Dark Sacred Night

Starred review from August 27, 2018
LAPD Det. Renée Ballard, first seen in 2017’s The Late Show, makes a welcome return in this outstanding, complex police procedural. Relegated to the night shift at the Hollywood Station following a sexual harassment suit against her former lieutenant, Ballard works her cases with a quiet focus and intensity. Late one night, Ballard surprises a man looking through some old case files. It turns out to be retired LAPD detective Harry Bosch, now working cold cases for the San Fernando PD. After Bosch leaves, Ballard takes a look at the file, detailing the unsolved 2009 murder of Daisy Clayton, a 15-year-old runaway. The slain girl was the daughter of a recovering addict, who has been taken in by Bosch. Ballard is hooked, and begins working the case with Bosch. Meanwhile, Bosch’s investigation into another cold case, the execution-style killing of a 52-year-old gang leader, has put the detective squarely in the sights of Varrio San Fer 13, one of the valley’s most violent gangs. Bosch and Ballard, both outsiders with complicated pasts, form a perfect partnership in this high spot of Edgar-winner Connelly’s long and distinguished career. Agent: Philip Spitzer, Philip G. Spitzer Literary.

Michael Connelly brings together young, fierce police detective Ren�e Ballard, whom he introduced in THE LATE SHOW, and Harry Bosch, the tough-minded, justice-seeking, semiretired detective he's featured in many of his novels. Christine Lakin skillfully performs the chapters written from Ballard's point of view, and Titus Welliver returns to confidently narrate Bosch's chapters. Connelly has masterfully woven together a main storyline in which Ballard volunteers to assist Bosch on a cold case with other investigations Bosch and Ballard are dealing with separately. In a timely way, Connelly addresses the #MeToo movement from different angles. In the epilogue, Ballard and Bosch have an actual dialogue--a moment that suggests listeners will be hearing more from the pair as a team. E.Q. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine