Angels Flight [Mass Market Paperback]

 

 

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Howard Elias is part of the Los Angeles upper crust. As a very high profile African-American attorney and racial activist, his lucrative practice consists in large part of suing the LAPD for real, perceived or imagined civil rights infractions against the black community in LA. When he is murdered in a particularly vindictive fashion on the very eve of an important trial against four white officers, the administration of the LAPD recognizes that it has no choice but to investigate its own members and let the chips fall where they may. The case is assigned to Harry Bosch and his Hollywood homicide squad, rookie black female officer, Kiz Rider and a senior detective, Jerry Edgar, also a black officer in good standing. The political considerations behind the choice of this team to investigate the case are obvious. Bosch, Rider and Edgar, probably more through good luck than good management, have never been sued by Elias. That the squad has two black members obviously makes the choice even more politically palatable.

Michael Connelly has stepped up to the plate once again and treated us to an exciting police procedural that will thrill Harry Bosch fans to their very toes. Los Angeles is graphically portrayed as a tinder box ready to explode into a reprise of the Watts riots that took place in the aftermath of the Rodney King trial. As we've come to expect, Bosch continues to be a come-what-may investigator whose only pursuit is the truth. As Bosch's former partner, Frank Sheehan, comes under suspicion for the murder, Bosch's friendship, his loyalty and the steadfastness of his principles are tested to their limits.

This might not be the best novel that Connelly ever wrote. But I still haven't encountered the entry in the growing Harry Bosch canon that doesn't keep me flipping pages at a torrid pace. Internal departmental politics and race take centre stage in "Angel's Flight" as Bosch butts heads with the senior levels of the department, the FBI, Internal Affairs and even his own partners. Readers who have followed Bosch from the very start will also be interested in the side plot about his new wife, former FBI agent, Eleanor Wish.

Highly recommended.

Paul Weiss

Angels Flight was written near the ebb of LAPD's reputation: OJ Simpson had skated after the police investigation proved to be corrupt in most peoples' minds and Rodney King had been beaten, enraging those who feared and despised LAPD. Angels Flight is an attempt to re-create that era and give a sense of the pressures on those who were trying to do their duty while public relations and political concerns ran amok. The cross-currents of those disparate interests suck Harry Bosch into a cesspool of duplicity from which he'll be likely to escape.

In Trunk Music, Harry had married . . . perhaps not wisely. As Angels Flight opens, she's gone . . . and Harry can't seem to get her back: The lure of the casinos is calling its siren sound.

Harry has the weekend off: His team in Hollywood isn't on call. He's surprised when the top brass call him out in the middle of the night on a murder that occurs on the incline railway in downtown LA: That's Robbery Homicide territory. He's even more surprised when the murder scene has already been combed over and Internal Affairs desk types are everywhere. There are two deceased: One is a civil rights lawyer who makes his living suing cops . . . and who is about to lower the boom on the Robbery Homicide crew. Harry quickly appreciates that having two partners who are African Americans is part of why he's "leading" the case.

Despite lots of pressure to pin the case on someone, anyone, Harry continues to investigate. What he learns suggests even darker secrets than appeared on the surface.

Will he be able to outfox those who want a sacrificial lamb? How will his marriage take the strain? Can he keep his job? Will the city sleep quietly?

The plot is a demanding one that helps reveal a lot about the police and Harry's perspective: Michael Connelly paints a broad landscape of human depravity that will stay with you. You'll probably become well engaged in the story, even if the situation seems forced to you in the beginning.

I think you will enjoy this book a lot more if you have already read the prior books in the Harry Bosch series. Give yourself a treat and go back if you haven't read them already.

"Angels Flight" is Michael Connelly's eighth book, his sixth to feature Harry Bosch and was first published in 1999. Much of Bosch's background has been covered in the earlier instalments. Orphaned at twelve, he later served in Viet-Nam before returning to Los Angeles and joining the police force. He currently works the Hollywood Division's homicide table, though he was once a member of the LAPD's elite Robbery-Homicide Division (RHD). He's seen by some as a maverick, though he's not quite the 'loner' he once was. Following a Vegas wedding he's been married to Eleanor Wish for about two years, while he's settled into his role as Squad One's Team Leader and works well with his partners. In fact, he seems determined to become a new Harry Bosch : he's even trying to quit smoking.

The book opens with Bosch and his team being summoned by Deputy Chief Irving to investigate a double homicide Angel's Flight. Bosch is confused, as the crime scene is beyond Hollywood Division's boundaries, and inside Central Division's. Irving, however, has his reasons - firstly, Central Division's homicide detectives are all on training. Secondly, the case itself is somewhat sensitive. Although two people have been murdered - Catalina Perez and Howard Elias - the department is specifically worried about the implications of Elias' murder. Elias was a lawyer who specialized in police and civil-rights cases, and his murder has come two days before what might have been his biggest case against the LAPD. Michael Harris, his client, is suing fifteen RHD detectives for ten million dollars. Questioned regarding the kidnapping of a twelve-year old girl, he claimed the detectives had tortured him over a three day period. The girl, a member of a well-known and rich family, was later found dead near his apartment, while his fingerprints were found on a book in her bedroom. Nevertheless, he was found not guilty in the criminal trial.

By rights, RHD should've been investigating Elias' murder - but given Elias was planning to sue RHD, their involvement would've been viewed as a possible conflict of interest. Irving has therefore selected Bosch's team to deal with the investigation. The case itself also worries Harry : he knows that, given the nature of Elias' cases, many of the most obvious suspects will be cops. These may include his former colleagues at RHD - including his former partner, Frankie Sheehan.

Part of the help Irving has assigned to Bosch's team is a group of IAD detectives - a group that includes John 'Sustain' Chastain, IAD (Internal Affairs) is the section that investigates other police officers - that department, and all its employees, are detested by every other cop in the city. Harry, himself, has been investigated by IAD a number of times - twice by Chastain, who seems determined to drive Harry out of the force. Harry suspects that the IAD grouping has been assigned to hinder, rather than help, the investigation. However, this isn't Harry's only problem. Given the high-profile victim, the newly-appointed Inspector-General, Carla Entrenkin, has been notified of the murder. This position allows her to oversee any investigation she chooses - and Harry suspects she has a 'personal' interest in this case. Furthermore, Harry believes that Elias had a source feeding him information from the Parker Center.

As with Connelly's previous books, I found this to be an excellent novel. It's a difficult case for Harry, though - despite some 'political' interfering from Irving, he's determined to solve it to the very best of his abilities. Those who have read the previous instalments will know Harry's past, and several old favorites return. Although having read the previous book in the series ("Trunk Music") may be helpful, the 'newcomer' won't feel left out. "Angel's Flight" covers enough of Bosch's past to tell the story without any gaps. Highly recommended.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Police detectives age, too
And so do authors. It's nice that authors can write about aging protagonists as they themselves pass through the decades. Read more

Published on July 12 2004 by Kris

5.0 out of 5 stars Connelly is a master at his work
I am never disappointed when I read a Bosch book by Connelly. This was another I couldn't put down. This isn't just a story of a cop in LA. This is a story of his life. Read more

Published on Jun 30 2004 by Kel

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best in the Bosch series
Angels Flight was one of the best in Connely's Harry Bosch series. You can't put this book down!

While the whole series up to this point has been excellent, I think this book... Read more

Published on Feb 18 2004 by Theresa W

5.0 out of 5 stars The best of the Harry Bosch series.
Angels Flight is the pinnacle of Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series. A brooding, somber look at race relations and politics in the world of Police Investigation, and a... Read more

Published on Feb 12 2004 by Bill Kubert

5.0 out of 5 stars Good writing, good reading, good book
This book has the seal of Michael Connelly, it has to many turns, but the problem with that is that you know that if the book has many pages left, the person who they thought was... Read more

Published on Oct 23 2003 by Jorge Frid

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the author's best work
I am on a Michael Connelly run as I am doing some summer reading and this year, decided to read the bulk of his works. Read more

Published on Aug 6 2003 by ylai

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the author's best work
I am on a Michael Connelly run as I am doing some summer reading and this year, decided to read the bulk of his works. Read more

Published on Aug 6 2003 by ylai

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Listening -- Want to Hear More
This is the sixth book in the Harry Bosch series and I have listened to or read all of the preceding ones. Angels Flight, I believe, is one of the best. Read more

Published on Mar 9 2003 by K. E. Lindholm

5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating must read
High grade entertainment from the beginning to the end. Harry Bosch enters a cobweb of intrique. Hard to put this book down once you start reading. Read more

Published on Feb 18 2003 by Sherry Russell

5.0 out of 5 stars Top Quality Crime Fiction
Connelly is on top form in this installment of the Harry Bosch series. Angelï¿s Flight, a suspenseful tale of murder and police corruption in Los Angeles, a city on the... Read more

Published on Nov 15 2002 by John D. Costanzo

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