Product Description

The pulse-quickening new thriller from master of suspense Michael Connelly sees Harry Bosch plunged into the dangerous world of international terrorism. When a physicist is murdered in LA it seems the killer has no fear of publicity, leaving the body on The Mulholland overlook, a site with a stunning view over the city. And when it's discovered that the victim turned over a quantity of a lethal chemical to his killer before he died, Harry knows he has more than just a single death to worry about. Alongside the forces of Homeland Security, Harry realises he must solve the murder or face unimaginable consequences.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #128791 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-10
• Released on: 2008-07-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Henry Sutton, THE MIRROR
'...by then I was hooked, as is so often the way with Connelly, and as the pace quickened it slowly became clear that this was another classic by the best crime writer in America today.'

Review
'...by then I was hooked, as is so often the way with Connelly, and as the pace quickened it slowly became clear that this was another classic by the best crime writer in America today.' (Henry Sutton THE MIRROR )

'The final chapters contain chases and twists galore - even so, there is time for some of that hard-nosed poetry which makes Connelly a cut above his competitors.' (Mark Sanderson EVENING STANDARD )

'When you pick up one of Connelly's novels, be resigned to losing the rest of the day. He is one of those get-you-on-the edge-of-your seat, can't-put-it-down storytellers - and he can write.' (GLASGOW EVENING TIMES )

'[Bosch is] still a brililant detective, and the only one to solve Connelly's well-constructed puzzle.' (Susanna Yager SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )

'Some people get very excited about the propect of a new Harry Bosch book ... But its' not suprising. Fifteen years and umpteen books on, Connelly is still pulling in the crowds ... Thrilling rollercoaster? Take it as read.' (DAILY SPORT )

'Connelly has established himself as one of crime's most satisfying reads.' (METRO )

'This gripping Harry Bosch mystery starts with a terrorist-style execution ... this is an increasingly cynical and dyspeptic Harry's first case in his new job' (IRISH INDEPENDENT )

GLASGOW EVENING TIMES
'When you pick up one of Connelly's novels, be resigned to losing the rest of the day. He is one of those get-you-on-the edge-of-your seat, can't-put-it-down storytellers - and he can write.'

Customer Reviews

What a let down
Michael Connelly is one of the few authors that I automatically buy in hardcover whenever a new book is first released. Whether I do so again is now debatable. As a story "the Overlook" is O.K. Not great, but acceptable. The real problem is that it isn't a proper novel: at 260 pages of fairly large font text its a pumped up short story, that while highly topical (it refers to the poisoning by Polonium of Alexander Litvenenko in London last year) just doesn't have enough substance to satisfy. It was first published in serial form in the New York times and doesn't it just show! Even the style of writing seems somewhat simpler than normal and Bosch is possibly getting old because "the overlook" could be refering to the clues he missed rather than the crime scene. Lines like "Bosch couldn't possibly understand why the FBI would take cigarrette ash as evidence" just defy belief.

I'll stop now before I do a real hatchet job on this book, but hopefully Connelly will read this and take note: next time you have a good idea for a short story copy Ian Rankin and release a collection of short stories. Don't dissapoint your fans with semi-novels like this.

Not Connolly's finest hour
Michael, what have you done. OK, the deal to write a serial for a newspaper sounded good, but when you agreed to work it up into a book, it all went wrong, and you have alienated many Bosch addicts, like myself.

This book recycles too many aspects of previous books, and there is a procession of the characters from Harry's past, all intended to add some of legitimacy to this cynical cash-in. Add the fact that it will take you no time to read and I defy anyone, other than new readers, to find anything to recommend in this.

If you are considering buying this and you have yet to experience a Connolly book, can I recommend "The Lincoln Lawyer", "Echo Park" or "The Poet" as far superior to this - or better still start at the beginning of the Harry Bosch series with "The Black Echo", and work from there.

A small piece of Bosch magic
There's less of this book than there ought to be, and it's by far the shortest of the excellent Bosch novels. But actually, there's just enough plot to fill it and to give us the charateristic Bosch investigative brilliance.

But if Bosch really existed, if he had a full filing cabinet full of cases that could be written up to entertain the public, you wouldn't have chosen this one.