A Darkness More Than Night

It takes a special performer to do justice to Connelly's thrillers because of his complex character development and psychological bent. In Connelly's latest work, the reader's task is formidable because Connelly brings his two characters, Harry Bosch and Terry McCaleb, together for a blockbuster. While L.A. Police Detective Bosch, a compulsive, one-of-a-kind investigator, is officer-in-charge of a trial for a Hollywood director accused of murdering a starlet, McCaleb, retired from the FBI, is asked to profile a ritualistic murder of a man Bosch suspects of killing a prostitute. As the cases merge, the listener is treated to lessons in trial procedure, forensics, psychological motivation, and even fifteenth-century art and painters. To Richard M. Davidson's credit, the listener can really picture the gravelly voiced Bosch as he interplays with the more mild-mannered McCaleb. The trial sequences are especially interesting because Davidson is called upon to portray a multiplicity of characters in tandem. This reviewer was captivated by the content and performance, listening long into the night. A.L.H. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

September 15, 2000
When Terrence McCabe investigates a series of ritualized killings for the LAPD, he is horrified when his prime suspect turns out to be Connelly regular Detective Harry Bosch.

Copyright 2000 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2001
Adult/High School-Harry Bosch, the worn, pragmatic Los Angeles police detective, protagonist of a number of Connelly's earlier books, is joined by Terry McCaleb, former FBI crime-scene profiler, introduced in Blood Work (Little, Brown, 1998). Harry is immersed in testifying at the murder trial of a Hollywood film director, Jack Storey. When McCaleb, retired and living a quiet life with a new wife and two young children, is asked by a former colleague to look at the investigation materials of a recent gruesome homicide, he realizes just how much he misses his vocation. Terry alone has noticed some clues from the crime-scene video that point toward the influence of Renaissance painter Hieronymus Bosch. Despite pleas from his wife, Terry is drawn into the investigation and finds, to his dismay, that pointers lead straight to acquaintance Harry Bosch, whose real name is Hieronymus. Certain details in Harry's life fit in well with the profile Terry is developing of a ritualistic killer. The clues stemming from Bosch's paintings may lead readers straight to the Internet to view some of Bosch's well-known works to see the clues for themselves. The plot is intricate, and the twists and turns keep coming, but it is so well done, and the characters are so vivid, that confusion isn't a problem. Despite its length, this involving book is a fast read with "can't put it down" appeal.-Carol DeAngelo, Kings Park Library, Burke, VA

Copyright 2001 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.