โ Scribed by Michael Connelly
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
There's a gravitas to the mystery/thrillers of Michael Connelly, a bedrock commitment to the value of human life and the need for law enforcement pros to defend that value, that sets his work apart and above that of many of his contemporaries. That gravitas is in full force in Connelly's newest, and as nearly always in the work of this talented writer, it supports a dynamite plot, fully flowered characters and a meticulous attention to the details of investigative procedure.There are also some nifty hooks to this new Connelly: it features his most popular series character, retired L.A. homicide cop Harry Bosch, but it's also a sequel to his first stand-alone, The Poet (1996), and is only his second novel (along with The Poet) to be written in both first and third person. The first-person sections are narrated by Bosch, who agrees as a favor to the widow to investigate the death of Bosch's erstwhile colleague and friend Terry McCaleb (of Blood Work and A Darkness More Than Night). Bosch's digging brings him into contact with Rachel Walling, the FBI agent heroine of The Poet, and the third-person narrative concerns mostly her. Though generally presumed dead, the Poetthe serial killer who was a highly placed Fed and Walling's mentoris alive and killing anew, with, we soon learn, McCaleb among his victims and his sights now set on Walling. The story shuttles between Bosch's California and the Nevada desert, where the Poet has buried his victims to lure Walling. The suspense is steady throughout but, until a breathtaking climactic chase, arises more from Bosch and Walling's patient and inspired following of clues and dealing with bureaucratic obstacles than from slash-and-dash: an unusually intelligent approach to generating thrills. Connelly is a master and this novel is yet another of his masterpieces.
Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
With a writer of Connellys popularity, particularly one that works with a regular cast of characters, mixed reviews are to be expected. Each successive book opens the possibility of a narrative letdown. Part of Connellys decision to collate a few of his most enduring characters into The Narrows was to address concerns many fans had with the ending of The Poet. Though it strikes a few critics as a risky move that doesnt bear repeating, the general consensus is that Connelly pulls the sequel off. Some reviewers disagree about whether the back-story is ample enough for the uninitiated. But whether The Narrows is his best or his worst work, its has elements of both, and plenty of the subtle characterization and gripping storyline that fans have come to expect from Connelly.
Copyright 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.
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