Product Description

Detective Harry Bosch tears open a 20-year-old murder case - with an explosive ending that will leave all Bosch fans hungrily awaiting the next instalment. When the bones of a twelve-year-old boy are found scattered in the Hollywood Hills, Harry Bosch is drawn into a case that brings up the darkest memories from his own haunted past. The bones have been buried for years, but the cold case doesn't deter Bosch. Unearthing hidden stories, he finds out the child's identity and reconstructs his fractured life, determined that he not be forgotten. At the same time, a new love affair with a female cop begins to blossom for Bosch - until a stunningly blown mission leaves him in more trouble than ever before in his turbulent career. The investigation races to a shocking conclusion and leaves Bosch on the brink of an unimaginable decision.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #697796 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 400 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Michael Connelly's world-weary cop Harry Bosch gets another outing in City of Bones, torn apart by having to investigate the long-ago killing of a much abused boy and by his doomed affair with a much younger woman cop. This is not the best or the most ingenious, but is the gloomiest and perhaps most thoughful, of Connelly's thrillers about Bosch, thrillers which take the assumptions of the police procedural and makes them part of the creation of a mood in which to investigate is to struggle with the tragic forces in life. Connelly is especially good on the more positive aspects of canteen culture, that real desire to protect the innocent and serve society that Bosch calls "the blue religion"; when, as here, a paedophile witness is outed to the press or a suspect shot in dubious circumstances, it is not just good standards of policework, but something more important that is being betrayed. If City of Bonesturns out to be the last of Connelly's books about Bosch, or the last in which he is controlled and constrained in his mission of justice by his role as a police officer, it will not be a dying fall to one of the more impressive thriller series of our time. --Roz Kaveney

Review
Give a dog a bone and a whole can of worms opens up. This is the start of the 7th great Detective Harry Bosch novel, set in LA but far from the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. When a dog returns to its master with a humerus in its mouth it opens up a horrific case of child abuse from twenty years previously. For the next two weeks Bosch and his partner try to bring closure and after identifying the skeleton the answer seems simple. Too simple... Digging back into the neighbourhood's past unearths secrets that could and do destroy lives and careers, bringing back memories for Bosch that he would rather forget. Award-winning crime writer Michael Connelly carries the plot back and forth, intertwining it with Bosch's bolshiness in the face of authority. Love interest arises only to confound both the case and Bosch with the complexity of its relationship. A page-turning, fast-moving pacy crime story - forget about doing anything else till the last page is turned and Bosch reaches a crossroads in his life. - Lucy Watson

About the Author
A former police reporter for the LOS ANGELES TIMES, Michael Connelly is the author of seven acclaimed Harry Bosch novels: THE BLACK ECHO, THE BLACK ICE, THE CONCRETE BLONDE, THE LAST COYOTE, TRUNK MUSIC, ANGELS FLIGHT and A DARKNESS MORE THAN NIGHT, as well as THE POET, BLOOD WORK and VOID MOON. He lives in Florida and Los Angeles.

Customer Reviews

Harry Bosch is back
Still recovering from the events of "A Darkness More than Night", LA detective Harry Bosch is confronted with a nightmare. The partial skeleton of a child is discovered on a hillside. A forensic anthropologist is called in and his examination of the remains reveals a harrowing tale of prolonged abuse. Harry swears he will catch the culprit, and once again enters the darkest recesses of human cruelty.
Based on a real murder (in which the perpetrator was successfully prosecuted, thank God!) this is yet another brilliant work from Connelly. Bosch is a wonderfully crafted protagonist, and as usual the writing is first rate. The description of injuries given by the anthropologist is disturbing reading, all the more so considering that it is based in fact, yet the subject is treated sensitively and in no way appears voyeuristic. The rest of the story (I won't give it away!) flows beatifully.
Connelly is a fine author and this book would grace any crime fan's collection. Thoroughly recommended.

Melancholic, yet gripping
I'd recently been introduced to Harry Bosch, the LA detective featured, by my father. This was only the second novel, with him as lead, that I'd read. It's well plotted, with several wrong turns, and "you think you know who done it and you're wrong" twists....and you really care for this flawed character, who suffers a loss midway, and suffers for his compulsion at the end. It's not a perfectly happy ending, nor should it be, yet it's uplifting enough that he kinda catches who did it, and why, against the odds. But only after he's paid a meaningufl price for what he's learnt. Characters, even the incidental ones are carefully drawn, and the dialogue is compelling, and not cliched. Well worth a few pounds, and a few hours of your time.

fast paced, engaging police procedural
I have heard lots of good comments about the Harry Bosch novels and I was not disappointed with this seventh book of the series. Bosch is a hard boiled homocide detective in the Hollywood division of the LAPD who gets a call that a dog has discovered a human bone. The investigation uncovers a 20 year old murder of a 12 year-old boy who was the victim of child abuse. As the case proceeds, Bosch meets and becomes involved with a rookie cop named Julia Brasher, who has an idealistic view of police work.

Some information leaks and false clues initially sidetrack the investigation but slowly the victim is identified and his short and tortured life revealed. Connelly draws his characters with fine strokes and his development of the details of the police procedures which are key to solving cases was really fascinating to me. Understanding the murder book, how warrants were drawn up and served, and details behind the forensic investigation added to my enjoyment of the story.

False directions provide intrigue but I was a little disappointed with the unsatisfying way the murderer was revealed and dealt with.

All in all though, a fast paced (I read it in one 24 hour period), and very enjoyable read.