Rating: 
Summary: good, not great
Review: This is a good Bosch book, but not a great one. Their is too much exploration of Bosch's personal life. To long and not enough story. Would not be a good book to start on Connelly. Try Blood Work or Concrete Blond.
Rating: 
Summary: Hard-boiled detective fiction lives!
Review: Michael Connelly has dusted off an increasingly rare gemstone in the crown jewels of American literature: the hard-boiled detective. Present in Connelly's pithy and believable prose is all of the wit and grit of Hammett, MacDonald, Stout, and Spillane. What he's brought us in Harry Bosch is a cop's cop. Bosch, an LAPD homicide detective, is a real-life hero for whom the principled drive to see justice done allows him to deal with the treacherous world of Los Angeles politics and some even more treacherous politicians (some of whom masquerade as police officials). While _The Last Coyote_ is the fourth Bosch novel, the plot and characters are so artfully developed that this novel could stand alone as a complete novel. At the same time, the writing is so compelling and captivating that it is a real pleasure to know that Bosch is a recurring character in Connelly's work. Although this is my first Connelly story, I am officially an addict, and I cannot wait to devour the rest of the titles in the Bosch series. _The Last Coyote_ opens with Bosch under suspension for assaulting his Commanding Officer, Harvey "98" Pounds. With his newfound freedom comes a mandatory psychiatric evaluation to determine his fitness as a police officer. The ensuing therapy sessions force Bosch to take a hard look at his options, should he later be kicked off the force for the assault on his CO. Faced with his ever-present personal demons, his suspension, and time on his hands, Bosch begins to investigate perhaps his greatest mystery: the unsolved 1961 murder of his call-girl mother. Though cautioned by his therapist that solving this mystery may remove his motivation to be a detective, Bosch dives into a mystery (and his personal story) that exposes the seedy underside of Los Angeles political corruption. The ride is taut, human, and utterly engrossing, and we are at once deeply satisfied and virtually winded when the dust settles. My introduction to Harry Bosch was one of those rare joys: a gifted writer spinning a fascinating tale with grace and skill. Perhaps equally enjoyable to me was the principled drive of the protagonist to get at the facts, despite the potential costs-to himself, his career, and his department. Bosch's belief that the truth shall set you free is more than a bromide. While freedom may not always bring redemption, it allows him to sleep at night.
Rating:
Summary: THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY
Review: ...is he doesn't know when to stop being such a hard-boiled contrary son of a gun. Even though that's the whole premise behind Harry Bosch, his flagrant disregard for his superiors and for the badge he wears sometimes makes him infuriating. But, heck, what the heck...this is a darned good entry in the Bosch series. It has a lot of haunting imagery and his dealings with the murder of his prostitute mother bring out a very poignant and sensitive side of Harry that he is too willing to hide. Poor Harry...once again, he is "suspended" because he put Harvey Pounds (you'll remember him from the previous novels) head through his glass window. Now undergoing psychiatric evaluation by a very understanding female psychiatrist, Harry decides to take his off time and investigate the 30 year old murder of his mother. No one ever solved it, and of course you know that Harry will dig deep to find out who did it and why. This one has plenty of surprises, including some deaths you won't believe happened, and a real twist at the end. Women may pick up on the hidden clue better than men, as we tend not to worry about how we're dressed. Anyway, I have to agree with a previous reviewer who found Harry's terminated romance with Sylvia somewhat disappointing. Seemed like in the "Concrete Blonde," Harry and Sylvia were at a reconciliation point, and now she's gone off to Venice. What happened, Michael? And now Harry's involved with a woman named Jazz, and he's head over heels in love with her, but I gather from the previous review, she's not mentioned in Bosch's next novel. What gives, Michael? Getting Harry into bed is not a requirement of these novel's excellence. It tends to weaken Harry rather than strengthen him. Hopefully, as I go through the series, some of these questions will be resolved. If not, so be it. It's still a compelling read and one that adds credence to the continuous of the Bosch series.
RECOMMENDED.
Rating:
Summary: Harry does a little howling
Review: Harry Bosch is on involuntary stress leave after putting his supervisor through a glass window. Not only is his career in doubt, his house has been red-tagged after an earthquake and is slated for destruction. Sylvia Moore, Harry's one-time squeeze, has run off to Venice, presumably never to return. And the coyote that used to roam the canyon behind Harry's house hasn't been seen since the earthquake. In this outing Harry is both more reckless and more human than we've ever seen him. We see more of Harry's early past than we've ever seen before. We learn a little more about Marjorie, the mother who was both prostitute and murder victim. Marjorie remains a rather shadowy figure, yet Connelly lets us see tough-guy Harry's love for her and makes us think we'd have loved her, too, for all her faults. The plot is Connelly's usual stew of bad doings in high places, and, as in most of the Bosch books, it's pleasurable but secondary to the characters. Harry is more alone, and more vulnerable, than in the previous books, and his single-mindedness will lead to tragedy--Harry won't be this reckless again. Even the dread deputy chief, Irvin S. Irving, will continue his slow evolution toward being almost human. And, as in all the Bosch books, Hollywood itself is almost a character, from the cheesy corner where Marjorie's body was dumped to the absurdly rococco mansions of the rich and powerful. Two words of caution. While Harry is as finely drawn a character as you'll ever find in detective fiction, and other male characters, such as Irvin S. Irving, are vivid if sometimes simple, Connelly has yet to create and sustain a believable female character. Sylvia Moore, introduced in "The Black Ice," seemed promising, a wise, somewhat weary cop widow and school teacher aware of Harry's darker corners. Indeed, at the end of "The Concrete Blonde," she and Harry seemed committed to the affair. Yet by the beginning of "The Last Coyote," she has disappeared--to Venice, of all places! on a teacher's salary?--with no explanation. Harry's grief is understandable, but it seems unfair to a reader to have a character built up over two previous books to behave in such a flighty fashion with no warning. You'd think that a woman who'd have sex in her newly-deceased husband's bed with a man she'd just met--even if that man is Harry--would be hardy enough to live with Harry's warts. Sylvia's disappearance is a disappointment. The other word of caution deals with the lady offered as a love interest in this outing. She is even less believable than either Eleanor Wish or Sylvia Moore, and the romantic interlude here is essentially pointless. It adds nothing to the plot and little to our understanding of Harry--the one revealing moment with "Jazz" is really just a continuation of a revelation begun in Harry's mandatory counseling sessions, and it could as easily have been handled in that fashion. Unfortunately, the presence of this female leads to an ending which seems at odds with the rest of the book, and which will, in the next Bosch novel, be completely ignored. So the whole episode could have been removed from the book without injuring either the plot or the character development. Strange that the most compelling female character Connelly has developed in this series is the dead Marjorie, who never speaks a word and lives only fitfully in Harry's memory. Those two caveats aside, this will please anyone who likes a good detective story or anyone who loves Raymond Chandler's atmospherics. Connelly's LA is never as dark or as twisted as James Ellroy's town, but it has plenty of shadowy corners and shadowy doings, and a fitting guardian in its lone-wolf lover, Harry Bosch.
Rating:
Summary: Doggone good
Review: "The Last Coyote" is the first of Connelly's Bosch novels that I have read. I enjoyed the story thoroughly. LAPD Detective Harry Bosch is very much a flawed hero. Throughout this novel he is on adminsitrative leave from his job as a result of having assaulted and battered his lieutenant boss. He decides to use the idle time (when not in sessions with a charming female police psychologist whose recommendation will determine whether or not Bosch is restored to active service) looking into an unsolved murder from 1961. The victim of the murder was none other than Bosch's prostitute mother. Bosch's unauthorized investigation leads to some very powereful political figures and puts not only Bosch's job, but also his life and liberty in danger. There are villains galore, but even the villains may not be all bad. Part of the intrigue of this book is that it shows there can be a fine line between good and evil, and in the end Bosch has to come to grips with the evil of his own ways. The story is fast-paced, and it is nice to read about a hero who is all too human. The plot is entertaining and involves enough surprises to keep the reader guessing up to the very last page. My only criticism is that I found some parts of the book -- for example the descriptions of Bosch's exact street routes from one place to another in Los Angeles -- a bit tedious at times. Also he uses some awkward sentence constructions that bothered me. I find that when a writer's style attracts my attention negatively, it distracts me from my enjoyment of the story. Still, "The Last Coyote" was an excellent, fast and compelling crime novel that kept me awake far to late a few nights just because I wanted to find out what would happen next.
Rating: 
Summary: A page turning read!!
Review: I have read most, if not all of the Harry Bosch books by this author, although not in sequence. I felt that this one gave me as good an insight into Harry's character as one is likely to get. Harry has been suspended from duty for assaulting his commanding officer. Of course, being Harry, he had a good reason. The guy who has little or no field training completely ruined an important interrogation in which he had no business meddling in. That is the sort of thing which gets Harry's attention and coupled with his lack of respect for the man as one who should be commanding detectives, he sort of takes things into his own hands. This gets Harry some time off and while he is contemplating his past conduct with the help of a psychologist, Harry decides to use the time to try and solve a very old open murder case. The murder happens to be of his own mother. Harry's Mom was a prostitute/call girl whose body was found in a dumpster. Harry was eleven at the time and living as a ward of the state. With his detective skills Harry starts to stir into the past and in doing so numerous possibilities arise as to who his mother's murderer is and some of them are people in high places. This is a whodunit which will keep you up and reading, longer than you might care to and I guarantee that the answer will be only part of the surprises that await the reader. This is a fine read!
Rating:
Summary: another great book
Review: Whilst i dont feel this is quite as good as his previous book, The Concrete Blonde, it is certainly quite close on it's heels. Harry Bosch is getting a stronger character book by book, and his world even more gritty and realistic. The plot isnt as good as that of The Concrete Blonde, but Connelly's writing has developed nicely... This is a great great series, and this is sure to be one of the best entries.
Rating:
Summary: An edge-of-your-seat psychological and action thriller
Review: Harry Bosch is in his fourties and a temporarily suspended LAPD homicide officer when he decides to take on the most important case of his career: solving the more than 30 years old murder of his mother. Illegally using the name of his direct superior, who was the reason for his suspension in the first place, he takes the old file from the archives and starts his investigation. And apparently he is raking up quite some mud, because before long people start dying. And all the while Harry has to decide whether it is worthwhile what he is doing: will it help him to cope with the past? This book blends the description of a thorough and creative investigation with a lot of action plus an insight into the psychology of a man whose mother was killed when he was a teenager. One of the best of the Harry Bosch series of thrillers.
Rating:
Summary: Yet another enjoyable Harry Bosch story!!!
Review: Have just finished this one and it's a great read!! With a few twists and turns to keep the reader guessing and an intricate plot, this was hard to put down!! Thought it was getting a bit long-winded towards the end but nevertheless very captivating with a twist I didn't expect!!
Rating:
Summary: Review!!!
Review: This is the 5th of Connelly's 8 books with Harry Bosch I have read and I think it is the best. There are continued surprises...good guys get taken out as well as bad guys. Always something new. There are hints as to what will happen....but not giveaways. And there is humor. I like Harry Bosch...I keep seeing Nick Nolte playing him in one of the movies from one of the books!
| 
