Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: I loved it. Second only to Concrete Blonde. Plenty of twists, great diologue, plot and a character that gets better and better with every book.
Rating:
Summary: Bosch is back - an excellent entry in the series.
Review: I was disappointed with Michael Connelly's previous contribution to his Harry Bosch series, "A Darkness More Than Night" and, on finishing that, feared that the character had become stale and would go the way of other characters such as Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta. So it was with some anticipation that I delved into Connelly's latest, "City of Bones"."City of Bones" is the old Michael Connelly and the old Harry Bosch - a hard-boiled LA homicide detective who plays by his own rules but gets the job done. In this book, Bosch is called out to investigate the discovery of skeletal remains buried in a wooded area some twenty years previously. As usual, he runs into the usual bureaucratic frustrations as the top brass fear that another "cold case" will do further damage to the reputation of the LAPD. Connelly guides the story through a number of complex plot twists, creating suspects and then despatching them and leaving the reader wondering where things will end up. The writing is well crafted, the character development very good and the plot leaves you guessing right up until the very end. He also injects the right amount of "police procedural" - the paperwork, the internal investigations, the politics - into the plot to give the book the realism for which he is known. The book is every bit a "page-turner" and I ploughed through it in a single day, staying up into the wee hours to finish it off. The lack of sleep was worth it - Connelly has crafted an excellent book. In many ways he has returned to the old Harry Bosch - no gimmicks, no "tie-ins", just plain old good quality, hard-boiled detective fiction. Let's just hope that Connelly sticks to the format because, if so, we've got a lot to look forward to. Michael Connelly is back on form and has produced a 5 star crime novel as a result.
Rating: 
Summary: Say It Ain't So
Review: Michael Connelly sure knows how to keep the reader "reading" and guessing and thinking and actually investigating with Harry. City of Bones is a story unfolding in a limited time frame so the sense of urgency is there at the outset. The characters are a varied bunch from the 12 year old victim's odd family to the cops on the beat to the residents of Woodland Drive where the City of Bones is located to the cop partners and their superiors. It is an interesting plot and how a 20 year old murder can be traced through DNA and research techniques. But it still comes down to those who do the grunt work and sometimes pay with their lives. There is a lot of interviewing; a lot of not "playing by the rules" (when did Harry ever do that); a lot of chasing every tiny lead. And in the end it all came around full circle. Harry's emotions and relationships are out in the open in this story which I suppose led to the very emotional ending for me. This was a typical Connelly book - he never misses! I just hope Mr. Connelly that "It Ain't So" what you leave the readers with to mull over.
Rating:
Summary: Harry's Swan Song?
Review: Harry Bosch is working the murder case of a 12 year old boy whose bones have just recently been discovered. It happen over twenty years ago and the leads are slim. Harry, of course, is not going to give up. His care of one of the boy's bones, laying in a shoebox (he keeps his hand over it as he drives) broke my heart. There is a lot of police procedural and politics in this outing, but I thought it made the story more believable. It also made me appreciate the hard work that the real police do. It is not all glamorous action. The twists and turns in the mystery kept me interested. Just about everything that can go wrong in an investigation, goes wrong in this one. The ending really surprised me. I hope this isn't the last we hear from Harry. I have come to like him very much.
Rating:
Summary: Connelly at his best !
Review: I am an avid mystery reader and love Mr. Connelly.
I felt this was one of his best efforts to date.
I love the Harry Bosch character and felt this
book showed a lighter side of the character.
Lots of plot turns and twists.
A very good read.
Rating:
Summary: SUSPENSEFUL READINGS OF A TOPNOTCH THRILLER
Review: Television and stage actor Peter Jay Fernandez gives an appropriately suspenseful reading to thriller meister Michael Connelly's latest. Remembered for his appearances on TV's "Law and Order," "Cosby," and others, Fernandez is a gifted actor with much experience on and off Broadway. His background is obvious in this exemplary reading. Veteran actor/singer Len Cariou offers a distinctively different interpretation in the abridged version, but one that is equally compelling. Who can forget Cariou's star turns in Broadway productions featuring the music of Sondheim? "City Of Bones," is another in Connelly's bestselling Harry Bosch series. This time out 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: Thought Provoking for Harry
Review: I love Michael Connelly's work. I've read them all, including Void Moon, The Poet, and Blood Work (oh my goodness, I clapped in the movie theater when I found out Clint Eastwood would be Terry). But of course, most of all, I love Harry Bosch. Harry Bosch is the central character in a series of novels about an orphaned boy of a prostitute who grew up to be the avenging angel of murder victims in LA. He is a police detective and possesses a lot of what comes with that as far as cool characters of detective novels go: handsome, clever, tough, gets the girl, saves the day, doesn't get along well with the brass.... Harry Bosch lives for putting away the bad guys and solving cases for the victims. I believe him, I believe in him. City of Bones is a pretty good mystery, but it lacks much of the action from other Bosch books and much of the drive usually seen from Harry. Expertly written by Connelly and quite the pleasure as always, but the grit was gone and the pace was off. In writing my review (originally set at 4 stars) I analyzed why I was slightly disappointed with City of Bones. It comes from that lack of grit. Where was the grit? What happened? And it occurred to me, ah... Harry has lost his grit. Harry's pace is off. So, with this in mind, I'm changing the 4 stars to 5, because, this lack of grit and odd pace I felt in reading it translates into the life Harry leads, and the life I love to read about. Connelly, without telling us anything about Harry losing his grit or pace, showed us that Harry was losing it. I'm just going to be hopeful that he gets it back. The world is a sad place without the gritty, fast paced, quick whitted, Harry Bosch. ...
Rating:
Summary: Tight plot.....unputdownable!
Review: In my opinion, this is the very best Bosch novel to date. The plot is as tight as the sheet on a new recruit's bed and full of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the end. Bosch is maturing as a cop and as a human being (and I'm glad his superiors agree with me) in this haunting tale of his search for the killer of a young, abused boy. I highly recommend this awesome author. Keep up the good work....I can't wait for the next one!!
Rating:
Summary: Plots Twists Galore!
Review: Just when you think you have this novel figured out, Michael Connelly throws another curve ball so efficiently that you'll feel as if the wind has been knocked out of you! Add to that the wonderful central character who is delightfully unsure of his decisions, supporting characters who act and react so unlike one would expect, and you have the perfect mix for a suspenseful "who-dunnit and why?" Mr. Connelly has a way of pulling the reader into the story and making them want to know what happened to the little boy who ended up in a shallow grave so many years ago. What a great read, and the ending will surprise you... Kudos to Michael Connelly!
Rating:
Summary: First rate read!!
Review: Harry Bosch has been through a lot in the previous seven Michael Connelly novels that he has appeared in and this one is no exception. The discovery of the skeleton of a child by a neighborhood dog sets Harry off on an adventure to solve the mystery of who the child is, how he died and who killed him which will bring him both heartbreak and personal growth. Harry runs into the usual problems with superior officers and not so usual problems with the tracking down of the killer. At the conclusion of the book we are left to wonder what next for Harry and knowing that whatever it is, it will certainly be different. There are no slow reading chapters in this book. First rate.
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