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Bosch is such a great detective and we get to follow clue by clue. If they are all like the first two, what a series. I said in my review of the first Bosch book that I couldn't wait for the second. Thank you , Michael Connelly for this detective. THE BLACK ICE is a great mystery and once again, Bosch is struggling with the accusations of the past. The death of police officer Cal Moore pulls Harry into the chase for an answer. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED in this genre. Bring on the third book.
But the earlier stories, including this second one in the Harry Bosch series, are gold. And it all ends up requiring Harry to make a journey down to Mexicali, where he finds himself in yet another kind of operation. Connelly has been a popular writer of detective stories for awhile now, still cranking them out in several character series, but he seems to be coasting lately, not always investing sufficient time in his plots or in the bits of "business" that add verisimilitude to the story. Or maybe it's really a homicide. And there's a terrific twist ending that I admit I didn't see coming -- though the clues are there, in retrospect. Bosch, ex-tunnel rat in Vietnam and now an LAPD homicide detective, has been yanked from Parker Center and shuffled off to the Hollywood Division as punishment for his actions in the previous case. And then he discovers yet another cop is involved.
Connelly has the atmosphere and the lingo down pat and we get into Harry's head and learn more about his background as the story progresses. It's a common hazard for a successful popular author. Everything in the plot happens gradually and convincingly, dragging the reader along through the underside of Los Angeles and the barrios of Baja. He's trying to close a couple of cases for the end-of-year statistics and gets caught up in the apparent suicide of a narcotics sergeant in a crappy motel room. And then that death ties into one of his other cases, and then another one. It's absorbing and absolutely realistic. If Connelly still wrote them this way he'd have the market sewed up.
He then decides to break into the dead cop's home to investigate on his own, risking his career and guess who shows up to surprise him there.the dead cop's widow, and "he could smell her perfume from across the room" and they end up on the.you know the rest. It was a gripping tale of a LAPD detective (Harry Bosch) investigating what appeared to be a suicide by a fellow cop, but then realizes its a homicide and which is tied intricately to two other cases that he's on. And this is after the scene where the Chief medical examiner reveals to Bosch that due to the pattern of blood from the shotgun blast to the head, the cop could not have been alive, thus homicide, which then causes him to screw her. There is vigorous and poignant narrative of the homicide detective who is all-consumed by his work, and with colorful portrayals of the LA crime beat. I'm halfway done, and have not put it down. I began to feel sorry for him (Connelly, not Bosch), that he has to resort to this, which adds nothing to the plot. What was a promising, plot thickening thriller, turned out to be another trashy novel.
I recently decided to read Michael Connelly and I am really enjoying his books. In Black Ice, Harry Bosch aggressively investigates the deaths of two fellow officers even though his superiors would prefer he leave things alone. Black Ice is my second Connelly book given I've decided to read them in order. What I loved about Black Echo and now Black Ice is how intricate and well thought through the plots are. His investigation takes him to Mexico and it is interesting how Connelly depicts law enforcement south of the border. Like in most murder mysteries, Harry eventually gets his man but you might be suprised by who that man turns out to be.I was.
Read the description of the used condition of the book, ordered, shipped immediately, received immediately, exactly as described. Would not hesitate to use again.
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