Connelly has written 3 more Harry Bosch novels since
restoring the character to the LAPD. now a member of the
elite Open/Unsolved Unit, the detective pursues his mission
of speaking for the dead, for making "everyone count, or no
one counts" with the renewed zeal of the rested
if Bosch's philosophy of love "you only get one bullet" is
true of authors, Harry Bosch is most certainly Michael
Connelly's bullet. THE CLOSERS and ECHO PARK are
representative of the Bosch tradition, as good as any written
in the author's early period. notable for the fact that while
thematically similar to the series as a whole, each turn
never feels as if Connelly is simply retracing his
steps
the most recent work, THE OVERLOOK is different in that it
seems to unfold in real time. the urgent story involving
terrorism and Homeland Security continues Connelly's practice
of utilizing characters introduced in other works, reuniting
Bosch with FBI agent Rachel Walling from The Poet, who he
became involved with in The Narrows. The Overlook also
differs from the earlier Bosch novels in that it was created
as a serial for The New York Times Sunday Magazine. the
author then added new material to the story in expanding it
to novel form
even though reading The Overlook is akin to watching an
episode of "24", it is still at its essence, a Harry Bosch
mystery. two books earlier however, between publication of
The Closers and Echo Park, Connelly broke new ground,
stepping into the realm of the legal thriller with THE
LINCOLN LAWYER
written in the first person from the point of view of
mercenary defense attorney Mickey Haller, the title refers to
the character's use of his rotating fleet of vehicles as his
mobile office as he motors to the various courthouses
scattered across Los Angeles county. Haller's motto: "don't
do the crime if you can't pay for my time"
the story is populated with characters with colorful
nicknames, as is the author's propensity. a biker client
named Casey is known in his greasy circle as Hard Case.
Haller's first ex-wife Maggie McPherson, a prosecuting
attorney, is called Maggie McFierce over on Haller's side of
the bench, and guilts him into spending more time with their
5 year old daughter. Haller also employs his second ex-wife
Lorna Taylor as his case manager, has a former client
chauffering him around to work off his legal bills and lives
life at a mobile, plugged-in, 21st century pace
Connelly brings his well-honed plotting skills and emotional
depth along for the ride, and writes about the subtle
gamesman and powerplays of the criminal defense system with
the veracity of an actual practitioner. in the morally
compromised Mickey Haller, he has created a character every
bit as vivid and compelling as the haunted Harry Bosch
after 13 installments spaced across 16 years. neither Bosch
nor Connelly have demonstrated any signs of slowing down. the
character however, ages in real time. and in The Black Ice,
Harry Bosch's year of birth is pegged as 1950, making Harry
Bosch either 57 or 58 years old today, so mission or no, time
is running out on the character. in an interview back in
1999, the author expressed the hope that he had another half
dozen Bosch novels in him. in the Georgie Lewis interview in
2002, he expressed a similar sentiment
that was five books ago. could the end possibly be in sight?
six years younger than Harry Bosch, Michael Connelly exhibits
no signs of slowing down
his next book, THE BRASS VERDICT, due in October, teams Harry
Bosch with Mickey Haller. in addition to the case, the two
men have something in common
Mickey's mother was the second wife of the late celebrity
attorney, J. Michael Haller
in his second novel, The Black Ice, Connelly revealed that
Bosch's prostitute mother Marjorie Lowe was J. Michael's
client and lover
John Lau
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