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Summary: Welcome to the world of Harry Bosch
Review: This book is the first in the Harry Bosch series, and Harry Bosch is a great character. Off-beat homocide detective who you grow to love throughout the story. Excellent telling of the capers that he is investigating that gives the reader hints to the outcome so that the reader can solve the mystery themselves along with Harry. Well written, (unabridged audio cassette is very well preformed), and a great story all around. I'm looking forward to reading the next Harry Bosch book - Black Ice. Great writing Michael Connelly!
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Summary: Enjoyable gritty believable crime mystery
Review: I loved this novel. The development of Harry Bosch is so good that you can get inside his skin and his head as you read the book. Ideally crime mysteries should be gritty, just like real life, without being larded with olympic sexual athletics and cutting edge technology. This novel meets that test well. Harry's sexuality is honest, credible and a necessary part of the plot. Bosch is a real detective, dealing with internal politics and overextended forensic tools. The twists in the plot catch you kicking yourself mentally for having missed the clue rather than having figured out the ending midway leaving you only to wonder when IS the protagonist going to catch on. The pace is just right. Connelly keeps developing Harry's character even into the last paragraph. The ending is realistic and definitely unromantic, just political reality. I will be keeping this novel on my bookshelf. This will become a great movie...I vote for Kevin Spacey to play Harry Bosch.
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Summary: Complex and Engaging Police Procedural ; Edgar Award Winner
Review: In this debut novel, we meet Harry Bosch, a smart and savvy LAPD homocide detective with lots of issues. We are immediately plunged into the investigation of what appears to be an overdose death of a junkie in a drainpipe at Mulholland Dam. Harry recognizes the victim as a fellow "tunnel rat" from his Vietnam war days and is unwilling to dismiss the case as an OD.
As the story proceeds, we learn of the victim's involvement with a bank robbery, relive some of Harry's Vietnam tunnel nightmares, and meet Eleanor Wish, Harry's contact and partner for this case from the FBI.
The reader is drawn into a complex labyrinth of murder, greed, and revenge that has its beginnings in the Vietnam war. Harry's investigation is made more difficult by his superiors in LAPD who seem to thwart the investigation and a pair of heckel and jeckel Internal Affairs investigators seeking revenge who want to boot him out of the police force.
The action is fast paced and Harry is a very likable hero/underdog/scapegoat. The author, a former LA newspaperman, paints a realistic picture of police procedures and settings in Los Angeles. You can't wait to find out the ending even if some of the details are predictable. This story follows in the footsteps of the classic police series; you won't be disappointed with this book.
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Summary: Excellant debut of a fascinating character
Review: I've been reading the later Harry Bosch novels, and just ran into this one. It probably would've been much better had it been the first Bosch novel I had read, but it's still darn good. The plot elements have been used before, but they're given a fresh twist here. Harry in this book as in the later ones has three distinct challenges: The case itself, and this is one in which he's coincidentally deeply involved; the continual conflict with the political agendas of superiors which threatens his ability to properly investigate the case; and the dealing with his own deep feelings and realizations, including his awareness that his decisions affect lives of those not directly involved. While some may find the beginning slow, I find Connelly highly skilled in bringing out important technical aspects of the investigation while interspersing scenes that involve more action. If you haven't yet read Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch stories, this is the one to start with. And if you have, be sure not to miss this one.
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Summary: First of the Harry Bosch series.
Review: Harry Bosch is an LAPD detective like Columbo except he is a lot more realistic. This guy is one great detective ! The thing that "makes" this series is that Connelly really knows how the LAPD works. He knows the jargon, the acronyms, the politics, the methods, everything ! Often an author's first book (this one) is his best but I liked all 8 in the series. If you like page turning detective stories you will like these too.
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Summary: Totally Engrossing
Review: Michael Connelly's fiction debut, The Black Echo, is an excellent crime novel, well done, compelling. Connelly hit a home run on the first pitch. The story is readable, with many interesting twists--but nothing over the top. The dialogue sparkles and the characters are real. I picked this one up after enjoying his latest in the Harry Bosch series--City of Bones--just to see how the story began. The Black Ice is good enough to keep you reading the entire series. Enjoy.
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Summary: Great tale-spinner
Review: I read BLOOD WORK a few months ago and thought it was so enjoyable that I had to read Michael Connelly's other books. THE BLACK ECHO was his first and it was excellent. Harry Bosch, an L.A.P.D. detective recently demoted from the more prestigious Robbery-Homicide Division to Hollywood homicide, gets a call on what looks like a run-of-the-mill heroin overdose. But Harry recognizes the victim - a fellow "tunnel rat" named Meadows from his Viet Nam days - and he spots evidence that leads him to believe that Meadows was murdered. Harry unearths a connection between Meadows and a huge bank robbery, and after initially being tossed off the case, Harry is teamed with a female FBI agent on the theory that the bank robbers are the ones who murdered Meadows. Connelly did such a great job in weaving this plot that I just followed the twists and turns as they came, not anticipating the outcome. You will suspect everyone and still be surprised by the ending. What an entertaining novel.
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Summary: REPETITIVE ECHOES
Review: This first novel by the now best-selling Connelly certainly hints at what's to come in later years. It's Edgar Award is justified in that this is a good debut novel. The plot is intricate, well-woven, and ultimately satisfying. The climax is fairly predictable, but Bosch is a good hero, one that has flaws and lets his solitude at times interfere with his job. However, almost all of his peers are jerks, especially the unbelievable doofuses, Lewis and Clarke. FBI agent Eleanor Wish is a good supporting character, although her relationship with Bosch is fairly predictable in its outcome. There are some great scenes of "film noir", although Connelly at times gets a little carried away with his various descriptions. The young boy, Sharkey, is an interesting addition, neither likeable or dislikeable, but a good addition nonetheless.
Connelly's expertise as a criminal writer for the LA Times is evident in his knowledge of how police procedurals, although the stock characters in official roles sometime seem unrealistic.
I like Connelly's non-Bosch books better, but the Bosch series is certainly one to contend with.
RECOMMENDED
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Summary: Glad to find Connelly
Review: A friend recommended Connelly to me and suggested I start at the beginning. In Harry Bosch we have a central character neither perfect, nor wealthy, nor superman, nor anything else that too often we find written into characters. Harry is just real. A damn fine detective with the same ghosts that we all have.Harry has so many warts only a dermatologist could love him. But like and admire some of his traits, sign me up. Connelly obvisiously knows the working of a big city police dept. well. Thankfully though he doesn't bore you with mundain details that don't enchance the story. I like that Connelly gives Harry a real Vietnam experience and not some physco-babble [stuff] about no-one coming out of that war with their mental health. There were a lot of Vets that came back hating the war but loving the warrior. I go now to find " The Concrete Blond"
Rating: 
Summary: slightly predictable if youve read others in series
Review: After reading other connelly novels i decided to get others in the bosch series. The book was very fast paced and a good read but i found the outcome and criminal slightly predictable. The reason for the crimes seemed a slight reach and additional info seemed unnecessary. I still liked it enough to read the next in the series. 3 1/2 stars would probably be a better rating.
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