Product Description

In 1993 Marie Gesto disappeared after walking out of a supermarket in Hollywood. Fearing the worst, the case was elevated by LAPD commanders from the missing persons squad to the Homicide Division, where Harry Bosch was assigned the case. But the young woman never turned up - dead or alive - and it was a case Bosch couldn't crack. Thirteen years later Bosch is in the Open-Unsolved Unit, where he still keeps the Gesto file on his desk, when he gets a call from the DA's office. A man accused of two heinous killings is willing to come clean in regard to several other murders in a deal to avoid the death penalty. One of those murders, he says, is the killing of Marie Gesto. Bosch is now assigned to take Raynard Waits' confession and to make sure the killer is not scamming authorities to avoid a date with death. In confirming the confession Bosch must get close to the man he has sought - and hated - for thirteen years. Bosch's whole being as a cop begins to crack when he comes to realise that he and his partner missed a clue back in 1993 that could have led them to Waits and would have stopped the nine murders that followed the killing of Marie Gesto.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #108616 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-20
• Released on: 2006-09-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 416 pages

Barry Forshaw, EXPRESS
'This is Connelly doing what he does best: delivering a beautifully structured, richly atmospheric crime novel.'

Review
'Connelly's plots are never straightforward, and he keeps us guessing until the exciting and bitter conclusion to this latest episode in a splendid series.' (Susanna Yager SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )

'...amid the excitements of his vertiginous plot, Connelly takes the time to consider whether Harry's determination to get his man is worth the sacrifices he makes.' (DAILY TELEGRAPH )

'This is Connelly doing what he does best: delivering a beautifully structured, richly atmospheric crime novel.' (Barry Forshaw EXPRESS )

'This is a skilfully structured, richly atmospheric addition to the series.' (Jessica Mann LITERARY REVIEW )

'This is LA Noir brought up to date. ... Connelly, the best in the hard-boiled business right now, sets the whole thing up slowly and magnificently until it explodes.' (Allan Laing THE HERALD )

'Superb writing and story as usual from Connelly, who grows in strength with each new book.' (Vincent Banville IRISH TIMES )

Vincent Banville, IRISH TIMES
'Superb writing and story as usual from Connelly, who grows in strength with each new book.'

Customer Reviews

Listen to Len Cariou's Great Reading to Enjoy Echo Park at Its Best

Harry Bosch never worked on solving a crime that he didn't want to successfully close. In Echo Park, Michael Connelly takes us into Harry's past to explore the disappearance of Marie Gesto who was on her way to work at a stable in exchange for rides. Thirteen years have passed. Harry has a suspect, but there's nothing to pin him down. In fact, Harry has been subject to a restraining order keeping him away from the suspect when the suspect's lawyer isn't present.

Suddenly, Harry gets a call that a serial killer has offered to lead the police to Gesto's body in exchange for a life sentence. In exchange for getting access to the file, Harry is invited into the interview and eventually into the body search. To help him figure out how to assess this proffer, Harry asks Rachel Walling to secretly help him. Their personal relationship resumes as well.

It's a sick-at-heart Harry, though, because the murder book on Gesto shows that Harry's former partner had missed an opportunity to get the serial killer 13 years earlier. Can he live with this guilt? How could he have missed this lead?

The story goes on from there to unveil a murder mystery of tantalizing difficulty. The red herrings are outstanding, and you'll have a hard time unraveling this one. The story is also filled with lots of action which makes the book more appealing than the typical police procedural. The story also delves deeply into Bosch's past to reveal important aspects of his character in clearer ways than in past stories.

I was captivated by Len Cariou's reading of the book. He made the emotions of the characters seem very real. I was deeply engaged in this book as I listened and couldn't wait to get to the end.

Great serial character
I've read all of the Harry Bosch series with moderate to ecstatic enjoyment, so I figured I should check out the beginning of the series and read them through. The books all revolve around Detective Bosch on the Homicide Squad of the Hollywood division, having apparently been demoted from the elite LAPD Robbery Homicide division for his questionable action in a high-profile serial killer case a year previously. (The events of that "Dollmaker" case are detailed in the book The Concrete Blonde, and be warned that key information about that case is revealed in this book.) This backstory establishes Bosch as a highly capable high profile detective who's somewhat of a loose cannon and marked man for LAPD Internal Affairs.

Once it's clear that there's been a murder, Bosch latches onto the case like a pit bull, pushing it through the procedural red tape.
Connelly spent many years covering local crime for the LA Times, and as in the other books of his I've read, has a good eye and ear for bringing all the little bits and pieces of procedure to life. The investigations always seem to point at a series of obvious suspects, but as any good thriller writer will tell you, it isn't always the butler that done it!! Bosch always seems to find himself tangled up with the FBI agents tasked with the investigation into his investigations ! Meanwhile, Internal Affairs has targeted him big time, and he spends a lot of energy evading their slimy grasp. There's a good deal of internal police politics at work, and Connelly does a nice job of bringing the depressing realities of this into the story.

Somewhat less convincing is the character of Bosch himself. He's the ultimate embodiment of the maverick, anti-establishment, "lone wolf"cop, always rubbing superiors the wrong way for no good reason, and generally being obnoxious and provocative in a way that only gets him in hotter water. For someone as self-avowedly committed to justice as he is, you'd think he would be a little smarter about when to mouth off, since the trouble he gets himself into only diverts him from pursuing justice. And of course, he drinks a bunch, smokes a bunch, listens to jazz, and doesn't have a lot of luck with women. Conspiracy-thrillerish by the end. Readers of serial books, Lee Child`s, `Jack Reacher` books are always excellent, as are the `Rebus` books by Ian Rankin, much more violent are the `Soft Target` thrillers by Conrad Jones, but the common threads are the common characters that make us go back for more of the same. Bosch is addictive reading and this is an excellent novel.
It also doesn't help that Connelly gives away what should be a shocking twist toward the end by providing a very obvious clue halfway through the book. These flaws, combined with the coincidence the story is built on and the cliché nature of Bosch, result in a book that works in fits and starts, but isn't nearly as good as it could have been.

Good outing for Bosch
I quite enjoyed this outing for Bosch where he investigates a confession from a cold case that has played on his mind for years. The story really racheted up the thrills after Bosch takes the confessed murderer out on a field trip to locate the victims body. All hell breaks lose and the story becomes rivetting. The ending however seemed a little far fetched and it appears that Connelly really has it in for LAPD politics and corruption.