Dark Sacred Night

Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connelly, 433 pages.
Detective Renѐe Ballard, introduced in last year's The Late Show, is still working that same late shift in the Hollywood division, when she crosses paths with Harry Bosch, retired from the LAPD, and working part-time for the San Fernando PD. She spots Harry when he is sneaking a look through some old files at the Hollywood station under the pretext of waiting to interview a patrolman about a body found nine years ago. Ballard quickly figures out what Bosch was looking for, and the two of them form a tentative alliance investigating the death of a young runaway. As the story moves along, Bosch makes a couple of decisions that put him in danger and have him wondering if it may be time to finally stop investigating. A good solid story with great characters. I was slow to appreciate Kathleen's comment that this should be savored because now it will be another year before the next book from Connelly. I guess it's a good time to be losing my memory, I'll listen to this on audio in three months or so and see if it surprises me.

The Drop

The Drop by Michael Connelly, 388 pages.
I had read this about 6 years ago. It seemed familiar, but my memory of it seemed a little off, until I realized that part of the book  was made into one of the seasons of the Amazon series Bosch. I had seen that video version much more recently, and the story had been changed significantly from the book to the medium-sized screen. In this novel, Bosch and Detective David Chu are given a fresh hit on a cold case; they have a DNA match on a 1989 murder. Though it links to a known sex offender, there's a problem with the case. But before Bosch and partner are able to begin investigating, Bosch is called in by the Chief of Police to investigate the death of the son of Irvin Irving, Bosch's former boss and longtime foe. Complications ensue and Bosch must decide who is in the right and who is trying to get away with something. The case of the George Irving continues to twist and turn even after the case seems to be closed. In the cold case, it's fairly straightforward though there is still some nuance concerning guilt and innocence, good and evil. The nuance comes from two of the background characters, a victim of a child molesting killer who has grown up to become a sexual predator himself, and a therapist who tells Bosch how her son is in prison for raping a woman. The graphic detail in the book concerning child rape and murder is off-putting and I believe this is one of the books that caused me to take a break from reading Connelly.
Read by Len Cariou, which is always a good thing.

A Darkness More Than Night

A Darkness More Than Night by Michael Connelly, 418 pages.
The seventh in the Harry Bosch series has the Los Angeles police detective arresting and then testifying against a Hollywood director. David Storey, the defendant, has been accused of killing a young woman and then moving her body and setting the scene to deflect attention from himself. While the trial is gearing up, former FBI profiler Terry McCaleb is called in to help with a separate murder investigation that seems to be zeroing in on Bosch as a suspect. Harry has to work to keep his case from falling apart as he also tries to find out the truth about this second murder. fast-paced and well constructed. The audio book was narrated by the excellent Len Cariou.

The Overlook

The Overlook by Michael Connelly, 225 pages. Narrated by Len Cariou.

The presence of so many of the Connelly novels in our Hoopla and Overdrive collections is good news for anyone who loves police-based thrillers, or fans of the Amazon series Bosch. 
This is the 13th in the Bosch series and part of the story is adapted to the TV show. The victim here is a doctor with access to some dangerous material while the TV version changes that to a porn producer. Maybe because the book is more of a story of its time, with the FBI and the police frantically searching for some international terrorist. The book moves along nicely. Harry locks horns with the FBI again, this time while breaking in a new partner. Cariou is always a great narrator, second only to Titus Welliver himself.

Lost Light: A Novel

Last Light: A Novel by Michael Connelly, 360 pages. Audiobook narrated by Len Cariou.

The ninth Harry Bosch novel finds Harry retired from the force. He has his private investigator's
license but instead of working for a client he decides to try and solve a case that has been bothering him for the last four years. A young woman had been gunned down during the robbery of a movie set. The director of the movie had felt it necessary to have actual cash on hand while shooting a scene involving a pile of money, leading to a series of violent events that left the young production assistant dead. While investigating, Harry runs afoul of an FBI terrorism investigation and finds himself, as a retired cop, with no leverage. Eleanor plays a part in the novel and Maddie makes her first appearance.

The Burning Room

The Burning Room: a Novel / Michael Connelly, read by Titus Welliver, 388 p.

Harry Bosch works with his new LAPD partner Lucia Soto to solve a murder in which the victim, a mariachi player, dies 9 years after being shot.  The case is cold but not so cold that Harry can't solve it...