except that it's carefully constructed and entirely believable in its internal structure. There are no wild leaps of logic, just careful, plodding police work illuminated here and there by helpful accidents and unanticipated discoveries -- just like real life. Harry is a fully realized, four-dimensional human being. He's not necessarily the sort of person you would always like, but you can respect him. His colleagues and adversaries are also very well done and the "telling details," as they say, the bits of business that build verisimilitude, make this an extremely impressive story. Moreover, in the previous book, Harry discovered an attraction to the widow of another cop (a widow he created, actually) and they've been developing a cautious relationship for more than a year now. It's difficult for Harry to let anyone else into the dark places in his life, but he's trying -- and that makes him even more human. I wish the author could get back this ability to write a gripping story with no gaps in logic.
Summary of The Concrete Blonde (Harry Bosch)
In this classic from a #1 "New York Times" bestselling author, Detective Harry Bosch thought he'd stopped the serial killer known as the Dollmaker. Now the dead man's widow is suing Harry and the LAPD for shooting the wrong man--an accusation that rings true when a new victim is discovered with the Dollmaker's macabre signature.Literature & Fiction Books
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