The Black Echo: A Novel: Amazon.ca: Michael Connelly: Books

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Connelly, a crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times , transcends the standard L.A. police procedural with this original and eminently authentic first novel. Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch--former hero cop bumped from the L.A. homicide desk to the lowly Beverly Hills squad--gets the call on a drug death at Mulholland Dam. Harry recognizes the corpse as that of a fellow soldier in Vietnam; both were "tunnel rats" who searched for Viet Cong in the network of burrows beneath Vietnamese villages. Investigation connects his old pal to an unsolved bank job--the vault was tunneled into from the storm drains below--and Harry takes his information to the FBI. The Bureau alerts the LAPD, which reactivates internal affairs surveillance (the previous IAD episode is explained throughout the narrative), only to have the FBI backtrack and request Harry as liaison on the case. Paired with beautiful FBI agent Eleanor Wish, Harry makes sense of the Vietnam connection to the bank job--a discovery that puts them both in danger from deadly ex-Marines and a powerful insider from either the LAPD or the FBI itself. Police higher-ups are somewhat cliched, but Connelly avoids L.A. stereotypes and delivers this front-page story with military precision.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA-- Harry Bosch likes order, contends that there are no coincidences, and keeps meticulous records in his ``murder book.'' When the body of a former ``tunnel rat'' from Vietnam is found in a drainpipe, Harry is the detective on duty and is called to the scene. His identification of the body begins an investigation that leads to more murder, bank robbery, heroin, diamonds, and betrayal. Connelly's descriptions of autopsies, murder scenes, and police procedure are vivid and realistic. The use of acronyms and police jargon puts readers in the middle of the action. A real page turner with gutty realism and an unusual twist.
- Debbie Hyman, R. E. Lee High School, Springfield, VA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Customer Reviews

66 Reviews

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3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
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Average Customer Review

4.3 out of 5 stars (66 customer reviews)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Triple Noir Introduction to a Great Detective Series, July 28 2008

By

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 112,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER) (#1 HALL OF FAME)

This review is from: The Black Echo (Mass Market Paperback)

How dark can you make a police procedural? Michael Connelly pushes the familiar noir envelope into new dimensions in this dark-as-night-at-the-bottom-of-the-sea story. I call it a triple noir mystery because detective Hieronymus (rhymes with anonymous) Bosch

1. comes from a horrible family background (his mother was a woman who rented by the hour and was murdered, leaving Harry to the foster care system),

2. lived a nightmare as a tunnel-rat fighter in the Vietnamese War, and

3. this investigation has enough darkness in it to put out a search light.

The book's title is a reference back to tunnel fighting.

Most new detective series begin with a character who is breaking in. During the subsequent books, the detective gradually develops skill and a career.

Connelly does something different: Bosch is a virtually burned-out case who lives only to bring down the bad guys (be they in LAPD or outside). He's beyond the classic rebel without a cause (James Dean would have been frightened of our Harry). This story picks up on Harry after he's well along on a slide in losing control over his anger.

It's the weekend and Harry's partner is out selling real estate. Harry covers what appears to be an OD by an addict until things don't add up. Pushing forward, Harry convinces himself it's a murder. No one is happy about it. But life is proceeding until Harry checks in with the FBI to find out about a bank robbery that seems connected. Harry feels like he's stepped into something he shouldn't, but the icy FBI agent, Eleanor Wish, attracts his interest anyway. Soon, the LAPD Internal Affairs team is after Harry. Can he brazen it out and keep his investigation?

This story has more surprises in it than you would expect. Harry also goes off like a Roman candle at the slightest provocation. His "payback" often reminds me of "Dirty Harry." Some of them are pretty funny, but all are powerful. You'll be cheering.

You'll know something funny is going on in the investigation, but you won't be ahead of Harry in figuring it out. Black Echo makes for a more interesting, adventure-laden story that way.

Very nice!

Start here and work through the novels in the order they were written. You have some amazing treats ahead of you.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Great First Book, May 14 2002

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Avid Music Fan "jimfut" (Burtonsville, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Black Echo (Mass Market Paperback)

Great read, amazing detail, good plot ~ keeps the pages turing, won't be dissapointed

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A good first book, BUT..., April 29 2004

By

Christopher Smith (Bridgeport, WV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Black Echo (Mass Market Paperback)

Connelly's prose is excellent, and I enjoyed reading a story set in the Los Angeles of my youth, but this story failed to engage me otherwise. The tone of the story is very grim, and I found myself constantly putting this book down and hoping it would end.

Despite Harry Bosch's intriguing name, at his core he seems to be a cookie-cutter hard-boiled detective. From the other reviews I have read, it is possible that he becomes more interesting in later novels, but I probably will not continue to read this series. Most of the characters in this novel were flat and uninteresting, with the exception of Sharkey, who was still a fairly unsympathetic character.

Although the mystery plot was intriguing, some of the sub-plots were not. These elements play out more as cliches than real sub-plots. Harry's bosses, and the Internal Affairs people seem to be unnecessarily antagonistic towards him and Harry develops an improbable romance with an FBI agent. These are merely cliches, and seem inexplicable within the novel's context.

While the investigation seems to make sense as you're reading, the denouement strains credibility when the author tries to tie up all of the loose ends with a contrived twist.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Character, Very Addictive
Michael Connelly is one of my favorite authors and as an employee at a large bookstore chain I recommend him often. Read more

Published on Jan 2 2006 by Natalie P.

5.0 out of 5 stars Enter Harry Bosch
An absolutely terrific first novel in the superb Hironymous Bosch series, introduces us to Michael Connelly's enigmatic and troubled LA detective. Read more

Published on July 19 2004 by Archmaker