Rating: 
Summary: multi-faceted
Review: "A Darkness More than Night" has several prominent aspects.First, it's a character study. Connelly for the first time describes
Harry Bosch from the perspective of another primary character, Terry
from Blood Work, contrasting it with Harry's view.
This allows observations of Harry that
wouldn't be possible from the conventional first-person of
previous Bosch novels. Additionally, the presence of Terry allows a
contrast of two very different characters. The risk with having two
protagonists is their characteristics will tend to merge, both taking
on those of the author. In the case of ADMTN, Connelly does a solid
job of maintaining the distinct identity of each. In addition to the
multi-perspective view of Bosch, there is a similar "study" of Terry,
although Connelly fans have more invested in Bosch to date. Second, it's a study in the descent into darkness. From his days in
the tunnels of Vietnam, through his time with LAPD, Harry has been
immersing himself in both physical and metaphorical darkness. The
novel considers the effect of that prolonged exposure. Sure, it's an
old theme (Luke's struggles with the Dark Side), but worth revisiting. Third, it's a courtroom drama. Many have criticized this aspect of the
book. It's a matter of taste -- I really enjoyed the court scenes,
providing insight into the legal process with a Los Angeles spin in
the Court TV age. One of Connelly's great successes as a writer is he
is able to capture the flavor of Los Angeles in a way most authors are
unable to grasp. Chandler, Parker, Sandford, --- through their eyes,
LA is a featureless, generic, list of place-names. Connelly gives it
life. And then there's the Hollywood theme. Connelly describes the power
wielded by producers -- desperate actresses struggling for
their professional lives, willing to do anything to expose themselves
(pun intended) to those in positions of strength. In a world
where success isn't necessarily due to merit but instead
due to prior success, the stories of those trying to make the
leap to the inner circle are compelling. All the parts are strong. Is it a classic of the genre, a masterpiece
or signature work? Not quite, so it doesn't rate 5 stars. I almost
drop it to three, due to what I consider a rather contrived plot,
especially involving the film producer. But then what can one expect
from a professional contriver, as film producers are? So I'll give it four. Read the book -- if you enjoy courtroom
dialogue, at least, you won't regret it.
Rating: 
Summary: ANOTHER GREAT ONE!!!!
Review: Connelly has done it again. Another very, very good book. This one is as much about Terry McCaleb as Harry Bosch. Terry is asked to come help find the killer of Eddie Gunn. Even though Terry is supposed to be retired he agrees to help. Guess who all the evidence points to? Yes, Harry Bosch, did Harry really kill Gunn? To prove he did not, Harry only has a few days to find the true killer. The book will hold your attention. You will not want to put it down until the end. I could gladly slap the face of Jack McEvoy, the reporter, but Connely can write so you feel that way about a character. If you like a good mystery you will enjoy this one.
Rating:
Summary: A sickness more than Ted Bundy...
Review: The first half of this novel is very slow, but once you slug through it, you will enjoy the action packed second half. Terry McCaleb is the main character, brought out of retirement by Jaye Winston to profile a sick killer, who hogtied his/her victim and left an owl behind as a clue. We have little sympathy for the victim, who may have been a killer himself, but McCaleb must solve the case before somebody else ends up hogtied. The action gets intertwined with a courtroom drama involving old buddy, Harry Bosch. Meanwhile, McCaleb's new wife isn't enjoying involvement in this mess. McCaleb keeps sniffing and he keeps finding clues pointing toward Harry. Say it ain't so, Harry.
Rating:
Summary: Old Characters in a Great New Story
Review: Michael Connelly brings back Terry McCaleb from "Blood Work", retired after a heart transplant, to help Detective Jaye Winston profile the murderer of Edward Gunn who killed a prostitue six years before in "The Last Coyote". Harry Bosch investigated the case, Gunn was never prosecuted, and we know from the prologue that Harry visited him in the drunk tank the night before he was killed. A plastic owl on a bookcase looking down on the murder scene points McCaleb to a Renaissance symbol for punishing evil that was also a prominent part of the artwork of Hieronymous Bosch, Harry's namesake. He and Jaye find a bird repellent business that sells the owls and shipped one to Gunn under the name of van Aiken, Bosch the artist's other name. Harry, in the meantime, is the key witness at the murder trial of David Storey, a b-movie producer accused of strangling his sex partners and making it look like suicide. McEvoy, the reporter from "The Poet" who is covering the trial with an O.J. like army of reporters, gets a tip that Harry's under investigation for the Gunn murders. There's a lot of great action and, as always, people who suspect Harry, but he stays on the trail, which eventually goes to ex-cop Rudy Tafero, now a P.I. and the bail bondsman who sprung Gunn the night he was killed. The action moves pretty quickly to a Perry Mason-like twist in a packed courtroom. (Storey's lawyer was named just for the line Connelly has Bosch mutter when the bargain is struck, "that's all Fowkkes"). Of course, even after there is at least one more twist to come. I think this was Connelly's best and particularly liked the way he brought old characters into his plot. Unlike "The Last Precinct" which Cornwell dragged into boredom trying to tie old characters to a new story, Connelly made it an art form. Whether or not you knew the old story line or character, the reintroduction played smoothly, often giving a Connelly fan the opportunity to anticipate what bullet from Harry's past would appear next.
Rating:
Summary: One of his best
Review: An excellent idea to write a book about both McCaleb and Bosch. The two characters are very different and alike at the same time. And it is not really a confrontation. Both guarantee that the story is again very exciting. Connelly has been known as an author who is one of the best when it comes to giving life to very sophisticated characters, and two of them in a book make it all the more readable.
But apart from the two individuals the author focuses on a more general problem: a cop who may take justice in his own hands because the legal system has obviously failed. And I do not see any problem with Harry Bosch's being in the center of interest in this respect as we have already seen some of the darker sides of his character in other books. We as readers are not married to this hero and have to keep our distance as to any other person in real life. Anything might be possible.
Nor do I have a problem with the fact that McCaleb is watched a bit more closely by the author. He is as interesting a character as Bosch, and, in fact, I would like to read more about him.
In contrast to other reviews I feel the courtroom scenes in this book are very revealing because between the lines we can observe the author when he criticizes scenes that show that for quite a few people a courtroom is not a place of justice but a wooden and old-fashioned stage for egocentrics who do not care at all about justice.
I, personally, am looking forward to the next Connelly novel. I am sure it will be another thrilling experience.
Rating: 
Summary: Less than the sum of its parts?
Review: Author Michael Connelly presents an intriguing premise: what if retired FBI profiler Terry McCaleb (from "Blood Work") were coaxed into working one more case - and his analysis led him to suspect LAPD detective Harry Bosch (from "Black Echo" and others) to be a murderer? Having both of these complex characters working interlocking cases in an atmosphere of increasing suspicion could make for a great book, but unfortunately here the whole is less than the sum of its parts. The author relies on the reader's recollection of previous books in the series rather than develop the characters, especially Bosch, in this book. The story is told mostly from McCaleb's perspective, though several chapters are devoted to Bosch as he prepares to testify in a trial happening at the same time as McCaleb's investigation. The relevance of the trial becomes clear in time, but it is too bad that a character as interesting as Bosch is given so little to do in this story. As the plot threads begin to come together, the suspense increases and there are some interesting twists toward the end. All in all this was an enjoyable and quick read, but not up to Connelly's usual high standard.
Rating: 
Summary: This is so far the worst novel written by Connelly
Review: Why so many so boring and couldn't-careless trial court scenes? Why put two major characters together and both lost their edges? Harry Bosch is supposed to be very sharp and deep at the same time, but in this one, he just became a faded-away person withoust any merit but a cardboard-like shadowy person. I have to flip quickly to omit those courtroom pages and this newly developed reading habit really bothered me a lot since i used to enjoy every word and every page that this writer created.
Rating:
Summary: Say it ain't so, Bosch!
Review: Many of the other reviews here claim that this is not Michael Connelly's best work, and I have to agree. That it not to say it is a bad book, not by any means. Connelly is a terrific writer and his novels are not just crime stories but truly literature, not only intricately plotted, but with strong characterizations and a poetic sensibility toward description, setting, and the like. In a sense the problem is that he raised our expectations so high with his earlier work. I just don't think there is any better detective fiction than the opening Harry Bosch quartet (The Black Ice, The Black Echo, The Concrete Blonde, and The Last Coyote). The strength of those books was twofold: absolutely riveting crimes, and Harry Bosch's complex, troubled, but nevertheless fascinating personality. You've just gotta love a cop named after Renaissance painter Hieronymous Bosch, and you've gotta appreciate a writer who respects his audience enough to do that. But this novel, unfortunately, does not quite meet Connelly's highest standards, and it is exactly because there are problems with both crime and Bosch's portrayal. If you've not read Connelly before, read no more of this review and go get those first Bosch books now. A Darkness More Than Night tries to play on Bosch's complexities; his barely pent-up anger, his deep frustration, and his moral need for justice to be done. A killer who had escaped justice is murdered, and former FBI agent Terry McCaleb (of Blood Work) comes to believe that Bosch is responsible. But herein lies the problem--while, granted, McCaleb hasn't read the previous Bosch books and so doesn't know him as well as we do, the reader who knows Connelly's previous work is never able to believe Bosch capable of that. It's as though John McDonald asked us to suddenly accept Travis McGee as a serial killer--impossible! So the reader is left wondering why, when at one point McCaleb acknowledges the possibility that someone is setting up Bosch, he doesn't investigate that immediately. And furthermore, when the denouement comes round, the real killer is no great surprise, nor is his motivation. There are a few unexpected twists at the end. Overall, however, the focus is more on McCaleb than Bosch, and since McCaleb is supposed to be a genius profiler but makes such an egregious mistake, and the true criminal so obvious, the whole is slightly disappointing. I'm still looking forward to his next novel, City of Bones, which I believe focuses more on Bosch.
Rating:
Summary: more is definitively less
Review: I am a big Connelly fan , but this one is dissapointing. the pairing of his two strongest characters, far from improving the novel, weakens it, as Mc Caleb's assumptions are not believable for anyone who has read the previous Bosch novels, and this makes the ending obvious quite early in the book. I Agree with the reviews which pointed out mostly the same objections; the only true Connelly touch is the revelation about Bosch's REAL part in Gunn's crime. Mc caleb has no dimension as a character and comes accross weak, linear and his domestic troubles are predictable and boring. Bosch should stand alone in the future, he's a fascinating character who can sustain a book in his own right
Rating:
Summary: Connelly-Master of Suspense Novels
Review: I would recommend ALL of Michael Connelly's novels to readers who love Who Done Its, even though I've only read half of his work so far. He has the gift of great mystery writers where the reader gets "hooked" and doesn't want to put the book down until the last page is read. I try not to open one of his books unless I have a full day to finish it having a NEED to know the killer's identity. Often you don't get the real answer until the last pages of the book, in between you get teased with false perps who you believe did the dirty deed! Unlike another review on this book, I have no problem with Connelly using two leading men since they have different characteristic's (i.e. one has a heart transplant that makes him physically weaker than the other), but both are great detectives with a burning desire to get their man. You also get the real life competition scenario between the FBI (retired in this case), and local police detectives. Buy his stuff, you won't be disappointed. We his audience will then only argue about which one of his books was his greatest of the great. Our only fear might be that his latest book will be his last, a real killer for his many fans.
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