Rating: 
Summary: A wiser milder Bosch
Review: I have to admit a particular fondness for Michael Connelly's books, those about Hieronymous Bosch is particular. There's something about the man, dark or mysterious, keeping him on the edge and away from the closeness that brings comfort from others. He is the perennial loner. After reading eight books about Bosch the Cop, we are now gifted with a story about Heironymous the pensioner. Bosch's instincts, however, haven't changed muchI won't give away the story, much. Bosch, never one to let anything slide, becomes obsessed with the 4-year-old murder of a Hollywood production assistant. Bosch's involvement with the investigation of this murder came to an end after a daring heist rips off 2 million dollars from the set of movie. The money had been a prop. Bosch had been there interviewing the director. A tenuous link is drawn between the theft of the money, which resulted in the death of a bank officer and the injury of another, and the murder of the production assistant. But the case is handed to another division. Bosch is still haunted by the unsolved case, four years later. Despite lacking a badge, Bosch decides to whip out his old murder book and go on the hunt. Along the way, we meet some familiar characters, open up a few new cans of worms, close a few old ones, and discover the darkside of "Homeland Security". As always, Bosch's life is a slow-motion trainwreck. He has a head for criminal investigations, but spares little by way of thought for his own heart. As he is haunted by the murder case and the specter of his ex-wife, you can't help but feel attached to our old boy-in-blue. He is singularly tragic and always compelling. Hoping his life will turn out for the best is part of what keeps me reading. "Lost Light" did not disappoint. That said, "Lost Light" is more of a novel for Bosch fans. Too many old plot points are picked up here that might leave the casual reader lost. I'm not in any way discouraging the purchase of this book. I finished it while still sitting in the bookstore parking lot, four hours after buying it. Just be prepared to love the character and buy the previous eight Bosch books. You will not regret it.
Rating:
Summary: A Different Harry Bosch Book - But Still Very Readable
Review: Lost Light is the latest in the excellent Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly. Unlike the previous novels, this one is written in first person and has a generally different feel to it. Still present, however, are many of the aspects that make this series of novels so appealing to Connelly's loyal fans. Harry Bosch is now retired. As readers of the other books already know, he is not the type to go quietly and sit around collecting pension checks. He is still bothered by his old unsolved cases. One in particular will not let him go - the murder of a young woman who's hands were found in a unique position that Harry sees as reaching out to him. During the course of his investigation, Bosch finds that her murder may involve a robbery, other murders, a terrorist, and the disappearance of an FBI agent. This book is written from the first person perspective, and this has several effects on the novel. The reader is now privy to everything Harry thinks and feels and as a result, we are drawn closer to him as a character. On the other hand, because everything is filtered through the Bosch character, we are ONLY privy to what he thinks and feels. This results in the novel losing many of the nuances and subtleties that are usually found in Connelly's novels. Consequently, this reads almost like "Harry Bosch lite." I finished this book in one sitting, which I have not been able to do with any previous Bosch books. Connelly's writing has just been too involving. However, readers should not avoid this book simply because it reads easier than his others. Many fans will love this book because it's a quick, entertaining way to spend a few hours. Connelly is now writing two books per year and his writing seems to have thinned out accordingly. Readers will love or hate his new books depending on whether they prefer quantity or quality. Personally, I'd prefer to get two very good Connelly books each year than having to wait for only, even though that one might be a little longer and deeper. In any case, I thought this book was worth the read if only because it was entertaining. Is Connelly starting to sell out a little? Probably. Are his later books inferior to his earlier work? Possibly. Is he still one of the best crime fiction writers working today? No question. Read this book and decide for yourselves.
Rating: 
Summary: A complex, original page-turner.
Review: Harry Bosch has begun his retirement and he doesn't like it. After a career in law enforcement, and devoting his life to protecting, and avenging those wronged by the law, Bosch finds it difficult to sit home and do nothing, especially since he is haunted by the unsolved murder of a young girl. Bosch begins his private investigation, only to find another unsolved crime...one that is linked to the murder of the young woman. Unable to rest until the killer is caught, Bosch will work outside of the law, but every step he gets closer to the truth brings him closer to a madman who'll stop at nothing to keep that truth from being found out. 'Lost Light' is another great entry in the Harry Bosch series. The story unfolds at a breakneck pace, and every turn of the page introduces a new plot twist. Harry Bosch is one of the best characters in detective fiction, and with each new outing we see him grow wiser and more mature taking the series to a whole new level. Michael Connelly continues to dazzle readers with his original, fast-paced and complex novels. Each new novel surpasses that of the previous, proving Michael Connelly to be a master of his craft. As with all previous Connelly novels, expect to see 'Lost Light' on all the bestseller lists. Nick Gonnella
Rating:
Summary: "What a wonderful world..."
Review: The lines of the old jazz standard by Louis Armstrong play a large, if ironic role in Connelly's latest Harry Bosch tome, "Lost Light". Michael Connelly succeeds because he's not afraid to take risks. Finishing this "Harry Bosch" novel, your sense is he might even take a bigger risk in the next book...by moving Bosch from LA to Las Vegas. Now, LA is synonymous with Connelly in the way that Boston is with Robert Parker, so that will be another leap. But Connelly definitely wanted Harry to go in another direction...as a private investigator, Harry can be as much of a bull in a china shop, as much of a full-speed ahead guy, as he was as a cop. Only now there's no one to tell him "No". An old FBI "pal", Lindell says it best --when he accuses Bosch of putting himself in the path of the murderers, because he wants to take them on..."he wanted them to come after him....He's always been a private investigator, even when he carried a badge". So, at the age of 52, as grumpy and sarcastic as he's always been, as unlucky in love, as haunted by homicide that can't be solved as he's ever been, Harry's got a new lease on life. The plot here is interwoven, and we go up blind alleys with Harry. It becomes obvious who the killers are, but there's an end twist between Bosch and the old paralyzed cop who enticed him to open the cold case (Lawton Cross) that will make you feel as hollow as Harry must feel. Jazz still plays an intrinsic role in Harry's life, and the women who are important to him, Kiz Rider, Keisha Russell and Eleanor Wish all make appearances. I'm definitely tuned in to the change to first person storytelling that Connelly uses, now that Harry is out on his own. We get inside Harry's head more this way. And Connelly skillfully touches on a current political issue as he always does; this time Homeland Security and the potentially disastrous losses of citizen's rights that it may impose. I raced through Lost Light and think it may be Connelly's best since "The Concrete Blonde", and that's saying a lot...there's no "loss of light" here. Don't delay, and don't skip it, even if you've not experimented with Bosch before. It's tense, satisfying, and altogether deserves a 5 star rating!
Rating:
Summary: Engaging, but Challenging, Read
Review: Michael Connelly's "Lost Light" is a taut, well-crafted mystery novel about a retired Los Angeles detective Harry Bosch who decides to use his twenty-five year experience to the aid of a cold case of robbery, shooting, and murder. This Bosch story is written in the first-person singular, occasionally shifting into third-person; this idiomatic style makes the sifting through the characters and action difficult -- and often obtuse. It was a real struggle to overcome this obstacle, as one really wants this book to be a page turner, but the style prevents it. This is my first, but by no means my last, Bosch-series novel. Fortunately, most of the other novels are written in the third-person, and if they are as good as this one, they'll be pleasures, rather than challenges, to read.
Rating:
Summary: Realistic, up to a point
Review: Harry Bosch goes from the beginning of this book to the end with what seems like maybe four hours of sleep, no cigarettes, several cups of coffee, and a churro (maybe). This guy has the constitution of a bulldog. He never quits, never says "die," and knows when to give in to the powers that be. You'll speed through the book like he does through the murder case, jumping from one episode to the next. This is a great book for insomniacs or those who "only stand and wait," a thing I do a lot. Only one thing to note, how at the final climax, Harry gets lost in South Central and runs into a mob of rioters, who bodily unload the "shooter," a cop, from the backseat of Harry's car (where the man's been handcuffed). Chastain, the personage in question, deserves what he gets, of course. He started the riot by shooting a popular black lawyer. But why can't Harry find his way around South Central? All of the main streets are perpendicular. This book's riot is close to where the 1992 "flashpoint" was, Florence and Normandie. This riot is just a little further south, being near Florence and Manchester (86th). Anyway, living in South Central, as I do, I enjoyed his little jaunt there, but reading about how they did Chastain reminded me a little of what happened recently in Iraq. Diximus.
Rating:
Summary: Bosch is a character that never gets stale
Review: Bosch's life continues to change at the margins in his novels; in this ninth outing, he is experiencing the pangs of retirement from a job that has been his life. After a period of time that seems alternately aimless and pleasurable, Bosch reopens a case file that's been gnawing at him all these years. He spends the rest of the book sleeping with a female cop, throwing his weight around on a Hollywood set peopled by animals, and eventually butting heads with the Department of Homeland Security. Even thought the Homeland Security stuff turns out to be less than central to the plot, it provides the most thrills because it gives Bosch time to shine as the ultimate underdog who never gives up. The climax involves a gang of murderers showing up at Bosch's house to take him out. Very fun!
The Good and the Bad:
The Bosch character remains someone I can get emotionally invested in. He is the strong silent type who can still listen to jazz in the night. His morality is always on display, and he always charges recklessly into danger, if that's what his morals tell him is the right thing to do. Bosch is just a pleasure to read about.
The downside in this particular outing was the convoluted storytelling, which I think got away from Connelly this time around. There are about two and a half plot twists too many, and the most entertaining stuff was ultimately not important to the story. A tighter plot might have been better. The convolutions of the plot eventually gave me enough of a headache that I didn't care so much about following the finer aspects of the police procedurals, or even the victim.
What I learned:
If this book is right, Homeland Security has way too much power to arrest and detain people who haven't been proven to be any kind of a threat.
Rating:
Summary: A detective is always a detective
Review: The story of a former agent who came back just to solve a case is quite different from all the detectives book I have read. The book will keep you in the story all the time and you will never guess the end of the book neither of the three of them. I can tell that MC is one of the best detective writers of our time, because at least myself couldn't catch him writing something unbelievable or completely out of reality.
SIX STARS FOR THIS ONE.
Rating:
Summary: The pinnacle?
Review: This might be the best Bosch, certainly top 3. It is an extraordinary book. THe key, I think, was the fact that the book was told in the first person. It gave the series a jolt of caffeine. The book is more hopeful than many in the series. The characters continue to grow. As we have traveled with Harry these many years from Eleanor to Jazz to the teacher to Teresa to Eleanor to Julia and then to the exciting and surprising conclusion of Lost Light, the women in his life (not to mention Kiz and his mother, but those are different--well his mother not so much, but I digress), have always been Harry's light. I started this series at the end with the Narrows, but I went back and read every book in the series (and the excellent Blood work) and fell in love. There is no better writer than Connelly when it comes to mysteries and no better dectective than our man Harry Bosch.
Rating:
Summary: Electrifying
Review: This one, the ninth in his Harry Bosch series, is a real kicker. Fast paced and action packed it thrill all the way to the shocking end. Marvelous! I can't wait to see what happens next.
Highly recommended.
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