Sunday 3 April 2011

Book Report #14 of 26

I've been behind in my blog updating lately.

You know how it is - you get in the habit of blogging then something comes up and you get out of it.  So now I'm trying to force my way back into blogging.

Since Maddy has left for Spain I've found that I've spent more time on Twitter and on Facebook than on my own page.  Maddy has been keeping us up to date on her Facebook page and I've been posting little bits of information on there lately.  It's a different audience but I get the same sense of satisfaction of having blogged by posting on those sites.  But this site is the one where I have to sit down and "think" about what I'm going to write about.  It takes a certain time commitment and it's very easy to put it to the side.

Maddy is doing very well in Spain.  But we really do miss her and I can tell that she's becoming home-sick.  Living out of a suitcase gets old fast and, I'm sure, she'd love to just get back to her old habits of watching her favorite shows and reading her books that make her so happy.

By next Saturday she'll be back and I'll be happy to have my family together again.

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So, the 26 books in a year challenge: is going quite well. I've read books 14 and 15 and I'm taking a bit of a break from novels to catch up on some short story collections that I have.  They are still in book form but they can be enjoyed in small bites.

Book 14 was:

The Black Echo
by

Connelly is one of my favorite authors, his books are smart, dark and always interesting.

I've read a few of his books before but I've never read them in any kind of order.  This one is the first in the Harry Bosch series and my intent is to read the whole series - in order.

I'm a  big fan of continuity it just makes the small references from previous novels much more satisfying to read.  Plus you manage to form a kind of relationship with a character this way.

Having read other novels further along in Connelly's career I found this one to be a bit stiff.  This is understandable since it was his first published novel.

Harry is a detective for the LAPD and he catches a murder case that, at first, just looks like a drug OD.  When he realizes the body is actually a Vietnam vet that he served with in the war he starts to look into it much more closely.  What looks like an OD is revealed to be a murder and during the investigation Harry uncovers some serious corruption.

Although the story was a bit stiff in the telling there was lots to get involved with; the story of the first case, the story of the witness, the story of a bank heist and the story of uncovered corruption.  There was a lot to chew on in this book.

I liked it and I look forward to reading the second installment - Black Ice.

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