The Washington Times
published my review of Michael Connelly’s crime thriller, Dark Sacred Night.
In Michael Connelly’s crime
thriller “The Late Show,” he introduced us to a new character, Renee
Ballard, an attractive, 30-ish dedicated and smart Los
Angeles detective who was working the night shift.
Renee Ballad was transferred
to the night shift from the more prestigious Robbery-Homicide Division after
she filed a complaint against her lieutenant for making a crude, physical pass
at her. The complaint went nowhere, as her partner did not back her up, so she
was sent to the night shift, an undesirable job called the “late show” by the
cops.
In my review of “The Late
Show” here, I noted that although I found Renee
Ballard to be engaging and interesting, I missed his other, better
known character, Harry
Bosch.
So I was pleased that in his
following crime novel, “Two Kinds of Truth,” Harry
Bosch was once again front and center. Now, in Mr.
Connelly’s current and 32nd crime novel, “Dark Sacred Night,” we see
Harry
Bosch and Renee
Ballard team up.
… The
books are written in actual time, so Harry
Bosch has retired from the LAPD and in “Dark Sacred Night” he
volunteers as a reserve officer for the San Fernando Police Department,
tackling cold cases.
One 9-year-old cold case is
personal, as he helped Elizabeth Clayton recover from drug addiction while
pursuing the case of her 15-year-old runaway daughter who was brutally murdered
and tossed in a dumpster. When he seeks information at his old LAPD station, he
runs into Detective Ballard,
who becomes interested in the case as well. She considers the murder a “hobby
case,” something she can pursue when things are quiet on the late show.
As Detectives Ballard and Bosch
look through files from the time of the girl’s murder, they discover the
possibility of other murders. Many of the murdered girls were runaways and/or
prostitutes. Was there, is there, a serial killer?
Harry
Bosch is also working on the cold case of a murdered gang leader in
San Fernando. The victim, a Latino San Fers gang leader, was shot while walking
his dog. Although not as well known as MS-13, the San Fers are one of San
Fernando’s oldest and most violent street gangs. Harry
Bosch’s investigation leads to a clash with the gangbangers.
… I interviewed Mr.
Connelly for my online Crime Beat column a while back and he told me
that fiction goes down its own path from reality.
“My job here is to write a
thriller — to be entertaining and keep the pages turning — but you always have
an opportunity to say something or open up a window on something happening in
the world,” Mr.
Connelly said.
You can read the rest of the review via the below link:
You can also read my Crime Beat interview with Michael Connelly via the below link:
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