Remember: Using others' images on the web without their permission may be bad manners, or worse, copyright infringement. Board postings have slowed, perhaps due to the holidays, but I thought it might be fun to rank, according to personal preference, the top ten Bosch novels (now that there are 20). Very important. Connelly’s strength is his mastery of police procedure.

The plot features probably the best twist of any Connelly story. I then inhaled every one of the Bosch books within a few months, and now have to wait like the rest of you for a year for each new story. The case is a civil proceeding against Bosch, and he has to solve a related murder in order to win it. This was a great return to form for Connelly and Bosch. He’s had a rough life and a tough career, but he always goes after justice no matter what. Connelly brings out the works of the original Hieronymus Bosch more in this book than in any other, and he’s restrained in his use of the artist’s paintings to deliver full impact. Most are classic whodunnits – the reader is kept guessing until the final chapter. Connelly packs the book with clever scenes that create a character who is at once shifty, guilt-ridden, untrustworthy, stalwart, money-grubbing, generous and – over the course of the book – endearing. With action taking place in half a dozen states over 598 pages, it’s the most epic of Connelly’s novels. Note: Your browser does not have JavaScript enabled. I’ve often believed the power in Connelly’s work comes from his restraint. More than anything, The Poet is an engrossing, sprawling, addictive yarn that keeps you turning the page 597 times. I enjoyed Rachel Walling a lot more in Echo Park. Michael Connelly is a prolific writer with more than 30 books to his name. Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch – a Los Angeles Police Department detective who retired and became a private investigator for a couple of novels, before returning to LAPD's Open Unsolved Unit, a fictional unit based on LAPD's actual Cold Case Homicide Unit, and later the Robbery Homicide Division (RHD) Homicide Special Unit. An awful price is paid often by those close to him, and he wonders "if only..." as we all do some days. She contributes to the plot and solution convincingly. I was hooked. YouTube,  Connelly would rank among the top crime writers if he had only produced the Bosch series, but the non-Bosch books round out an impressive library. We learned something of his Viet Nam experiences in The Black Echo, and some bits of his past in The Black Ice and The Concrete Blonde, but in this book we journey much deeper into his soul.

The Narrows is another Connelly novel that ties together a lot of strands – Harry Bosch, Terry McCaleb, Rachael Walling and one of Connelly’s best villains, Robert Backus. Metacafe,  Great action at the end. With 20 books and counting, it’s a beloved and lengthy series—and if that’s not enough, there are five seasons of the “Bosch” TV show adaptation starring Titus Welliver for your to watch. supports his choice of. Harry Bosch is a war veteran and a hard-nosed LAPD detective (that is, before he retires). The only other author I can say that about is the man with whom Connelly shares a birthday – Ernest Hemingway. This book is generally held up as Connelly’s Sistine Chapel, and it is a remarkable work.

The issues of race and police corruption are prevalent throughout, but well-presented, believable and sadly a reflection of the realities of the day. I always had the feeling that Connelly had been storing up observations about defense lawyers for years before finally channeling it all into Mickey Haller in 2005. Below, is my list of Michael Connelly’s greatest books: No. She has her own views, often different from Bosch, but able to accommodate his strong ideas without losing herself. Vimeo, 

Connelly fleshes out the Hollywood detective's character, and brings several notes of fine humour into the narrative. It starts with Connelly’s most memorable line – “Death is my beat” – which could have been Connelly’s mantra during his time at the Los Angeles Times.

This novel stands out among the Bosch books because of its emotional depth. For me personally, these are my top five Harry Bosch novels: See at Amazon#5: The Drop (2011) Given just three years to retire from the LAPD, Harry Bosch is up against the clock to get as many cases closed as possible. The Lincoln Lawyer ticks every box there is for a great crime novel. Many features may not work properly without it. What I loved about this book – other than Connelly exploring the startup world – is the naïve everyman being lured into a criminal world he doesn’t understand. This under-appreciated gem was the first Connelly book I ever read. Narrated by journalist Jack MacElvoy, The Poet is Connelly’s deepest study of the life of a crime reporter. Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates. Facebook. With commercial success and critical acclaim, there's no doubt that Michael Connelly is one of the most popular authors of the last 100 years. This was the third Bosch novel and it showed that Connelly was a force to be reckoned with. He resists the urge to over-complicate, so the reader is drawn into the plot but not confused by it. The Reversal . The greatest reversal in this book is that Haller is acting as prosecutor. There is no other hero like Bosch. The story is told from multiple viewpoints, including first-person narration from Bosch himself. As he developed his Mickey Haller series, he showed similar expertise in the criminal court system. facebook   |   instagram   |   twitter   |    linkedin. I was 50 pages in before I realised, but too late! They are all extraordinary to me in different ways. Angels Flight was the first Harry Bosch novel I read nearly 17 years back.Ever since I’ve read all the novels in the series except the last two.