Rating: 
Summary: A Shocker
Review: This is the eigth in the Harry Bosch series, and it was great. Once again assigned to a case that touches Harry's damaged soul, he works his way through this mystery all the while dealing with soul-searching questions about himself. I will not give too much a way about the plot, but this has quite a few twists and turns. Just when you feel that Harry will finally be happy, that idea is abruptly snatched away from you. And the final twist at the end left me gasping (partially from dismay).
An excellent read, I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, excellent
Review: If there is a better police procedural crime novel, I've missed it. I approached this book with some misgivings, having been disappointed by "Chasing the Dime." But Henry (Hieronymous--I liked that little touch) Bosch is a first-class, believable detective, all the way. He's jaded to some degree but tries to maintain some touch with the populace. The us-them relationship police have with the press and the "looky loos," as civilians are called, is there, certainly, but outwardly subdued.The plot feels right, enhanced by the fact that the writer didn't try to tie up all the loose ends, such as, the surprising matter of Julia Brasher and, not to give too much away, the fact that the killer is not at all a sure thing when we reach the final page. Not all killers confess into a tape recorder and psychoanalyze their own motives. Bosch makes mistakes. He goes down dead-end trails after false clues. He is imperfect. In short, he is realistic. So are the other characters, including his partner, the technicians, Bosch's superiors in the department, the suspects, the incidental personae--the entire cast. They don't always do what we expect, but people in real life don't either. Too many books have characters who appear to be "on rails." We know exactly where they are going and how the plot is going to follow them. I realize I haven't outlined the plot, but others have, and sometimes they give away too much. Suffice it to say that I'll read more of the Harry Bosch series and hope for books that are in this same class.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrific
Review:
This being my first Michael Connelly novel I only knew him by reputation and didn't know what to expect of his writing. I bought it take on a short vacation and ended up reading the entire novel on the car ride en route. Needless to say, I was thoroughly enthralled by this book.
Detective Harry Bosch's endeavor to solve a 20-year-old murder of a 12-year-old boy made for an interesting plot. But it was Connelly's ability to seamlessly move his characters in and out of a shifting storyline that kept the pages turning at a brisk pace. I found his writing to be very fluid and very readable. And I really didn't come across any dead spots in the book. I suppose that at some point the final outcome became predictable but, for me, that didn't dampen one iota my enjoyment of City of Bones. Other reviewers have stated that Connelly has done better in some of his other books in the Harry Bosch series. That being the case, I certainly will be reading many more of Connelly's works.
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