Product Description

When LAPD detective Harry Bosch shot and killed Norman Church, the police were convinced it marked the end of the search for one of the city's most bizarre serial killers. The manhunt for the 'Dollmaker', so called because he painted the faces of all his victims with make-up after death, was finally over. But four years later, Norman Church's widow is taking Bosch to court, accusing him of killing the wrong man. To make matters worse, Bosch has just received a note, eerily reminiscent of the ones the Dollmaker used to taunt him with, giving him a location where a body can be found. Is the Dollmaker still alive? Or is this the work of a vicious copycat killer, determined to repeat the Dollmaker's grisly feats and destroy Bosch's career in the process? As he battles to clear his name in court, Bosch faces a desperate race against time to find the killer.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #140877 in Books
• Published on: 1998-03-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

From the Publisher
3 Hours, 3 CD's, Abridged

About the Author
A former police reporter for the Los Angeles Times, Michael Connelly is the author of twelve acclaimed Harry Bosch thrillers and several other bestselling novels. He lives in Tampa, Florida, with his wife and daughter.

Customer Reviews

Excellent progressive thriller
Felt like a true insight to the underbelly of seedy LA. The action switches from area to area around LA and also some great court room stuff, evocative of the best of that genre. I liked Bosch and his style - reminded me of the LA version of Inspector Rebus! Enjoyed this book from start to finish and there were no disappointments for me - will get work by this author again.

THE BEST ONE YET!!!
This, the third book in Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series, is without a doubt my favorite so far. Having met and fell in love with Harry in Connelly's first book, The Black Echo, I am always thrilled to begin those first few pages -- it's like meeting up with an old friend you haven't seen for awhile. This old friend is a Vietnam vet still traumatized by going through enemy tunnels while on duty as a tunnel rat in "Nam". Now he's an LAPD homicide detective so he's still being traumatized on a daily basis.

This thriller finds Harry not only on the streets solving crimes but also in the courtroom defending himself in a civil suit brought by the widow of a serial killer known as "The Dollmaker". She feels that her "serial killer" husband's civil rights were denied when Harry shot him to death without cause. At the time, Harry thought the alleged perpetrator was reaching for a weapon -- it was later revealed that he was just reaching for his toupee. This "dollmaker" nickname came about because the killer had a practice of putting makeup on his victims, making them look like painted up dolls. Now, years later, this widow is painting Bosch out to be a vigilante with a dubious past of his own hiding behind an LAPD badge and shooting people without reason. Bosch feels justified in killing the Dollmaker four years ago but, when a copy cat body shows up and associated letters resembling those that the Dollmaker used to send begin to appear, even Harry has his doubts. The courtroom scenes are compelling and the new copycat investigation is more than routine.

If you're into the mystery/thriller genre and want to sink your teeth into a series with a great protagonist and even greater writing and storylines, try Connelly's series featuring Harry "Hieronymus" Bosch. To find out what really makes Harry tick and to find out where he got the ridiculous name of Hieronymus, you should read the books in order starting with the first one, The Black Echo, continuing on to The Black Ice and then rewarding your efforts with this one, my personal favorite, The Concrete Blonde.

Very good read
The 'Concrete Blonde' is my favourite Michael Connelly book out of the ones I've read so far. In this story we follow Harry Bosch who killed the notorious serial murderer, the 'Dollmaker', and his court case for this killing. But at the same time that Bosch is accused of killing without provacation, the Dollmaker's notes resurface, and it appears that he is still out there. This is curious, especially when Bosch is 100% convinced that he got the right man.

There are a lot of different aspects to this story, which makes it such a good read: there is the court case, the current case of the Dollmaker resurfacing, and Harry Bosch's personal life and previous history. The interaction of all these elements makes a engaging read.

I must say, though, that the final twist in the end, is not as good as one would hope. From personal experience, I've found that Connelly tries to push the limit in his endings, but sometimes fails to deliver a completely satisfactory ending. This is what stops Connelly from being elevated from 'very good' crime writer to 'fantastic, excellent' crime writer.

Nevertheless, it is a very good book, and should be read by all crime fiction fans.