The Overlook (Harry Bosch) by Michael Connelly
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Book Reviews of The Overlook (Harry Bosch)
Book Review: my first connelly book
Summary: 5 Stars
This was my first Michael Connelly book.
I heard Neal Boortz talking about him.
Lucky for me this was an awesome work of murder mystery fiction.
If you like things from a Federal angel, ie, The Feds, FBI, Homeland Security, this has it all.
By the end it was hard to stop reading.
So far this is my favorite Connelly book.
Book Review: Another Great Read
Summary: 5 Stars
I have read each of Michael Connelly's novels and this is yet another excellent read. Harry Bosch is a great character and he always seems to amaze me. I would highly recommend this book, especially if you have read the Bosch novels in the past. I can hardly wait for the next book.Book Review: Best American writer
Summary: 5 Stars
Excelent again from the master but try Soft Target by English Author Conrad Jones, both fantastic reads but Conrad has the edge, Tank would give Bosh a run for his money anyday of the week !!! more of both please !!Book Review: A less tormented Harry Bosch?
Summary: 4 Stars
This book does have the feel of being written for a non-Harry Bosch audience. There is very little of the iternalized reflective stream of consciousness that makes a Harry Bosch book unique. Originally done as a serialized quick read thriller for a mass market audience who presumably don't know Harry it is an odd vehicle in which to introduce a new partner for Harry s well as to haul Rachael Walling back as a cardboard cutout character who moves the plot along by explaining the Feds to this new audience.
That said, if you are not a Harry Bosch die hard fan, you will probably not notice the absense of Harry's deep rooted conflicts. Just enjoy this as a thriller for the current times. What I find interesting as one who has followed the Bosch canon for years is the question of "Why Now?" Harry Bosch is a tormented character that we have spent years getting to know; we love his cases and his existential pain. We know that "Everyone counts, or no one counts"; words that guide Harry's ever changing career.
I hope I am wrong when I sense that in this book, Connolly is testing the waters for a less LAPD centered story arc in favor of a broader Rachael Walling / Feds focus. I hope not, because in spite of some reviewers have said, this does work as a thriller, just not one cast in the mold of the Harry we know. It is this lack of the subtle, the unexpected, the very unique flavor of this character that we find disappointing. Connolley apparently knows this, because he has extensively rewritten the serialized version and added a chapter to make this piece more of a fit with the ongoing Bosch saga. I bought a copy, and I didn't regret it...it isn't a home run, but I got my Harry fix for the winter. I happen to have just finished Echo Park when I picked up The Overlook.
For anyone who hasn't met Harry before, check out Echo Park as a prequel and get a better sense of why Harry Bosch stands right along side George Smiley ("Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"),Matt Scudder ("When the Sacred Gin Mill Closes"), and my beloved Travis McGee ("The Lonely Silver Rain"). Harry Bosch knows that the truth does not always set you free; it sometimes imprisons you in a very lonely place. I sense that Harry has a destiny, and the author is preparing us for it.
Book Review: Commentary on today's crime fighting
Summary: 4 Stars
The Overlook is the 13th story in the Bosch series. In this one we are treated to a regular hard-boiled murder mystery being solved by a dedicated cop who does not mind doing things not exactly by the book while also getting a loaded social commentary.
The mystery is that a physicist that handles nuclear materials is murdered in execution style and a whole lot of nuclear material (Cesium) is stolen. The threads and hints strewn all around the case point to this being an emerging terrorist attack on Los Angeles and so the FBI, and many other federal agencies jump in to get involved. Speak about internecine warfare! The FBI involvement also kicks in a special unit of the LAPD that is more of a slaptsick comedy outfit than a real police force, and also one that is more akin to the FBI in wanting to keep all the glory for itself rather than think the case through and approach things logically.
Bosch keeps thinking that he sees a murder mystery and wants to handle this as a standard homicide and all this additional attention creates many distractions and obstacles to the case's solution.
Bosch is also reunited with his love interest in the FBI - Rachel Walling - but it is never clear if they will work together, or at cross purposes. There is enough lying and deceit between the two of them that you wonder if they'll ever get back together again as a couple.
Bosch is also training a rookie cop in his ways and some of the fun of this book is watching the rookie watch Bosch and draw conclusions that are different than what Bosch wants him to get.
The action is very fast-paced and the whole story is resolved in a matter of 13 hours. The way the case breaks is somewhat hoky, but logical - although I suspect that if I researched it, I would find the science behind it as being wrong, or at least accelerated.
This is a fun read that takes you away from the day to day cares and is great beach or airplane material!