Rating: 
Summary: A Writer better than most....
Review: It is always a difficult thing to do - to bring 2 of your major characters together in a novel. Connelly pulls it off with a flourish. What makes Connelly tick? He does not write poetic paragraphs but his writing is crisp and clear. His characterisation is brilliant. There are no always do-good, super-American heroes in his books His plotting is almost always brilliant with just about enough twists and turns. I go crazy with plots that twist and turn like a hairpin bend road - it just seems so contrived. This plot would have been perfect except for the last bit with Harry and Terry There is always a problem with great writers running out of steam - Connelly seems to have not lost it so far (Looks like Narrows passed the test) The Owl, Paintings and title add to the psyche of the setting There is something about novels set in LA that has a great feel (like a Western) - from Chandler, McDonald and Connelly continues that tradition with aplomb Michael Connelly is without doubt the best crime fiction writer alive today. What more you have in store for us?
Rating:
Summary: Harry Bosh AND Terry McCaleb all in one mystery! ! !
Review: Michael Connelly has combined two fascinating heroes from past books in a suspenseful novel that keeps you up until you reach the end. Terry McCaleb who received a heart transplant and is on disability, has been spending his days waiting for fishing charters. His wife, Graciela, from his book Bloodwork, has given him a new baby daughter that he is enamored with. However, when Jaye Winston from the Sheriff's Department shows up to ask his help in solving a murder that is getting colder and colder, Terry can't wait to get into the "book." At the same time Harry Bosh is the key witness in a sensational trial involving David Storey accused of killing a date after consensual sex and then trying to make it look like sucicide. How the two cases meet and put Harry nearly on the wrong side of the suspect list is the heart of the storey. Just read it! As an interesting aside, there is a minor character in the book that is the central character in a Michael Connelly short storey published on the internet. While I printed it out to read and found the writing just as good as expected from Connelly, I was disappointed in the story. Probably I just prefer the fleshed out longer pages of a full size Connelly novel, and I will look for the next one. At the end of A Darkness More than Night the relationship between Bosh and McCaleb appeared to be terminated, but anything is possible with fiction. I hope they come back to work another case.
Rating: 
Summary: Gripping and Fast Paced.......Connelly is amazing!!
Review: Michael Connelly never slows down in this well crafted novel that brings together two people from previous novels. The novel begins when an LAPD detective wants to unofficially bring in a medically retired FBI profiler, Terry McCaleb (introduced in the novel Bloodwork) to help solve a murder that no one can seem to get a hand on. While Terry has made a quiet life for himself on Catalina Island with two children and a wife, the pull of the investigation is very strong. As his investigation progresses he sees many signs that the person that everything points to is Harry Bosch. Is Bosch capable of cold-blooded murder, or has he somehow crossed the line into the "darkness". Bosch is an LAPD detective who comes from a dark, troubled background, with a talent for solving the "unsolvable" and is known as somewhat of a loner. Bosch is currently involved in a "celebrity" trial, where a well known movie director is accused of the murder of a young woman. The guilty verdict may hinge on Bosch's testimony and he needs to be clearly focused to succeed. When the trial and the other murder investigation begin to merge into a huge puzzle, the questions begin to fly. Could Bosch believe that justice can be meted out outside of the Justice system? Will McCaleb allow a professional "friendship" or his wife's uneasy feelings to pull him away from the facts of the case? Will he have the heart to see it out to the finale? Who will survive when the truth brings light to the darkest recesses of the night?
Rating:
Summary: MASTERFUL SUSPENSE WITH FAMILIAR CHARACTERS
Review: Michael Connelly outdoes even his magnificant reputation with A DARKNESS MORE THAN NIGHT. A cast of characters from his previous works team up for a near perfect mystery. Terry McAleb (Blood Work) is asked by Jay Winston to investigate a grisly murder that looks to be the first in an eventual series. Through his gritty detective work and outstanding profiling his pegs a sure fired suspect.....the problem is that the suspect is the infamous Harry Bosch (Black Echo, Angel's Flight, etc.....). Each piece of evidence points to Bosch and throughout the book the reader is forced to ask "Did Bosch go over the edge?". All the while, Bosch himself is in the middle of a tedious trial of a Hollywood murder. Other familiar characters in the Connelly world show up including reporter Jack Mcevoy (The Poet). Therefore it may help to have read previous Connelly novels to gain the full efect of this work. The book is a non stop piece of intrigue. Once picked up it beckons the reader to keep going until the masterful ending. There are no dull moments and the characters of Bosch and McAleb feed off of eachother. There are bad guys worthy of your spite and good guys with the weaknesses that are a Conelly trademark. Is Bosch a fallen heroe? Has McAleb missed the mark on this profile? Will the killer strike again? All of these questions run through the course of the brilliant five star fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Just a good book to read
Review: This book is not the best of Michael Connelly but is a good read, but if you want you can skip the last three chapters and you will miss nothing, the part of McCaleb's investigation is much better than the trial, but this part is also good, if you are a Connelly reader don't expect to much of this book and with that in mind read it.
Rating:
Summary: Frightening
Review: This seventh installment in the Harry Bosch series includes a character from one of his out-of-series books. An excellent character from an excellent book (they made a movie out of Blood Work with Clint Eastwood). In this book, the character collides with Harry Bosch, with extremely unpleasant results. Don't get me wrong, this is a terrific read. But I did not enjoy seeing two "good guy" characters duke it out. Each character was great within their own stories, and I would have preferred a collaboration rather than a collision in a cross-over book like this. Oh well.
Still, this is a great read; I recommend it to any fan of the genre.
Rating: 
Summary: An Entertaining Read but Not Connelly's Finest
Review: [...]. I'm a huge Connelly fan and it's my appreciation of his masterful writing that kept me from noting the missed opportunities while reading "A Darkness More Than Night". It's a great read when compared to the works of most other modern authors, but compared to the high standards that Connelly's other works have set for him, it sticks out as a (forgivable) misstep in the Harry Bosch timeline.
The initial idea of putting LAPD detective Bosch and FBI agent Terry McCaleb (introduced in the magnificent page-turner "Blood Work" - don't judge it by the lackluster movie) together on the same investigation is a great one. They exist as opposite sides of the law-and-order coin: Bosch's past has left him cynical to the point that he will pursue justice through any means, while McCaleb has found a new optimism through his second chance at a life and family. They maintain professional respect for each other while investigating related cases, but eventually their philosophies must collide. Along the way, each man also questions his own current belief set. These conflicts are the strongpoint of the book, but their examination comes too late and isn't handled with sufficient depth.
Instead, too much energy is devoted to weaving numerous other Connelly characters into the plot, and not always to great effect. For example, why force Jack McEvoy (the journalist from "The Poet") into the mix when established L.A. reporter Keisha Russell would have done just fine? Eventually, all of the crossovers [...] detract from the strengths that should have been the focus of the book. The introduction of characters from different book arcs is often used by authors as their series progress, and in lesser hands, they usually come off as ham-handed gimmicks. Connelly manages to salvage a good story out of this, but you're left disappointed that the crossovers kept it from being as good as it should have been.
The plotting of Bosch and McCaleb's parallel cases is very well done - Bosch is the star witness for the prosecution in a high-profile Hollywood murder case, while McCaleb has been asked by Jaye Winston (more crossovers, although justified here) to profile a current homicide that looks like a possible serial case. This duality is reminiscent of "The Concrete Blonde" except that it's McCaleb doing the current investigation this time. As a result, you won't find any of Bosch's usual supporting cast around (Jerry Edgar, Grace Billets, Irvin Irving) in this one; only Kizmin Rider makes a brief cameo.
Several other areas that didn't receive proper attention include an examination of the painter who is Bosch's namesake and the interesting parallels between the two, the arrogant Hollywood playboy defendant in Harry's trial, and the eventual resolution of that case. Each of these areas were given very promising leads that never fully matured as they should have.
I wish that Amazon allowed fractional ratings, because "A Darkness More Than Night" is a solid 3.5. It's both a good mystery read and a necessary chapter in the timelines of both Harry Bosch and Terry McCaleb. The story held great promise when focused on their distinct psychologies, the necessary conflict between the two, and the casework that draws them into each other's path. Unfortunately, this potential is never fully realized as too much time and effort is devoted to squeezing in crossovers from all of Connelly's different character arcs.
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