Echo Park
Harry Bosch Series #12
by Michael Connelly
Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch has come out of his retirement and returned to the LAPD. His current assignment is
with the "Open-Unsolved" unit, giving him the opportunity to dig into a case that he had worked over a decade ago
and come up empty. The disappearance of Marie Gesto back in 1993 has never been resolved and Bosch is too good of
a cop to ever let it go. Harry was sure that he knew who was responsible, but there was just never enough
evidence to bring an arrest.
Then a chance traffic stop by a couple of cops in the Echo Park area nets Raynard Waits, a man with bags of
body parts stowed in the back of his van. Waits confesses to several murders, and one of those is Marie Gesto.
In Harry’s mind there’s something about the serial killer that just doesn’t seem to fit the Gesto disappearance,
but now the case is part of a much larger investigation and Bosch’s role is effectively diminished to that of a
consultant. He calls on his former lover Rachel Walling, FBI agent and profiler, to help him see the whole picture.
The investigation takes on a political flavor when prosecutor and District Attorney candidate Richard
(Ricochet) O’Shea wants to showcase his abilities by solving a long string of murders. It seems that O’Shea has
struck a plea bargain deal with Raynard Waits that will save the defendant from the death penalty. Harry doesn’t
buy the whole story and Waits’ attorney claims that he will prove it by having Waits lead the police to Marie
Gesto’s gravesite. When the entourage arrives at the location of the alleged grave, things go a little crazy,
and Waits gains the upper hand and gets away after killing a couple of cops.
In spite of all the evidence to the contrary, Bosch continues to pursue his original theory on who the likely
perpetrator is, but now an escaped murderer has made things far more troublesome.
Once again Connelly has hatched a complicated but somehow believable
plot to test the skill and tenacity of Harry Bosch. The story has
just the right mix of honest but flawed cops, dishonest cops, lost
love, ambitious and careless politicians, crafty villains, and murderous
madmen. The story is a masterful mix of analytical logic and warp
speed action. In the end Bosch is battered and bruised but he stands
tall.
Reviews of other titles in this series
The
Last Coyote, Trunk Music,
Angels Flight, # 4, 5, 6
(Harry Bosch Vol 2) |
[book] |
A Darkness More Than Night, # 7 |
[book] [audio] |
City of Bones, # 8 |
[book]
|
Lost Light, # 9 |
[book]
[audio] |
The Narrows, # 10 |
[book]
[audio] |
The Closers, # 11 |
[book]
[audio] |
Echo Park, # 12 |
[book]
[audio] |
The Overlook, # 13 |
[book]
[audio] |
The Brass Verdict, # 14
Bosch/Haller |
[audio
] |
9 Dragons, # 15 |
[audio] |
The Reversal, # 16
Bosch/Haller |
[book] [audio] |
The Drop, # 17 |
[book] |
Murder and all That Jazz
-Bosch Short Story |
[book] |
The Black Box # 18 |
[audio] |
Angle of Investigation |
[audio] |
The Burning Room # 19 |
[book
1] [book
2] [audio] |
The
Crossing
Bosch #20/Haller #6 |
[audio] |
The
Wrong Side of Goodbye |
[audio] |
|
The Reviewer |
Dennis Collins |
Reviewed 2007 |
NOTE: Reviewer Dennis
Collins is the author of The Unreal McCoy. |
|