Tuesday, November 9, 2021

The Dark Hours - Michael Connelly

I have been eagerly awaiting the fourth book - The Dark Hours - in Michael Connelly's Ballard and Bosch novels. And IMO, this is the best one yet!

It's New Year's Eve and Renée is again working the night shift - by choice. By tradition, revelers shoot their guns into the air at midnight in Los Angeles. Sounds like a recipe for disaster doesn't it? Uh huh, it results in one of the first homicides of the new year. Here's the thing - the bullet may be tied to an unsolved case - one worked by Harry Bosch. Now retired, Bosch has become a mentor and a sometime off the books partner of Renée. 

I'm always so happy to see Harry again. He's like an old war horse that just keeps riding into battle. His experience, (usually) calm demeanor and drive for answers and justice keep him going. "Everybody counts or nobody counts" Renée is fearless and has that same drive for justice. Her determination has not endeared her to her fellow cops. Connelly has woven current events and happenings and the turbulent state of policing and politics into the narrative. While others do just the bare minimum, Renée never lets up. In addition to the New Year's Eve case, she's also trying to find a pair of serial rapists who've been labeled as The Midnight Men. A lot goes on on the late show....

Connelly's crime novels are second to none. The characters, the settings, the details, the plotting - all of it makes for fantastic reading. And yes, lots of action. 

The dynamic between these two really works. In the final pages, I thought I saw where the Ballard and Bosch books might be headed in the fifth book, but Connelly throws in an alternative. I can't wait to see which way things end up. 

Highly recommended! See for yourself - read an excerpt of The Dark Hours.

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