Book Report #77 - Angle of Investigation by Michael Connelly

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Page count - 92

A little while ago I stumbled on to a short essay, on Medium, that spoke of the writer's experience having just read 54 books in a year.  In 2011 I challenged myself to something similar; 26 books in a year, it's from that challenge that these book reviews are numbered.  Reading is my most enjoyed activity and I've got hundreds of books just waiting for me to read.

I've accepted the challenge to read a book a week.  The plan is to start a new book every Saturday.  Today I'm giving myself an easy challenge by reading a 92 page, Harry Bosch collection of three short stories.

Here we go.

Christmas Even - finds Harry investigating the death of a pawn shop burglar.  While working the case Harry finds a saxophone that once belonged to Quentin McKinzie which brings back powerful memories for him.

I really liked this story especially the ending it was sweet, sad and hart-warming.

Father's Day - Yikes.  This was a tough story to read; the death of a child is not an easy subject to tackle in a 31 page story.  This one was a bit of a gut punch, not graphic in any way but I was left wondering how anybody could bring himself to the actions taken here.

Angle of Investigation - This one read like a novel complete with a gripping back story of Bosh's second day on the job.  That day he and his partner discover the body of a woman who had been drowned, along with her dog, in the bathtub of her home.

The killer was never found until Harry picks up the case in his role in Open-Unsolved.  There is a satisfying twist and a shocking end.

Note: I once reviewed the first story in the book in a previous post.  This review is for the book as a whole.  Connelly is usually a safe bet for quality story telling.  You might find this book a perfect fit for commuting or waiting at the airport.  The three stories are satisfying and well told.

Recommended.

Book Report #76 - The Black Box by Michael Connelly

Out of respect for Michael Connelly I'm writing this post while listening to Sonny Clark's Dial "S" For Sonny originally recorded in 1957 on Blue Note records.

The latest installment of the Harry Bosch series finds Harry pursuing a 20 year old murder that occurred during the 1992 LA riots.  A Danish journalist was found dead in an alley a victim of an apparent execution.

While Harry reviews the information in the file he notices a small anomaly; a phone call logged 10 years after the murder inquiring about it.  By pulling on this thin thread Harry starts to uncover a much larger conspiracy that dates back to Operation Desert Storm of 1990.

At first I was caught off guard from the Desert Storm twist but leave it to Connelly to develop a gripping and believable plot.  I found this book to be quite the page-turner.  There were a couple little leaps in faith that I had to take; actions that I was surprised Harry took.

Unfortunately I found the climax to be a bit too "cinematic" for my tastes.  Like a bad TV episode, a surprising character comes to help Harry and the final chase to capture the Bad Guy made me groan in disappointment.

The novel was very good but the ending was botched, in my opinion.  The best part of the book was the musical suggestions I lifted from it. I always like tracing down the music that Connelly mentions.

Check out:
Art Pepper - http://straightlife.info/
Michael Formanek - http://www.amibotheringyou.com/index.html
Danny Grissett - http://www.dannygrissett.com/

Book Report #66 - The Overlook by Michael Connelly

Harry Bosch gets a call, in the middle of the night, a body has been discovered on a Mulholland Drive overlook.

The victim is a medical physicist who'd been killed execution style.

It's quickly discovered the victim had access to large quantities of radioactive cesium.  Normally cesium is used in the treatment of cancer; in the wrong hands it could be used in the production of a dirty bomb.

The FBI are instantly involved since this case could have a terrorist angle to it.  Predictably there is tension between them and the LAPD.  When Homeland Security becomes involved mistakes begin to happen caused by inter-agency rivalries.

I've always found Connelly's writing to be an easy read, having been a crime reporter for the LA Times he has the ability to make a story flow.  This book first saw publication as a serialized story in the New York Times Magazine which explains the low page count.  There is very little time given to the struggles of just being Harry Bosch that is usually found in one of his books.

It was still a well crafted, plot driven story that I enjoyed very much.

Michael Connelly

Christmas Eve by Michael Connelly

This came from an ebook, purchased from the Kobo store, called "Angle of the Investigation" a collection of three short stories with Harry Bosch.

Connelly has a very clean way of writing that makes reading his stories effortless.

In this one Bosch investigates the death of a thief found in a pawn shop. There is also a touching side story about a saxophone found in the thief's apartment.

I've had the book for a while now; I'm glad I finally got around to reading it.

Michael Connelly

Michael Connelly's website is HERE

The eBook can be purchased HERE

Book Report #39 - The Drop by Michael Connelley

The Drop

by

Michael Connelly

Michael Connelly is a household name and his books are well reviewed everywhere so I'm not going to pretend that my thoughts are going to make much of a difference.

Connelly is actually on my must-read-in-order list but sometimes I'm loaned a book and feel that I should read and return it in a timely manner, plus his novels are so well written that a person can jump in at any point and not feel left out.  I've dabbled in Connelly's work and I've never been disappointed.  His plots are tight, his narrative is quick and his characters leap off the page fully formed.  Sometimes I like to cast the movie version of the books in my head; I still don't know who should be cast has Harry Bosch.

The Drop was another good read, in it Bosch solves two cases both of which have nice surprise twists.

Connelly is also good at giving his fans little treats along the way; I really liked his tip of the hat to Castle.  Connelly has appeared two or three times, as himself, on the show so it was fun to get a reference in the book.

It was a very enjoyable book.

Blood Work by Michael Connelly - Book Review

This morning I finished Blood Work by Michael Connelly (one of my favorite authors). 

This novel was made into a movie back in 2002 which I missed completely.  I'll have to chase down the DVD of this one. 

The story is about an ex FBI agent who finds out a terrible truth about the heart transplant he's just gone through. 

Nearly 500 pages long it moved like a book half its length.  I really liked this one.

Recommended.