Rating: 
Summary: A dark story for the lonely Bosch
Review: A dog's discovery of a human child's bone in the Hollywood Hills leads Detective Harry Bosch to the shallow grave of a boy dead 20 years whose life, as read in the bones, was a long history of terrible abuse. A tip from the missing boy's sister leads to the unraveling of a bleak, sordid family history.Bosch's burgeoning romance with a rookie cop, the suicide of an early suspect and a dogged search through the wreck of the boy's family and the dead suspect's life move the story through numerous twists, dead ends and false leads, all of them bleak. Edgar award-winner Connelly leads the reader through little-known by-ways in Hollywood fringe work as well as the enclaves of the rich and the tucked away shanties of the down-and-out. A devastating cop shooting with some decidedly weird aspects throws the reader - and Bosch - for a loop. But the mystery's unexpected solution is vintage Bosch - a sad, too human story, exposed by dogged perseverance and luck. As always, the writing is excellent; gritty and LA atmospheric with pitch perfect dialogue. Not Connelly's best, but still top-notch.
Rating:
Summary: Fast paced, engaging police procedural.
Review: I have heard lots of good comments about the Harry Bosch novels and I was not disappointed with this seventh book of the series. Bosch is a hard boiled homocide detective in the Hollywood division of the LAPD who gets a call that a dog has discovered a human bone. The investigation uncovers a 20 year old murder of a 12 year-old boy who was the victim of child abuse. As the case proceeds, Bosch meets and becomes involved with a rookie cop named Julia Brasher, who has an idealistic view of police work.
Some information leaks and false clues initially sidetrack the investigation but slowly the victim is identified and his short and tortured life revealed. Connelly draws his characters with fine strokes and his development of the details of the police procedures which are key to solving cases was really fascinating to me. Understanding the murder book, how warrants were drawn up and served, and details behind the forensic investigation added to my enjoyment of the story. False directions provide intrigue but I was a little disappointed with the unsatisfying way the murderer was revealed and dealt with. All in all though, a fast paced (I read it in one 24 hour period), and very enjoyable read.
Rating: 
Summary: A brilliant work
Review: A young child's humerus is found by a dog on a hillside in Hollywood. A closer search reveals a more complete skeleton. Harry Bosch and his partner Edgar are assigned this case in which the murder is believed to have occurred over twenty years ago. His investigation resurrects painful memories of a dysfunctional family while driving another to consider suicide. In the midst of the case, Bosch manages to possibly find love. Can any form of happiness last for this tortured soul? Harry Bosch is the prototypical modern fictional crime fighter. He is a direct descendant of Chandler's Philip Marlowe and Hammett's Sam Spade. Bosch is today's dark knight, lone wolf or, to use Mike Connelly's simile, The Last Coyote. He is also the one of greatest creations in the history of crime fiction. Many of us have repeatedly extolled the virtues of the writing of Mike Connelly. He is simply the very best of today's fictional crime writers. Readers should take note of the incredibly smooth lyrical writing. There is much personal angst Bosch suffers and this is so well conveyed through dialogue and other characters. Los Angeles has never looked more bleak than in the pages of this brilliant book. With each successive work, Mike Connelly continuously raises the ante in reaching new levels of excellence. This work is no exception. Read it.
Rating:
Summary: AUTHENTICITY + NON-STOP ACTION
Review: With "Blood Work" (1998 ) set to become a major motion picture and "A Darkness More Than Night" (2001) receiving plaudits one might think ace crime writer Michael Connelly would be resting on his laurels, film rights, and royalties. Not so. The energetic author now presents "City Of Bones," another in his bestselling Harry Bosch series. This time detective Harry Bosch faces off with a child murderer, a killer who has remained on the loose for nearly two decades. Once a dog uncovers what appears to be a human bone in the woods of Hollywood Hills, Bosch is called. It takes the savvy sleuth only a glance to realize this is a child's arm bone. Once the media spreads the word Laurel Canyon is crawling with police, amateur crime solvers, the curious, reporters, and (true to Connelly form) a gorgeous young police officer whom Harry takes under his wing in more ways than one. As additional remains are unearthed Bosch determines the bones are those of a long dead abused boy. Obviously, there's a killer out there who believes he's home free, and Bosch is haunted by black images of his own childhood. The pressure is mounting and it's all on Bosch. Few can bring to life the components of a police investigation as capably and thoroughly as former crime reporter Connelly. Authenticity and rapid fire action make "City Of Bones" another can't-put-it-down read. - Gail Cooke
Rating:
Summary: I Was Up All Night Reading This Book -I Wasn't Disappointed
Review: I picked up this book after reading an article about the author in the New York Times. I couldn't put the book down and finished it in two days. Unlike some authors who write about LA and put Downey next to LAX, Mr. Connelly's Southern California is accurate. The little bits of ambience he throws in ---Philippe's sandwiches, farmer's market donuts --are pleasant, but you don't have to be an Angeleno to enjoy his work. With the exception of the Julia Brasher character (I couldn't figure out what was going on there), I enjoyed each of the people I met in the book, from the stars to the bit-players. Little vignettes, like the auditioning LA police officers, the SID scientist who was an avid skateboarder, the anthropologist at the Page Museum who could read a person's history in their bones, the retired doctor, made the book come alive. I'm looking forward to reading more of this author's works. I also want to thank the people who write reviews. I read them in order to decide whether I will enjoy a book or not. I'm not a professional book person by any means, but by adding my voice, I hope that I can help someone decide whether this is a book for their tastes.
Rating: 
Summary: Skull Fractured Kids & Pretty Girl Suicides
Review: "City of Bones" was the first book I've read by this author. Connelly did create a great page burner. The chapters are short, the vocabulary is easy as we zip through the tale. For me, the best character was Dr. William Golliher who examines the bones and projects that the victim suffered many fractures and repeated abuse over a long period of time. He offers the only real character depth as his faith in a Higher Power is challenged by the brutality shown by the evidence. Unfortunately, his time in the novel is quite brief and not very affecting to detective Harry Bosch. I found it interesting that Bosch is named after the painter Heironymous Bosch whose fantastic religious imagery offers some of the greatest artistic puzzles. However, Detective Bosch does not believe in a Higher Power; his motivations are humanitarian. The second most interesting aspect was Bosch's romance with Julia Brasher. Unfortunately, we never really come to get a grip on what makes her tick. Did she have an accident or was she a pretty girl with a death wish? For some fleeting chapters, we think Bosch may find personal happiness, but it's not to be. His exit at the end after pages of recitation about dedication to the job left me puzzled. How the novel built to that final act remains undetected. The most interesting incident in the book is when the press-hungry Teresa Corazon gets locked in a port-a-potty. Now that could have been some great comic relief! Instead, Bosch seems to start and end in a state of depression. Many of the supporting characters were quite captivating from Dr. Guyot to all of the dysfunctional Delacroix family. In the end, "City of Bones" is like a fast meal that tastes good going down, but leaves one hungry for some substance. Caleb Carr's "The Alienist" was far more gripping for me. "CoB" is a definite maybe!
Rating:
Summary: The Bosch series just gets better & better
Review: I've been reading the Bosch series from book #1 & on. Not one has disappointed me, including City of Bones. In City of Bones Bosch is working on a case where human remains have been found after buried for nearly 20 years. This book is very fast paced and step by step through his detective processes, you find yourself not being able to put the book down. Trying to figure out, who did it and why. Another great aspect of this book is that some of the background players in the series, like his partner Edgar, are given time, the relationships developed more. Which is very satisfying for those who have been reading the series for years. Overall, I loved the story and the twists and turns in the plot kept me guessing until the end. As always, I wasn't able to guess the ending. My only complaint is that I think the resolution of who murdered this person wasn't as good as it could have been. I don't want to give anything away, so you'll just have to read it! Do check out this book- but if you've never read the series before, I would recommend starting with the first book (The Black Echo) and working you way through, it's not necessary, but I think it's very worth it- as I said, they're all excellent reads!
Rating:
Summary: The unsolved history
Review: In this book both stories are unsolved, Why did Julia kill herself? Harry is really sure who was the killer of the kid?
As many books of MC you will see that not all the police are good man, many of them just want to do things to get higher in the department no matter if in the way some one gets killed. Some times some police men wanted to work with out his partners, I think that that is not a working team no matter the reason, if you have a partner you must work with him.
This book is definitely a page turner, even if the case is really unsolved it has his high thrilling points and his down crying points, with this book you will laugh a little and cry a little too. The investigations has so many turns, ups and downs that you would never put the book down, but as all the MC books, you can skip the last two chapters.
Rating:
Summary: I enjoyed it but expected more
Review: I agree that this book is a good story. It did keep me interested through the whole thing but it was a not so thrilling ride. I guess I was just too shocked that the end wasn't what I wanted it to be. I was let down with the ending. I'm glad I read it, but doubt I would recommend it as a *thriller* but more of a police mystery. Kind of a monotone storyline that is somewhat predictable. I felt that Bosch ran up a few too many trees for the result he got, which made it all not seem worth it. But still well written and researched.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting conclusion (sort of) to the series
Review: Michael Connelly has been doing these Harry Bosch novels for some years now. Bosch is the stereotypical detective, and if anything that's always been my one main objection to him: he's a bit too much of a stereotype, right down to the jazz on the stereo, the chain-smoking (though he did finally quit), the casual attitude towards superiors, and the dogged determination to clear every one of his cases. The current book follows Bosch and his partner, Jerry Edgar, as they look into what they at first imagine is a false alarm. A man walking his dog in the Hollywood Hills has let the dog run wild, and the pooch returned with a bone in his mouth, which the man thinks is human. This happens regularly, and the bone is usually from an animal, but this time the dog's owner happens to be a retired doctor, and he knows what he's talking about: it's human. Soon Harry and Jerry are working a twenty-year-old homicide, apparently a runaway who was killed, for what reason they don't know. They can't even make an identification. Then it turns out there's a convicted child molester on the street, and things begin to go sideways and get ugly at the same time. Connelly has this sort of thing downpat now. The mystery's not the most surprising one he's done, and the plot is somewhat meandering, but the characterization of Bosch is well-done, and the other characters are interesting too. There are several strange twists in the plot, things that you weren't expecting, all of which aren't directly connected to the mystery of who killed the kid. The ending, which I won't reveal (though I guessed what was coming), is something of a mystery too, though the preview of his next book in the back told me where he was going to take things. Anyway, I enjoyed this book, and would recommend it, though of course anyone reading something like this should first read some of the earlier books, so that they get some background on the characters in the story.
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