The Night Fire

Starred review from October 14, 2019
The sins of the past cast a long shadow in bestseller Connelly’s superlative second novel featuring detectives Renée Ballard and Harry Bosch together (after 2018’s Dark Sacred Night). After the funeral of former LAPD Det. John Jack Thompson, the man’s widow gives Bosch a murder book that Thompson took when he left the force a couple of decades before. The cold case concerns the unsolved homicide of 24-year-old John Hilton, an addict who was killed in an alley in 1990. What’s unclear is why Bosch’s old mentor stole the murder book—to work the case himself in retirement, or to keep other detectives from working it? Bosch takes the book to Ballard, a kindred spirit; both are outliers with a shared fire for fighting injustice no matter where the trail leads. Meanwhile, defense attorney Mickey Haller enlists Bosch, his half-brother, to assist in defending a mentally ill man accused of murdering a superior court judge. Conflicting DNA evidence and a problematic confession complicate the high profile case. Connelly is without peer when it comes to police procedurals, and once again proves that he’s the modern master of the form. Agent: Philip Spitzer, Philip G. Spitzer Literary.

Narrators Titus Welliver and Christine Lakin return to perform Connelly's newest offering in the Bosch/Ballard series. Connelly has solved the problem of the aging-out of his determined retired detective Harry Bosch. By pairing him with Ren�e Ballard, a young, relentless detective, we have the old guard complemented by the new and receptive mentee. They work day and night (Ballard is on the night shift) to tackle cold and very hot cases. The contrasts continue as listeners are treated to Welliver's deep, gravelly voice as Bosch, interwoven with Christin Lakin's light, softer intonations as Ballard. Each narrator delivers the individual chapters of their character, and together they deliver the dialogue between them. Bosch and Ballard make an unstoppable team as do Welliver and Lakin, who fully engage the listener. E.Q. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine