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Harry Bosch #12
Echo Park
In 1993, Marie Gesto disappeared after walking out of a supermarket. Harry Bosch worked the case but couldn't crack it, and the 22-year-old was never found. Now, more than a decade later, with the Gesto file still on his desk, Bosch gets a call from the district attorney. A man accused of two heinous murders is willing to come clean about several others, including the killing of Marie Gesto. Taking the confession of the man he has sought and hated for 13 years is bad enough. Discovering that he missed a clue back in 1993 that could have stopped nine other murders may just be the straw that breaks Harry Bosch.
Impressed? Ace detective Harry Bosch is also on the case in other exciting Michael Connelly crime-fiction novels.
©2006 Hieronymus, Inc. All Rights Reserved; (P)2006 Hachette Audio. All Rights Reserved
Impressed? Ace detective Harry Bosch is also on the case in other exciting Michael Connelly crime-fiction novels.
©2006 Hieronymus, Inc. All Rights Reserved; (P)2006 Hachette Audio. All Rights Reserved
5 pages, Audiobook
First published October 9, 2006
4153 people are currently reading
12478 people want to read
About the author
Michael Connelly
380 books35k followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads' database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Michael Connelly decided to become a writer after discovering the books of Raymond Chandler while attending the University of Florida. Once he decided on this direction he chose a major in journalism and a minor in creative writing — a curriculum in which one of his teachers was novelist Harry Crews.
After graduating in 1980, Connelly worked at newspapers in Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, primarily specializing in the crime beat. In Fort Lauderdale he wrote about police and crime during the height of the murder and violence wave that rolled over South Florida during the so-called cocaine wars. In 1986, he and two other reporters spent several months interviewing survivors of a major airline crash. They wrote a magazine story on the crash and the survivors which was later short-listed for the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing. The magazine story also moved Connelly into the upper levels of journalism, landing him a job as a crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times, one of the largest papers in the country, and bringing him to the city of which his literary hero, Chandler, had written.
After three years on the crime beat in L.A., Connelly began writing his first novel to feature LAPD Detective Hieronymus Bosch. The novel, The Black Echo, based in part on a true crime that had occurred in Los Angeles, was published in 1992 and won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel by the Mystery Writers of America. Connelly has followed that up with over 30 more novels.
Over eighty million copies of Connelly’s books have sold worldwide and he has been translated into forty-five foreign languages. He has won the Edgar Award, Anthony Award, Macavity Award, Los Angeles Times Best Mystery/Thriller Award, Shamus Award, Dilys Award, Nero Award, Barry Award, Audie Award, Ridley Award, Maltese Falcon Award (Japan), .38 Caliber Award (France), Grand Prix Award (France), Premio Bancarella Award (Italy), and the Pepe Carvalho award (Spain) .
Michael was the President of the Mystery Writers of America organization in 2003 and 2004. In addition to his literary work, Michael is one of the producers and writers of the TV show, “Bosch,” which is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Michael lives with his family in Los Angeles and Tampa, Florida.
Michael Connelly decided to become a writer after discovering the books of Raymond Chandler while attending the University of Florida. Once he decided on this direction he chose a major in journalism and a minor in creative writing — a curriculum in which one of his teachers was novelist Harry Crews.
After graduating in 1980, Connelly worked at newspapers in Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, primarily specializing in the crime beat. In Fort Lauderdale he wrote about police and crime during the height of the murder and violence wave that rolled over South Florida during the so-called cocaine wars. In 1986, he and two other reporters spent several months interviewing survivors of a major airline crash. They wrote a magazine story on the crash and the survivors which was later short-listed for the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing. The magazine story also moved Connelly into the upper levels of journalism, landing him a job as a crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times, one of the largest papers in the country, and bringing him to the city of which his literary hero, Chandler, had written.
After three years on the crime beat in L.A., Connelly began writing his first novel to feature LAPD Detective Hieronymus Bosch. The novel, The Black Echo, based in part on a true crime that had occurred in Los Angeles, was published in 1992 and won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel by the Mystery Writers of America. Connelly has followed that up with over 30 more novels.
Over eighty million copies of Connelly’s books have sold worldwide and he has been translated into forty-five foreign languages. He has won the Edgar Award, Anthony Award, Macavity Award, Los Angeles Times Best Mystery/Thriller Award, Shamus Award, Dilys Award, Nero Award, Barry Award, Audie Award, Ridley Award, Maltese Falcon Award (Japan), .38 Caliber Award (France), Grand Prix Award (France), Premio Bancarella Award (Italy), and the Pepe Carvalho award (Spain) .
Michael was the President of the Mystery Writers of America organization in 2003 and 2004. In addition to his literary work, Michael is one of the producers and writers of the TV show, “Bosch,” which is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Michael lives with his family in Los Angeles and Tampa, Florida.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,828 reviews
July 25, 2018
This is another excellent entry in the Harry Bosch series. At this point in his career, Harry is working Open and Unsolved cases with his partner, Kiz Rider. One of the cases that has haunted him for years is the disappearance of a young woman named Marie Gesto, who disappeared after walking out of a market where she'd bought carrots to feed the horses she was going to tend. She was never seen again and, although her body was never found, Bosch has long assumed that she is dead, especially after her car was found in an apartment house garage with her clothes folded neatly inside.
Bosch has long suspected that the killer was the son of a wealthy and powerful man, though there was no solid evidence to connect the man to Gesto. Through the years, Harry has periodically returned to the case and questioned the suspect, to the point where the suspect's father has secured a restraining order against Bosch.
Now, out of the blue, a man arrested for a series of murders has admitted to killing Gesto as well. The man and his attorney are attempting to work out a deal with a politically ambitious prosecuting attorney that will enable the killer to escape the death penalty for his crimes. As the principal investigator in the Gesto case, Harry is involved in the negotiations and is stunned to learn that he may have missed an important clue years earlier that could have prevented several additional murders.
With that, the book is off and running, and it's another great ride. As always, Harry is determined to find the truth, no matter the consequences for the politicians, for the department, or for himself. The case reunites him with F.B.I. agent Rachel Walling and it's nice to see them working together again. As always in one of these novels, there are plenty of surprising twists and turns and lots of great action. I set everything else aside and devoured this book in a day, and it just made me that much more anxious to get back and re-read the next one in the series.
Bosch has long suspected that the killer was the son of a wealthy and powerful man, though there was no solid evidence to connect the man to Gesto. Through the years, Harry has periodically returned to the case and questioned the suspect, to the point where the suspect's father has secured a restraining order against Bosch.
Now, out of the blue, a man arrested for a series of murders has admitted to killing Gesto as well. The man and his attorney are attempting to work out a deal with a politically ambitious prosecuting attorney that will enable the killer to escape the death penalty for his crimes. As the principal investigator in the Gesto case, Harry is involved in the negotiations and is stunned to learn that he may have missed an important clue years earlier that could have prevented several additional murders.
With that, the book is off and running, and it's another great ride. As always, Harry is determined to find the truth, no matter the consequences for the politicians, for the department, or for himself. The case reunites him with F.B.I. agent Rachel Walling and it's nice to see them working together again. As always in one of these novels, there are plenty of surprising twists and turns and lots of great action. I set everything else aside and devoured this book in a day, and it just made me that much more anxious to get back and re-read the next one in the series.
February 7, 2017
Harry's at his best again, getting into all kinds of trouble, running headlong into danger, never thinking about other people until after the event. I love reading about him but I get why all the women in his life leave him too!
This is the second book I have read this week where we are positively falling over all the dead bodies. However this does make for exciting reading. I think Harry only kills one of them himself but he certainly causes several more. There's lots of interesting police work and lots of corruption and double crossing. The actual murderer is not hard to pick but the people responsible for the set up were not all the ones I expected. A bit of a twist in the tale:)
A lovely read for a very hot summer's day spent curled up in the air conditioning.
This is the second book I have read this week where we are positively falling over all the dead bodies. However this does make for exciting reading. I think Harry only kills one of them himself but he certainly causes several more. There's lots of interesting police work and lots of corruption and double crossing. The actual murderer is not hard to pick but the people responsible for the set up were not all the ones I expected. A bit of a twist in the tale:)
A lovely read for a very hot summer's day spent curled up in the air conditioning.
July 18, 2025
This is a 2006 novel that just happened to be donated to my Little Free Library Shed. I thought I had read every novel, up-to-date, especially any dealing with the Bosch character.
But…Apparently, I was wrong.
So…Even though so much of it felt familiar, (probably because I have followed Bosch to the present, including watching the Amazon Prime series)...
As I began to read this one, I knew I was in for an interesting ride.
Connelly has a way of writing his stories, and characters, that no matter where you are in any of his novels, it feels fresh and compelling. He also has just the right touch of police procedurals to not make you feel lost because you didn’t read the novels in order.
So…Yes, this can be read as a stand-alone.
Of course...It is always best if you can follow any character-driven novel, such as Bosch, in order…
But…This didn’t feel wrong to read Bosch in his past. He is so real to me, that whatever case he is in, I feel I understand him – his motives, his devotion to the case, and what he needs to do to bring closure to families affected by the crimes of the perpetrators.
And…Mr. Connelly would tell his story through twists and turns and red herrings…
And…That by the time we readers hit the last page of the book, we know we have just read another brilliant story by him.
Thank you, Mr. Connelly for Bosch. Being able to go back in time, was just as satisfying as any other book I have had the pleasure to read from you.
But…Apparently, I was wrong.
So…Even though so much of it felt familiar, (probably because I have followed Bosch to the present, including watching the Amazon Prime series)...
As I began to read this one, I knew I was in for an interesting ride.
Connelly has a way of writing his stories, and characters, that no matter where you are in any of his novels, it feels fresh and compelling. He also has just the right touch of police procedurals to not make you feel lost because you didn’t read the novels in order.
So…Yes, this can be read as a stand-alone.
Of course...It is always best if you can follow any character-driven novel, such as Bosch, in order…
But…This didn’t feel wrong to read Bosch in his past. He is so real to me, that whatever case he is in, I feel I understand him – his motives, his devotion to the case, and what he needs to do to bring closure to families affected by the crimes of the perpetrators.
And…Mr. Connelly would tell his story through twists and turns and red herrings…
And…That by the time we readers hit the last page of the book, we know we have just read another brilliant story by him.
Thank you, Mr. Connelly for Bosch. Being able to go back in time, was just as satisfying as any other book I have had the pleasure to read from you.
February 13, 2017
Harry Bosch is now one year into his return to the LAPD out of retirement. He and Kiz Rider are partnered in the Open-Unsolved Unit, working cold cases. One of the them, the 13-year old missing persons case of Marie Gesto, has plagued Harry since he was originally assigned to the investigation. It's now red hot after a serial killer confesses to her abduction as part of an agreement to avoid the death penalty. Now he and Kiz have to determine if he's telling the truth.
Wow. Just wow. This story went sideways, upside down and rightside up again. I've never seen Harry be so off balance so often and when I reached the end, I got why. Be prepared to be just as off kilter as he was. I didn't know who to believe or trust and was just riveted to the story. Also, there's a point where I finally got why women eventually leave Harry, which was a big "aha" moment for him and me.
Len Cariou's narration was just perfect and he made the story even more compelling, though it was pretty exciting on its own. Despite the sentiments of the women in his life, I'm still wild about Harry. Can't wait for the next story!
Wow. Just wow. This story went sideways, upside down and rightside up again. I've never seen Harry be so off balance so often and when I reached the end, I got why. Be prepared to be just as off kilter as he was. I didn't know who to believe or trust and was just riveted to the story. Also, there's a point where I finally got why women eventually leave Harry, which was a big "aha" moment for him and me.
Len Cariou's narration was just perfect and he made the story even more compelling, though it was pretty exciting on its own. Despite the sentiments of the women in his life, I'm still wild about Harry. Can't wait for the next story!
March 31, 2025
Another excellent Bosch mystery full of complicated characters and political BS— that’s what Harry Bosch would say.
Tough to review because I was familiar with the nuts and bolts of the storyline via Amazon’s Bosch series. But, because TV always has to switch things up, invent new characters and even tamper with endings, I was pleasantly surprised that there were a few curve balls in the book that I didn’t see coming.
I’m on a mystery kick these days so I’ve already got the next one cued up on the Kindle— and I expect to enjoy it even more since I don’t know the story line. To be honest, I haven’t read a bad Bosch book yet!!
(Reviewed 3/22/20)
Tough to review because I was familiar with the nuts and bolts of the storyline via Amazon’s Bosch series. But, because TV always has to switch things up, invent new characters and even tamper with endings, I was pleasantly surprised that there were a few curve balls in the book that I didn’t see coming.
I’m on a mystery kick these days so I’ve already got the next one cued up on the Kindle— and I expect to enjoy it even more since I don’t know the story line. To be honest, I haven’t read a bad Bosch book yet!!
(Reviewed 3/22/20)
May 5, 2024
4/5 Estrellas
Que gusto, que placer enfrentarse a un libro con argumento, con método deductivo, donde el investigador se para a pensar, tira de los distintos hilos que le presenta la investigación, más o menos cogidos por los pelos, pero hilos y trama al fin y al cabo.
Tenemos malos, muy malos, tenemos corruptos, tenemos lo peor que pueda concebir el alma humana y tenemos a Bosch, que se aferra a sus casos sin resolver durante años, como perro que vuelve a su viejo hueso, a ver si puede sacar un poco de sustancia, con lealtad a su viejo lema de que todos los muertos cuentan y que todos los crímenes deben ser resueltos y así poder ofrecer a las familias, por muy humildes que sean, el triste consuelo de enterrar a sus muertos.
Tras reengancharse en la Policía de los Ángeles, Harry trabaja en Casos Abiertos, viejos casos que se retoman, intentando resolverlos aplicando las nuevas tecnologías, sobre todo las técnicas genómicas, que no existían en el momento de archivarse los casos. Podría decirse que Bosch está en su salsa, haciendo lo que más le gusta, aislado de las intrigas policiales y políticas en las que está involucrado el Departamento y que tanto le desagradan....aunque parece que por mucho que lo intente las intrigas lo persiguen a él.
Esto es lo que va a suceder cuando uno de los viejos casos sin cerrar de Bosch, el asesinato de Marie Gesto, perpetrado 13 años atrás, aparece relacionado con las actividades de un nuevo asesino en serie que acaba de ser detenido en una de sus últimas acciones. Pudo ser la muerte de Marie Gesto uno de los primeros asesinatos de Waits, el asesino en serie, pillado con las manos en la masa? Quizá la larga espera de Harry ha llegado a su fin o quizá nada es lo que parece....a leer tocan chavales.
Estupendo caso. La serie mantiene un nivel excepcional y da gusto afrontar cada una de las nuevas entregas sabiendo que el disfrute está asegurado y que no te va a defraudar.
Que gusto, que placer enfrentarse a un libro con argumento, con método deductivo, donde el investigador se para a pensar, tira de los distintos hilos que le presenta la investigación, más o menos cogidos por los pelos, pero hilos y trama al fin y al cabo.
Tenemos malos, muy malos, tenemos corruptos, tenemos lo peor que pueda concebir el alma humana y tenemos a Bosch, que se aferra a sus casos sin resolver durante años, como perro que vuelve a su viejo hueso, a ver si puede sacar un poco de sustancia, con lealtad a su viejo lema de que todos los muertos cuentan y que todos los crímenes deben ser resueltos y así poder ofrecer a las familias, por muy humildes que sean, el triste consuelo de enterrar a sus muertos.
Tras reengancharse en la Policía de los Ángeles, Harry trabaja en Casos Abiertos, viejos casos que se retoman, intentando resolverlos aplicando las nuevas tecnologías, sobre todo las técnicas genómicas, que no existían en el momento de archivarse los casos. Podría decirse que Bosch está en su salsa, haciendo lo que más le gusta, aislado de las intrigas policiales y políticas en las que está involucrado el Departamento y que tanto le desagradan....aunque parece que por mucho que lo intente las intrigas lo persiguen a él.
Esto es lo que va a suceder cuando uno de los viejos casos sin cerrar de Bosch, el asesinato de Marie Gesto, perpetrado 13 años atrás, aparece relacionado con las actividades de un nuevo asesino en serie que acaba de ser detenido en una de sus últimas acciones. Pudo ser la muerte de Marie Gesto uno de los primeros asesinatos de Waits, el asesino en serie, pillado con las manos en la masa? Quizá la larga espera de Harry ha llegado a su fin o quizá nada es lo que parece....a leer tocan chavales.
Estupendo caso. La serie mantiene un nivel excepcional y da gusto afrontar cada una de las nuevas entregas sabiendo que el disfrute está asegurado y que no te va a defraudar.
August 8, 2025
Volum este povestea unei obsesii care duce la un final neașteptat. Deși un volum scurt Connelly a concentrat aici tot ceea ce are Boch mai bun, atunci când corupția și banii încearcă să schimbe adevărul lupta pentru rezolvarea cazului nu poate fi decât una complicată.
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June 11, 2025
4.5-Stars for Harry Bosch & "#12, Echo Park"
This was another outstanding book from my "re-read, re-listen" to the Harry Bosch series.
Following my 5-Stars for the re-listen to "The Closers", I am still pondering whether or not to round up this rating to 5-Stars, a decision I will make when I find the time within the next several weeks to write both reviews!
Edit: June 5, 2025: I am a bit pedantic regarding my 5-stars ratings, awarding them to just 79 (out of 1228) audiobooks heard in the past 14 years. Accordingly, "Echo Park", while a great listen, retains a Goodreads rating of 4.0-Stars.
Michael Connelly - Harry Bosch 12 - Echo Park (Len Cariou, 10.16 hrs). Re-added to iTunes 27-05-25 for my re-reading-listening of the Harry Bosch series.
Previously read in paperback format (probably c. 2006), prior to joining Goodreads in October 2011, when I rated it 4-Stars. I discovered that my audio version of "Echo Park" was *shudder* 'abridged' and I acquired another copy. I am looking forward to listening to this 'normal', unabridged version of "Echo Park".
This was another outstanding book from my "re-read, re-listen" to the Harry Bosch series.
Following my 5-Stars for the re-listen to "The Closers", I am still pondering whether or not to round up this rating to 5-Stars, a decision I will make when I find the time within the next several weeks to write both reviews!
Edit: June 5, 2025: I am a bit pedantic regarding my 5-stars ratings, awarding them to just 79 (out of 1228) audiobooks heard in the past 14 years. Accordingly, "Echo Park", while a great listen, retains a Goodreads rating of 4.0-Stars.
Michael Connelly - Harry Bosch 12 - Echo Park (Len Cariou, 10.16 hrs). Re-added to iTunes 27-05-25 for my re-reading-listening of the Harry Bosch series.
Previously read in paperback format (probably c. 2006), prior to joining Goodreads in October 2011, when I rated it 4-Stars. I discovered that my audio version of "Echo Park" was *shudder* 'abridged' and I acquired another copy. I am looking forward to listening to this 'normal', unabridged version of "Echo Park".
December 1, 2012
Time saver tip: if you've read my review of any Harry Bosch book, you've read 'em all. Since I don't reveal plots and reserve my comments to the overall book/author, characterization, style, etc...I just don't feel the need to repeat myself as in most cases series books if any good at all do remain consistent. The star ratings might change, but not my opinion of the series as a whole.
Michael Connelly is a well know and very popular author in the mystery/detective and police procedural genres. Exploding onto the scene in the early nineties with his first six novels, and topping it off just recently with his 18th Bosch novel (The Black Box), Connelly has garnered most awards worth getting. Let's face it, the awards are well deserved, especially for those first novels (more on that later).
Having emerged onto the fictional world after a career as a journalist, culminating with his job as crime reporter for the LA times, and admitting to becoming interested in writing fiction as a result of reading Raymond Chandler early on in his journalistic career, Michael Connelly has since involved himself in several collaborations: notable the television series Level 9, and as co-writer with Val McDermid's Wire In the Blood series (and that spawned the wildly popular grim, noir BBC television series of the same name). If you're into Noir than this TV series is a must see.
Connelly has a knack for writing suspenseful tales that take quite a few twists and turns before being resolved with a stellar Who-Done-It that has most readers guessing till the very end (at least in his earlier books).
Heironymous (Harry) Bosch, the hero in this series, is named after a Renaissance painter who specialized in earthly sins, debauchery, fanciful and gruesome visions of hell, violent consequences from high above if not detailed looks at the tortures reserved for earthly residents. Score 1 for Connelly in choosing a very apropos name for our own tortured detective Harry Bosch.
Bosch is a complicated and conflicted character, a character that slowly develops across this series but whose emotive origin lies in the Viet Cong tunnels where Harry got his education in fear: underground, claustrophic, dark, drenched with blood, gruesome deaths, peopled with a savage enemy crawling within the absence of all light, hunting for the American soldiers like bloodthirsty rats. From these dark tunnels emerges Harry Bosch, LAPD detective, bent on setting the world right. From this darkness where pacific military command has sent Bosch to discover the inevitable conflict between a military order and the reality of carrying out that order, we find a detective in perpetual defiance of LAPD authority.
The Harry Bosch series, for me, are divided into two sets: the first 4 books, and the rest that follow. As mentioned earlier, the classic early 90's novels were better for me. Books starting with The Black Echo on through The Last Coyote all inherit the tortuous origins of Harry's artistic namesake. Reading these books I could actually feel my heart begin to race as I sped towards the inevitable ending, ones that actually kept you guessing to the very end. One reviewer (sorry, can't remember who it was) says the following of these earlier book titles:
[...]Even the titles of the books used to be cleverer. Compare The Drop (a simple reference to Deferred Retirement Option Plan) to The Concrete Blonde (a reference to both lady justice statue on the courthouse and the body of a blonde entombed in concrete. [...]
Compare that to the later books in the series where we find a Harry Bosch notably mellower in his older age, where we find endings easily guessed at, where procedure begins to trump a superb plot. Bosch no longer smokes, doesn't drink and drive, doesn't slap people around anymore, where his defiance of LAPD authority is tempered by retirement, and let's face it, where my heart just doesn't race as often anymore. Let's say that his later novels are beginning to show an author's haste (is it me, or are the novels shorter and shorter?)
Don't get me wrong, I still love reading the latest Bosch novel. Where the earlier novels have a few things that can be improved on (dialogue could have been better) the later novels are polished, almost a little too much so. After 18 Bosch novels, is Connelly tiring? Maybe.
Beginning with the last 90's novel (Angels Flight) in which we are introduced to Bosch's latest romantic interest, Eleanor Wish, with whom Bosch is to have a daughter this mellowing process takes root. Connelly is absolutely right to introduce this notable character shift in Bosch from this book forward because as I can attest to in my own personal life: when you see your child born, a fundamental shift takes place in a man. For me, I was reborn from a devilish bachelor into a man who now bore the responsibility of an innocent life. It completely turned around my life for the better. And so it is with Harry Bosch. It is the presence of his daughter that transforms him from Heironymous to Harry.
Overall, I highly recommend this series.
Michael Connelly is a well know and very popular author in the mystery/detective and police procedural genres. Exploding onto the scene in the early nineties with his first six novels, and topping it off just recently with his 18th Bosch novel (The Black Box), Connelly has garnered most awards worth getting. Let's face it, the awards are well deserved, especially for those first novels (more on that later).
Having emerged onto the fictional world after a career as a journalist, culminating with his job as crime reporter for the LA times, and admitting to becoming interested in writing fiction as a result of reading Raymond Chandler early on in his journalistic career, Michael Connelly has since involved himself in several collaborations: notable the television series Level 9, and as co-writer with Val McDermid's Wire In the Blood series (and that spawned the wildly popular grim, noir BBC television series of the same name). If you're into Noir than this TV series is a must see.
Connelly has a knack for writing suspenseful tales that take quite a few twists and turns before being resolved with a stellar Who-Done-It that has most readers guessing till the very end (at least in his earlier books).
Heironymous (Harry) Bosch, the hero in this series, is named after a Renaissance painter who specialized in earthly sins, debauchery, fanciful and gruesome visions of hell, violent consequences from high above if not detailed looks at the tortures reserved for earthly residents. Score 1 for Connelly in choosing a very apropos name for our own tortured detective Harry Bosch.
Bosch is a complicated and conflicted character, a character that slowly develops across this series but whose emotive origin lies in the Viet Cong tunnels where Harry got his education in fear: underground, claustrophic, dark, drenched with blood, gruesome deaths, peopled with a savage enemy crawling within the absence of all light, hunting for the American soldiers like bloodthirsty rats. From these dark tunnels emerges Harry Bosch, LAPD detective, bent on setting the world right. From this darkness where pacific military command has sent Bosch to discover the inevitable conflict between a military order and the reality of carrying out that order, we find a detective in perpetual defiance of LAPD authority.
The Harry Bosch series, for me, are divided into two sets: the first 4 books, and the rest that follow. As mentioned earlier, the classic early 90's novels were better for me. Books starting with The Black Echo on through The Last Coyote all inherit the tortuous origins of Harry's artistic namesake. Reading these books I could actually feel my heart begin to race as I sped towards the inevitable ending, ones that actually kept you guessing to the very end. One reviewer (sorry, can't remember who it was) says the following of these earlier book titles:
[...]Even the titles of the books used to be cleverer. Compare The Drop (a simple reference to Deferred Retirement Option Plan) to The Concrete Blonde (a reference to both lady justice statue on the courthouse and the body of a blonde entombed in concrete. [...]
Compare that to the later books in the series where we find a Harry Bosch notably mellower in his older age, where we find endings easily guessed at, where procedure begins to trump a superb plot. Bosch no longer smokes, doesn't drink and drive, doesn't slap people around anymore, where his defiance of LAPD authority is tempered by retirement, and let's face it, where my heart just doesn't race as often anymore. Let's say that his later novels are beginning to show an author's haste (is it me, or are the novels shorter and shorter?)
Don't get me wrong, I still love reading the latest Bosch novel. Where the earlier novels have a few things that can be improved on (dialogue could have been better) the later novels are polished, almost a little too much so. After 18 Bosch novels, is Connelly tiring? Maybe.
Beginning with the last 90's novel (Angels Flight) in which we are introduced to Bosch's latest romantic interest, Eleanor Wish, with whom Bosch is to have a daughter this mellowing process takes root. Connelly is absolutely right to introduce this notable character shift in Bosch from this book forward because as I can attest to in my own personal life: when you see your child born, a fundamental shift takes place in a man. For me, I was reborn from a devilish bachelor into a man who now bore the responsibility of an innocent life. It completely turned around my life for the better. And so it is with Harry Bosch. It is the presence of his daughter that transforms him from Heironymous to Harry.
Overall, I highly recommend this series.
Read
May 18, 2016The Hook - “I’m working my way through you Bosch.”
The Line - ”“It was the little questions that always bothered him, filled the hollow inside with dread.”
The Sinker - Echo Park was truly my favorite of Harry Bosch Series
thus far. Its excellent plotting, cracker-jack writing, the attention to details, all made this just what you’d expect in a crime novel.
Bosch is working a 1993 cold case, the disappearance of twenty-two year old Marie Gesto. The case is over ten years old but it’s one of those that got under his skin, one he keeps coming back to and one he wants to solve, not only to bring closure to her family but for himself. When he gets a call from the DA that a murderer is willing to make a deal to lead police to several bodies, including that of Gesto, Bosch is all in. Of course nothing is as easy as it seems and we’re off and running in this fast-paced, realistic thriller.
The recent Bosch TV Series covers elements of Echo Park but can’t come close to capturing the raw tension of the written work. There is a scene where Bosch interrogates the suspected serial killer, Raynard Waits that should be a classic scene in crime fiction. It is superior and equal to, if not better than Silence of the Lambs.
Bosch continues to interest me as a character. He is a complex man, often a loose canon, what his partner calls “the cowboy thing”, a man who appreciates art, jazz, a good book and can guzzle down a beer with the best of them. I always learn something new about Harry Bosch with each book in the series. In Echo Park I learned Harry’s a boxer shorts guy. This is my angst when it comes to the portrayal of Bosch in the TV series. Do you think Titus Welliver looks like a boxer kind of guy?
The Line - ”“It was the little questions that always bothered him, filled the hollow inside with dread.”
The Sinker - Echo Park was truly my favorite of Harry Bosch Series
thus far. Its excellent plotting, cracker-jack writing, the attention to details, all made this just what you’d expect in a crime novel.
Bosch is working a 1993 cold case, the disappearance of twenty-two year old Marie Gesto. The case is over ten years old but it’s one of those that got under his skin, one he keeps coming back to and one he wants to solve, not only to bring closure to her family but for himself. When he gets a call from the DA that a murderer is willing to make a deal to lead police to several bodies, including that of Gesto, Bosch is all in. Of course nothing is as easy as it seems and we’re off and running in this fast-paced, realistic thriller.
The recent Bosch TV Series covers elements of Echo Park but can’t come close to capturing the raw tension of the written work. There is a scene where Bosch interrogates the suspected serial killer, Raynard Waits that should be a classic scene in crime fiction. It is superior and equal to, if not better than Silence of the Lambs.
Bosch continues to interest me as a character. He is a complex man, often a loose canon, what his partner calls “the cowboy thing”, a man who appreciates art, jazz, a good book and can guzzle down a beer with the best of them. I always learn something new about Harry Bosch with each book in the series. In Echo Park I learned Harry’s a boxer shorts guy. This is my angst when it comes to the portrayal of Bosch in the TV series. Do you think Titus Welliver looks like a boxer kind of guy?
June 14, 2025
Една от най-добрите книги от цялата серия!
Хари служи пак в полицията от година и продължава да се занимава с разследването на стари и неприключени случаи на убийства.
Един от тях е този на безследно изчезналата преди 13 години Мари Жесто. Хари подозира, че зад това престъпление стои арогантния наследник на милионера Ти Рекс Гарлънд - Антъни, но не може да го докаже.
И когато заловен наскоро сериен убиец, някой си Рейнард Уейтс поема вината и за това убийство, той е принуден от обстоятелствата да приеме, че е сбъркал. Но дали това е така?
Експлозивен крими трилър, с който Конъли доказва защо е един от големите майстори в занаята!
Хари служи пак в полицията от година и продължава да се занимава с разследването на стари и неприключени случаи на убийства.
Един от тях е този на безследно изчезналата преди 13 години Мари Жесто. Хари подозира, че зад това престъпление стои арогантния наследник на милионера Ти Рекс Гарлънд - Антъни, но не може да го докаже.
И когато заловен наскоро сериен убиец, някой си Рейнард Уейтс поема вината и за това убийство, той е принуден от обстоятелствата да приеме, че е сбъркал. Но дали това е така?
Експлозивен крими трилър, с който Конъли доказва защо е един от големите майстори в занаята!
December 19, 2025
Hard driving, gutsy police procedural!
Harry Bosch is a detective working for LAPD's Open Unsolved Unit. Marie Gesto's 1996 disappearance, a case to which Bosch was assigned when he was in Homicide, was never solved. Her clothes were found neatly folded on the front seat of an abandoned car parked in the garage of a vacant luxury apartment but her body was never recovered and the case has eaten at Bosch ever since. Thirteen years later, Raynard Waits was pulled over in his van in the early morning hours in Echo Park but the traffic stop turned out to be far from routine. The officers discovered two trash bags in the van that contained the dismembered body parts of two women. In an effort to avoid the death penalty, Waits and his lawyer, Maurice Swann, negotiate a deal with the prosecuting attorney, Rick O'Shea, in which Waits confesses to nine murders including Marie Gesto's and promises to lead the police to the location of her long buried body.
But every good detective knows that the devil is in the details and there are a few things about Waits' story and the structure of the deal that just don't ring true for Bosch. So despite all evidence to the contrary, Bosch persists in the investigation, gets in a lot of faces and takes us on an amazing roller coaster ride to the astonishing solution that has avoided his grasp for so many years.
ECHO PARK is a brilliant piece of literary craftsmanship that isn't so much thriller as hard-core, rock solid police procedural - gritty, sweaty, dynamic, realistic, fast-paced, exciting, political and filled to the brim with a wealth of informative detail. But, make no mistake about it, the plot is still a hard-driving page turner and doesn't let up for a single page from start to finish. An old acquaintance and working colleague, FBI agent Rachel Walling, provides Bosch with expertise in psychological profiling and fleshes out Connelly's story with a romantic twist that ends in a much more down to earth fashion than we've come to expect from more run-of-the-mill novels.
Congratulations to Michael Connelly! He seems to be moving from strength to strength. THE LINCOLN LAWYER was outstanding, ECHO PARK was superb and there's certainly no indication that his momentum is flagging!
Paul Weiss
Harry Bosch is a detective working for LAPD's Open Unsolved Unit. Marie Gesto's 1996 disappearance, a case to which Bosch was assigned when he was in Homicide, was never solved. Her clothes were found neatly folded on the front seat of an abandoned car parked in the garage of a vacant luxury apartment but her body was never recovered and the case has eaten at Bosch ever since. Thirteen years later, Raynard Waits was pulled over in his van in the early morning hours in Echo Park but the traffic stop turned out to be far from routine. The officers discovered two trash bags in the van that contained the dismembered body parts of two women. In an effort to avoid the death penalty, Waits and his lawyer, Maurice Swann, negotiate a deal with the prosecuting attorney, Rick O'Shea, in which Waits confesses to nine murders including Marie Gesto's and promises to lead the police to the location of her long buried body.
But every good detective knows that the devil is in the details and there are a few things about Waits' story and the structure of the deal that just don't ring true for Bosch. So despite all evidence to the contrary, Bosch persists in the investigation, gets in a lot of faces and takes us on an amazing roller coaster ride to the astonishing solution that has avoided his grasp for so many years.
ECHO PARK is a brilliant piece of literary craftsmanship that isn't so much thriller as hard-core, rock solid police procedural - gritty, sweaty, dynamic, realistic, fast-paced, exciting, political and filled to the brim with a wealth of informative detail. But, make no mistake about it, the plot is still a hard-driving page turner and doesn't let up for a single page from start to finish. An old acquaintance and working colleague, FBI agent Rachel Walling, provides Bosch with expertise in psychological profiling and fleshes out Connelly's story with a romantic twist that ends in a much more down to earth fashion than we've come to expect from more run-of-the-mill novels.
Congratulations to Michael Connelly! He seems to be moving from strength to strength. THE LINCOLN LAWYER was outstanding, ECHO PARK was superb and there's certainly no indication that his momentum is flagging!
Paul Weiss
October 22, 2025
4.5★
“ ‘How many murders have you solved, Harry? How many killers have you put away?’
‘I don't know. I don't keep track.’
‘Maybe you should.’”
Harry’s still working with the Open-Unsolved Unit, looking at the case of Marie Gesto, a girl who went missing thirteen years ago. It’s a case that continues to haunt him. A guy has recently confessed to her murder, among other murders, and Harry thinks he missed a clue that would have caught him earlier, so he’s beating himself up about it.
It doesn’t matter if he’s ‘ahead’ in the long run. He doesn’t keep score. He wants to catch them all. They all count.
He’s got Kiz Rider partnering with him, but the guy in custody is an obvious serial killer, so he contacts agent Rachel Walling, from the FBI, to ask for her profiling expertise. They parted awkwardly the last time they were together, so he’s not sure she’ll agree.
He wants to know what to look for, how to question the guy, how to handle him. She has a look at the files and realises that she needs to be an ongoing part of the investigation.
The situation is complicated with all kinds of political shenanigans. Rick O’Shea (yeah, ricochet) is in the runoff for District Attorney, and he desperately wants to be part of locking up a major serial killer for life. It seems he will do everything he can to get this case over and done before the election, no matter what it takes.
“It was said that L.A. was a sunny place for shady people. Bosch knew that better than most.”
Bosch is suspicious about how things are being rushed, still feeling guilty about missing the clue to Marie Gesto’s disappearance that he found when re-reading the Murder Book. He can see things are being rushed. The suspect he figured had taken Marie is the son of an influential oil man, which is why Bosch couldn’t get to him. So what’s with this confession from someone else?
It's another good read, of course, marred a bit for me only because I made the mistake of watching the first TV series of Bosch. I recognised some of that plot as part of two different books I’d already read, so I looked up the reviews and discovered it was also based on this book. It didn’t actually spoil it, though.
There are several incidents of OIS, Officer Involved Shooting, some of which lead to a rising body count, with or without Bosch’s involvement. He really doesn’t know who can be trusted this time around.
These are more than whodunits. The relationships, the settings, the triggering of memories of Vietnam – they all contribute to Bosch’s ongoing story – his life. I’m sure people who know Los Angeles will consult their mental roadmaps as they read, because Connelly describes in detail the routes Bosch takes.
There are freeways and then there are roads winding up into the hills, some where you can’t drive casually by a house without turning around at the end and passing it again, raising suspicion if someone is looking. These details matter. The place is spread out and it’s tricky.
Connelly puts us right there. Here is Bosch’s Echo Park. He had lived there as a boy.
In the shadows of downtown's spires and under the glow of lights from Dodger Stadium, Echo Park was one of L.A.'s oldest and ever-changing neighborhoods. Over the decades it had been the destination of the city's immigrant underclass — the Italians coming first and then the Mexicans, the Chinese, the Cubans, Ukrainians and all of the others. By day a walk down the main drag of Sunset Boulevard might require skills in five or more languages to read all of the storefronts. By night it was the only place in the city where the air could be split by the sound of gang gunfire, the cheers for a home-run ball, and the baying of the hillside coyotes — all in the same hour.
These days Echo Park was also a favored destination of another class of newcomer — the young and hip. The cool. Artists, musicians and writers were moving in. Cafes and vintage clothing shops were squeezing in next to the bodegas and ‘mariscos’ stands. A wave of gentrification was washing across the flats and up the hillsides below the baseball stadium. It meant the character of the place was changing. It meant real-estate prices were going up, pushing out the working class and the gangs.”
I enjoy lots of different kinds of books, but often it’s just a lucky dip whether I get a good one or not. I know I can trust Connelly to give me a good story.
If you’re interested in reviews of some previous books, here are mine. Numbers vary, because of the Harry Bosch Universe, but this was my reading order.
(#1) My review of The Black Echo
(#2) My review of The Black Ice
(#3) My review of The Concrete Blonde
(#4) My review of The Last Coyote
(#5) My review of Trunk Music
(#6) My review of Angels Flight
(#7) My review of A Darkness More Than Night
(#8) My review of City of Bones
(#9) My review of Lost Light
(Jack McEvoy #1, Harry Bosch Universe #5, prequel to The Narrows) My review of The Poet
(#10) My review of The Narrows
(#11) My review of The Closers
“ ‘How many murders have you solved, Harry? How many killers have you put away?’
‘I don't know. I don't keep track.’
‘Maybe you should.’”
Harry’s still working with the Open-Unsolved Unit, looking at the case of Marie Gesto, a girl who went missing thirteen years ago. It’s a case that continues to haunt him. A guy has recently confessed to her murder, among other murders, and Harry thinks he missed a clue that would have caught him earlier, so he’s beating himself up about it.
It doesn’t matter if he’s ‘ahead’ in the long run. He doesn’t keep score. He wants to catch them all. They all count.
He’s got Kiz Rider partnering with him, but the guy in custody is an obvious serial killer, so he contacts agent Rachel Walling, from the FBI, to ask for her profiling expertise. They parted awkwardly the last time they were together, so he’s not sure she’ll agree.
He wants to know what to look for, how to question the guy, how to handle him. She has a look at the files and realises that she needs to be an ongoing part of the investigation.
The situation is complicated with all kinds of political shenanigans. Rick O’Shea (yeah, ricochet) is in the runoff for District Attorney, and he desperately wants to be part of locking up a major serial killer for life. It seems he will do everything he can to get this case over and done before the election, no matter what it takes.
“It was said that L.A. was a sunny place for shady people. Bosch knew that better than most.”
Bosch is suspicious about how things are being rushed, still feeling guilty about missing the clue to Marie Gesto’s disappearance that he found when re-reading the Murder Book. He can see things are being rushed. The suspect he figured had taken Marie is the son of an influential oil man, which is why Bosch couldn’t get to him. So what’s with this confession from someone else?
It's another good read, of course, marred a bit for me only because I made the mistake of watching the first TV series of Bosch. I recognised some of that plot as part of two different books I’d already read, so I looked up the reviews and discovered it was also based on this book. It didn’t actually spoil it, though.
There are several incidents of OIS, Officer Involved Shooting, some of which lead to a rising body count, with or without Bosch’s involvement. He really doesn’t know who can be trusted this time around.
These are more than whodunits. The relationships, the settings, the triggering of memories of Vietnam – they all contribute to Bosch’s ongoing story – his life. I’m sure people who know Los Angeles will consult their mental roadmaps as they read, because Connelly describes in detail the routes Bosch takes.
There are freeways and then there are roads winding up into the hills, some where you can’t drive casually by a house without turning around at the end and passing it again, raising suspicion if someone is looking. These details matter. The place is spread out and it’s tricky.
Connelly puts us right there. Here is Bosch’s Echo Park. He had lived there as a boy.
In the shadows of downtown's spires and under the glow of lights from Dodger Stadium, Echo Park was one of L.A.'s oldest and ever-changing neighborhoods. Over the decades it had been the destination of the city's immigrant underclass — the Italians coming first and then the Mexicans, the Chinese, the Cubans, Ukrainians and all of the others. By day a walk down the main drag of Sunset Boulevard might require skills in five or more languages to read all of the storefronts. By night it was the only place in the city where the air could be split by the sound of gang gunfire, the cheers for a home-run ball, and the baying of the hillside coyotes — all in the same hour.
These days Echo Park was also a favored destination of another class of newcomer — the young and hip. The cool. Artists, musicians and writers were moving in. Cafes and vintage clothing shops were squeezing in next to the bodegas and ‘mariscos’ stands. A wave of gentrification was washing across the flats and up the hillsides below the baseball stadium. It meant the character of the place was changing. It meant real-estate prices were going up, pushing out the working class and the gangs.”
I enjoy lots of different kinds of books, but often it’s just a lucky dip whether I get a good one or not. I know I can trust Connelly to give me a good story.
If you’re interested in reviews of some previous books, here are mine. Numbers vary, because of the Harry Bosch Universe, but this was my reading order.
(#1) My review of The Black Echo
(#2) My review of The Black Ice
(#3) My review of The Concrete Blonde
(#4) My review of The Last Coyote
(#5) My review of Trunk Music
(#6) My review of Angels Flight
(#7) My review of A Darkness More Than Night
(#8) My review of City of Bones
(#9) My review of Lost Light
(Jack McEvoy #1, Harry Bosch Universe #5, prequel to The Narrows) My review of The Poet
(#10) My review of The Narrows
(#11) My review of The Closers
December 31, 2019
** Continuing my read and review of Michael Connelly’s Detective Bosch series **
Connelly’s 17th book and 12th outing with Bosch - “The Echo Park” - was first published back in 2006. Detective Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch is a Vietnam war veteran and a twenty-year police officer serving in the Los Angeles, California police department. Harry was once a star in the Robbery/Homicide division, working out of the LA city headquarters until his bad habit of fighting the formal structure of the police department and especially those in leadership positions led him to being demoted to the Hollywood detective squad, and eventually retiring from law enforcement.
When the book starts, Bosch is back from his three-year retirement and working with his previous and current partner, Kizmin "Kiz" Rider, in the specialized LA Open-Unsolved Unit, assigned to review cases whose investigations had flaws, got stalled, or even abandoned to other more important or high-profile investigations. One day, Harry gets a call from the DA’s office regarding an old unsolved murder investigation he has never let go of, including the case file sitting on his desk which he reviews regularly.
The old case goes back to 1995, when 22-year-old Marie Gesto went missing after walking out of a Hollywood supermarket. Bosch and his prior partner, Jerry Edgar, investigated her disappearance but never found her body or a culprit. Now 13 years later a lucky late-night traffic stop in the Echo Park neighborhood captures Reynard Waits with body parts in his van. Detective Freddy Olivas and prosecuting attorney running for District Attorney, Richard O’Shea, are handling the case and need Bosch’s help in closing it out.
It seems that faced with the death penalty, Waits has decided to a string of slayings involving runaway girls and prostitutes, including a pawnshop owner during the 1992 riots and Bosh’s missing Marie Gesto. O’Shea and Olivas want Bosch to help interview Waits about Gesto’s disappearance to confirm if he knows enough about the details not publicly disclosed to be her killer.
Harry isn’t sure about believing Waits, but when the Gesto case file is reviewed, Olivas discovers a note that describes a tipster call shortly after Gesto’s disappearance from a person named Reynard Waits, but it appears that Bosch and Edgar never followed up on it. This costly error could have protected other girls from being killed and it plays hard on Bosch’s psyche, driving him to seek help from FBI agent and ex-girlfriend Rachel Walling, someone who is less than enthusiastic to see him again.
While Walling helps Bosch, Waits promises to take them to where he buried Gesto’s body as part of a plea deal, PA O’Shea immediately agrees and Bosch is assigned to be part the police entourage led by O’Shea and Olivas. However, when they arrive at the burial site, all hell breaks loose including violence and death, and Waits escapes police custody, only to be seen taking another girl off the street less than a day later. Bosch is now running out of time to save another life and stop a serial killer before it’s too late.
Like the previous books, this one takes place over a short period of time, converging a past story with Harry’s current investigation to tell a provocative and twisting story. The mystery is explored in a fast-paced, staccato style that pulls you in from the beginning and easily keeps you thinking about what the outcome will be. As with his previous books, Connelly’s prose is sharp and precise. There are no wasted words and his descriptions are crisp and flow with dramatic energy. He makes it so easy to just soak in the words effortlessly and get lost in the story as if you were right there next to Harry and Rachel, fully participating in the investigation.
I was especially pleased with how well Connelly unfolds the story of Harry and Rachel’s personal and professional relationship. It is hard to watch it unravel and I found myself siding more with Rachel than Harry. Even though he has always been a cavalier cowboy when chasing down bad guys, he has really started to cross the line in personal and selfish ways. He has been in constant conflict and political battles with the previous Deputy Chief, Irvin Irving, and now Harry’s own dark side and prideful drive are causing him to become as blinded as Irving was in trying to defend his own actions. Harry has become just as guilty in trying to defend his selfish behavior, which impacts everyone around him, especially pushing Kiz and Rachel away.
Overall, I am continually impressed with the strong quality that Connelly applies to each one of his books. He is a proven master narrator, never telling the same story twice, and constantly surprising his readers with tight plotting, unique characters, and vivid settings. I make this same statement after finishing each of his novels, and I am making it again - Bosch just gets better and better. It’s that simple. I don’t know how he keeps raising the bar, but he does.
Now that Harry is back in bureaucratic world of the LAPD, struggling with his behavior and relationships, there continues to be more fertile ground for Connelly to explore and develop with Bosch and the characters that are involved with him. I can’t wait to read and find out what happens next…
Connelly’s 17th book and 12th outing with Bosch - “The Echo Park” - was first published back in 2006. Detective Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch is a Vietnam war veteran and a twenty-year police officer serving in the Los Angeles, California police department. Harry was once a star in the Robbery/Homicide division, working out of the LA city headquarters until his bad habit of fighting the formal structure of the police department and especially those in leadership positions led him to being demoted to the Hollywood detective squad, and eventually retiring from law enforcement.
When the book starts, Bosch is back from his three-year retirement and working with his previous and current partner, Kizmin "Kiz" Rider, in the specialized LA Open-Unsolved Unit, assigned to review cases whose investigations had flaws, got stalled, or even abandoned to other more important or high-profile investigations. One day, Harry gets a call from the DA’s office regarding an old unsolved murder investigation he has never let go of, including the case file sitting on his desk which he reviews regularly.
The old case goes back to 1995, when 22-year-old Marie Gesto went missing after walking out of a Hollywood supermarket. Bosch and his prior partner, Jerry Edgar, investigated her disappearance but never found her body or a culprit. Now 13 years later a lucky late-night traffic stop in the Echo Park neighborhood captures Reynard Waits with body parts in his van. Detective Freddy Olivas and prosecuting attorney running for District Attorney, Richard O’Shea, are handling the case and need Bosch’s help in closing it out.
It seems that faced with the death penalty, Waits has decided to a string of slayings involving runaway girls and prostitutes, including a pawnshop owner during the 1992 riots and Bosh’s missing Marie Gesto. O’Shea and Olivas want Bosch to help interview Waits about Gesto’s disappearance to confirm if he knows enough about the details not publicly disclosed to be her killer.
Harry isn’t sure about believing Waits, but when the Gesto case file is reviewed, Olivas discovers a note that describes a tipster call shortly after Gesto’s disappearance from a person named Reynard Waits, but it appears that Bosch and Edgar never followed up on it. This costly error could have protected other girls from being killed and it plays hard on Bosch’s psyche, driving him to seek help from FBI agent and ex-girlfriend Rachel Walling, someone who is less than enthusiastic to see him again.
While Walling helps Bosch, Waits promises to take them to where he buried Gesto’s body as part of a plea deal, PA O’Shea immediately agrees and Bosch is assigned to be part the police entourage led by O’Shea and Olivas. However, when they arrive at the burial site, all hell breaks loose including violence and death, and Waits escapes police custody, only to be seen taking another girl off the street less than a day later. Bosch is now running out of time to save another life and stop a serial killer before it’s too late.
Like the previous books, this one takes place over a short period of time, converging a past story with Harry’s current investigation to tell a provocative and twisting story. The mystery is explored in a fast-paced, staccato style that pulls you in from the beginning and easily keeps you thinking about what the outcome will be. As with his previous books, Connelly’s prose is sharp and precise. There are no wasted words and his descriptions are crisp and flow with dramatic energy. He makes it so easy to just soak in the words effortlessly and get lost in the story as if you were right there next to Harry and Rachel, fully participating in the investigation.
I was especially pleased with how well Connelly unfolds the story of Harry and Rachel’s personal and professional relationship. It is hard to watch it unravel and I found myself siding more with Rachel than Harry. Even though he has always been a cavalier cowboy when chasing down bad guys, he has really started to cross the line in personal and selfish ways. He has been in constant conflict and political battles with the previous Deputy Chief, Irvin Irving, and now Harry’s own dark side and prideful drive are causing him to become as blinded as Irving was in trying to defend his own actions. Harry has become just as guilty in trying to defend his selfish behavior, which impacts everyone around him, especially pushing Kiz and Rachel away.
Overall, I am continually impressed with the strong quality that Connelly applies to each one of his books. He is a proven master narrator, never telling the same story twice, and constantly surprising his readers with tight plotting, unique characters, and vivid settings. I make this same statement after finishing each of his novels, and I am making it again - Bosch just gets better and better. It’s that simple. I don’t know how he keeps raising the bar, but he does.
Now that Harry is back in bureaucratic world of the LAPD, struggling with his behavior and relationships, there continues to be more fertile ground for Connelly to explore and develop with Bosch and the characters that are involved with him. I can’t wait to read and find out what happens next…
January 13, 2025
LAPD Homicide Detective Heironymous “Harry” Bosch won’t let it go. It’s part of what makes him a great detective: his steely determination, his intensity of purpose. It also makes him reckless and often blind to the feelings of his friends and loved ones, which is part of the reason why he has so few.
In “Echo Park”, Michael Connelly’s twelfth Bosch book, Bosch can’t let the murder of Marie Gesto go. In 1993, she disappeared and was never seen again. No body. No clue. No closure.
It’s 13 years later. Bosch revisits the Gesto case now and then, hoping for new clues, but he fears that it will go down as one of the many thousand unsolved cases in Los Angeles.
Then, Reynard Waits happens. Picked up on a traffic violation, Waits is found with garbage bags in his van full of women’s body parts. Police have discovered a serial killer that they weren’t even looking for, and Bosch is about to get a major clue in the Gesto case.
Unfortunately, Waits makes a deal with an ambitious D.A. and a sleazy, possibly corrupt cop. Waits knows where several bodies are buried, and Gesto is one of them. Bosch and his partner, Kiz, are part of a field trip led by a hand-cuffed Waits to find the body.
Shit hits the fan. Before anyone knows what’s going on, several cops are dead, several are injured, and Waits has disappeared.
Now, Bosch is on a manhunt. But things aren’t adding up with his investigation. Waits doesn’t feel right as Gesto’s killer. So how did he know where the body was? Someone has been playing Bosch the whole time, someone with access and connections to LAPD higher-ups.
As always, Connelly tells a suspenseful story, replete with twists and turns you won’t see coming.
“Echo Park” was adapted for television for the TV show Bosch, one of the better cop shows currently on television. If you’re a Bosch fan, and a fan of great police procedural, check out the Amazon Prime show, now going into its seventh season (hopefully).
In “Echo Park”, Michael Connelly’s twelfth Bosch book, Bosch can’t let the murder of Marie Gesto go. In 1993, she disappeared and was never seen again. No body. No clue. No closure.
It’s 13 years later. Bosch revisits the Gesto case now and then, hoping for new clues, but he fears that it will go down as one of the many thousand unsolved cases in Los Angeles.
Then, Reynard Waits happens. Picked up on a traffic violation, Waits is found with garbage bags in his van full of women’s body parts. Police have discovered a serial killer that they weren’t even looking for, and Bosch is about to get a major clue in the Gesto case.
Unfortunately, Waits makes a deal with an ambitious D.A. and a sleazy, possibly corrupt cop. Waits knows where several bodies are buried, and Gesto is one of them. Bosch and his partner, Kiz, are part of a field trip led by a hand-cuffed Waits to find the body.
Shit hits the fan. Before anyone knows what’s going on, several cops are dead, several are injured, and Waits has disappeared.
Now, Bosch is on a manhunt. But things aren’t adding up with his investigation. Waits doesn’t feel right as Gesto’s killer. So how did he know where the body was? Someone has been playing Bosch the whole time, someone with access and connections to LAPD higher-ups.
As always, Connelly tells a suspenseful story, replete with twists and turns you won’t see coming.
“Echo Park” was adapted for television for the TV show Bosch, one of the better cop shows currently on television. If you’re a Bosch fan, and a fan of great police procedural, check out the Amazon Prime show, now going into its seventh season (hopefully).
January 18, 2017
8/10
"When you've read a bad book and you need a pickmeup, who ya gonna call? Harry Bosch!"
Not quite as lyrically poetic as the fine Ray Parker Jr, but you get the picture. I know I'm going to get a good read when I pick up this series. Bosch is well rounded by this stage, book 12 in the series, and you know his character and determination will see him through but Michael Connelly still throws in a number of surprises and intriguing plot points to make this anything but a paint by numbers crime novel.
I love the setting of LA in this world (strange seeing as I hated it in real life) but everything is fleshed out and feels real. Flashback/recounting things that happened in the LA riots and how they still impact folk currently is really well done.
The start of this book really intrigued me; a serial killer confessing to a cold case which Bosch is adamant another guy did. Bosch reels from this and you can feel it throughout although he's still sure he was right. I'd love to be that confident of my skills!
Things did tail off at the end and some of the intrigue went but I still really enjoyed this book. Admittedly I'll probably not remember the specifics in a couple of months but the ride was fun whilst it lasted.
Love this series and always happy to pick them up. Well worth the time if you've never tried them.
"When you've read a bad book and you need a pickmeup, who ya gonna call? Harry Bosch!"
Not quite as lyrically poetic as the fine Ray Parker Jr, but you get the picture. I know I'm going to get a good read when I pick up this series. Bosch is well rounded by this stage, book 12 in the series, and you know his character and determination will see him through but Michael Connelly still throws in a number of surprises and intriguing plot points to make this anything but a paint by numbers crime novel.
I love the setting of LA in this world (strange seeing as I hated it in real life) but everything is fleshed out and feels real. Flashback/recounting things that happened in the LA riots and how they still impact folk currently is really well done.
The start of this book really intrigued me; a serial killer confessing to a cold case which Bosch is adamant another guy did. Bosch reels from this and you can feel it throughout although he's still sure he was right. I'd love to be that confident of my skills!
Things did tail off at the end and some of the intrigue went but I still really enjoyed this book. Admittedly I'll probably not remember the specifics in a couple of months but the ride was fun whilst it lasted.
Love this series and always happy to pick them up. Well worth the time if you've never tried them.
April 14, 2024
Another stellar installment of the Harry Bosch Universe.
February 13, 2017
What can I say about Bosch at this point? This book gives you a great mystery, politics, and finally someone just calling out Harry for the crap he keeps pulling when it comes to always doing things his way and his whole damn the consequences thing.
"Echo Park" is the 12th book in the Harry Bosch universe. With Harry now back working Open/Unsolved cases with his partner Kiz, he feels better than he has in a while. However, one of Harry's past cases which has haunted him is coming back in a big way with it looking like a serial killer may have been behind his victim's disappearance. What makes things even bigger this time for Harry is that this case could possibly lead to the LAPD being put under more of a microscope with regards to their actions due a possible change in the DA's office and the city council. I wish I could say that all of Harry's moves are going to go down easy this one, but they don't. I think that Connelly played it this way just to show even more that Harry's sense of right and wrong is skewed at times. If this was Biblical or even Medieval times I would be all for it. But he's still supposed to be a police officer and his job is to protect and serve. Not to make sure that karma/justice comes and gets people every time.
"Echo Park" opens with Harry and his former partner J. Edgar working a case about a missing young woman named Marie Gesto. She disappeared from the grocery store back to her place and her parents contacted the police. Harry and J. Edgar eventually find her car, but never do figure out what happened to Marie. Harry believes she's dead, but without a body or a perpetrator, he doesn't want to let the case go until he can tell her parents what happened to her. The book then fast fowards to Bosch in the present day working at Open/Unsolved. When a fellow officer contacts Bosch about the Marie Gesto murder book, Bosch refuses (of course he does) to turn it in until he is kept privy about why her case is being looked at. When Bosch and Kiz find out that a man the police have brought in via a routine traffic stop is connected to Marie and other murders, it looks like Bosch has got his man. However, things are not what they always appear, and this time through, a lot of stuff comes out in the wash in this one.
Bosch is feeling his age a bit and is lonely this time through. We know that his ex-wife and daughter are living in Hong Kong with Bosch apparently visiting his daughter between books. Every one of these books is about a year after the previous one, so we know it's been about a year since Harry has been back in Open/Unsolved with Kiz.
Bosch eventually reconnects with an old love interest, Rachel Walling. I skipped over the book introducing Rachel, so I don't have much to say about her besides I like her better than Eleanor Wish. I am probably now going to read that book "The Narrows" though I already have a feeling it's going to bug me because of the first person POV and third person POVs (why do authors do this in the same book?). I liked the profiling aspect of Rachel being involved. She definitely gives us more insight into the suspected serial killer. And I loved that she did not put up with Harry's crap and called him out when she saw how reckless and single minded he was being about things.
We get more details about Kiz's life as well and I am wondering due to the ending of this book how does this all shake up for her and Harry.
We have the specter of Irving rearing his head again. Even though the guy is gone from the LAPD, he is out to take them all down.
The writing is typical Connelly and he keeps the flow moving. I will say that this one played with so many elements I honestly didn't think it would all fit. But we have callbacks to Bosch's mother, his time spent in foster care and an orphanage, his prior cases, his other partners, etc. This whole book felt like a reckoning for Bosch, however, I don't think the lessons are going to take.
I love Connelly's Bosch series because it gives me that little taste of noir that I don't know I need until I have not read one of his books for a while. We see Connelly taking real world events (9/11, the war on terror, etc.) and including that into his plot. We get to see the overreach by the FBI and the LAPD in certain cases. What I like best about Connelly's books is you get to see the ending of a case and get to decide whether the ends justify the means. When I got to this ending, I definitely called BS like Rachel did.
"Echo Park" is the 12th book in the Harry Bosch universe. With Harry now back working Open/Unsolved cases with his partner Kiz, he feels better than he has in a while. However, one of Harry's past cases which has haunted him is coming back in a big way with it looking like a serial killer may have been behind his victim's disappearance. What makes things even bigger this time for Harry is that this case could possibly lead to the LAPD being put under more of a microscope with regards to their actions due a possible change in the DA's office and the city council. I wish I could say that all of Harry's moves are going to go down easy this one, but they don't. I think that Connelly played it this way just to show even more that Harry's sense of right and wrong is skewed at times. If this was Biblical or even Medieval times I would be all for it. But he's still supposed to be a police officer and his job is to protect and serve. Not to make sure that karma/justice comes and gets people every time.
"Echo Park" opens with Harry and his former partner J. Edgar working a case about a missing young woman named Marie Gesto. She disappeared from the grocery store back to her place and her parents contacted the police. Harry and J. Edgar eventually find her car, but never do figure out what happened to Marie. Harry believes she's dead, but without a body or a perpetrator, he doesn't want to let the case go until he can tell her parents what happened to her. The book then fast fowards to Bosch in the present day working at Open/Unsolved. When a fellow officer contacts Bosch about the Marie Gesto murder book, Bosch refuses (of course he does) to turn it in until he is kept privy about why her case is being looked at. When Bosch and Kiz find out that a man the police have brought in via a routine traffic stop is connected to Marie and other murders, it looks like Bosch has got his man. However, things are not what they always appear, and this time through, a lot of stuff comes out in the wash in this one.
Bosch is feeling his age a bit and is lonely this time through. We know that his ex-wife and daughter are living in Hong Kong with Bosch apparently visiting his daughter between books. Every one of these books is about a year after the previous one, so we know it's been about a year since Harry has been back in Open/Unsolved with Kiz.
Bosch eventually reconnects with an old love interest, Rachel Walling. I skipped over the book introducing Rachel, so I don't have much to say about her besides I like her better than Eleanor Wish. I am probably now going to read that book "The Narrows" though I already have a feeling it's going to bug me because of the first person POV and third person POVs (why do authors do this in the same book?). I liked the profiling aspect of Rachel being involved. She definitely gives us more insight into the suspected serial killer. And I loved that she did not put up with Harry's crap and called him out when she saw how reckless and single minded he was being about things.
We get more details about Kiz's life as well and I am wondering due to the ending of this book how does this all shake up for her and Harry.
We have the specter of Irving rearing his head again. Even though the guy is gone from the LAPD, he is out to take them all down.
The writing is typical Connelly and he keeps the flow moving. I will say that this one played with so many elements I honestly didn't think it would all fit. But we have callbacks to Bosch's mother, his time spent in foster care and an orphanage, his prior cases, his other partners, etc. This whole book felt like a reckoning for Bosch, however, I don't think the lessons are going to take.
I love Connelly's Bosch series because it gives me that little taste of noir that I don't know I need until I have not read one of his books for a while. We see Connelly taking real world events (9/11, the war on terror, etc.) and including that into his plot. We get to see the overreach by the FBI and the LAPD in certain cases. What I like best about Connelly's books is you get to see the ending of a case and get to decide whether the ends justify the means. When I got to this ending, I definitely called BS like Rachel did.
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May 24, 2022رواية مليئة بالإثارة والتشويق...، تتابع بشغف الأحداث لكي تصل للنهاية...
لقد اختفت " ماري غيستو " منذ ثلاثة عشر عاماً ، لم يكن هناك أي دليل يدل على مُختطفها ، ومع ذلك مازال المحقق " هاري بوش " يتفحص ملف التحقيقات باحثاً عن شيء ما قد يوصل إليها ، كان على إتصال دائم بوالديها ويأمل أن يخبرهما عن مصيرها حتى وإن تسلما رفاتها...
يتلقى اتصالاً من مكتب المُدعي العام ، لقد أُلقي القبض على القاتل وقد عثر في سيارته على أكياس بها أشلاء امرأتين...!
وقد عرض محامي الدفاع عقد اتفاقاً ينص على إعتراف القاتل بجرائمه المتسلسلة ومن بينها مقتل " ماري غيستو " مقابل عقوبة السجن المؤبد بديلاً عن الإعدام !!
فهل يقبل المحقق " هاري " بذلك مقابل ان يصل لقبر الفتاة ؟
من هنا تتوالى الأحداث بإيقاع سريع وشيق ، في حبكة قوية وسرد محكم ، تأتي الأحداث صادمة وغير متوقعة ، تأخذك من منعطف لآخر دون توقف ، تتوالى الألاعيب واحدة بعد الأخرى في مناورات ينحرف معها مسار التحقيقات لتلقي بك في دائرة من الشكوك والمخاوف...
لتكشف عن المطامع التي يلهث صاحبها وراء المال دون أي اعتبارات للمركز المهنيّ أو التاريخ الطويل الذي يصنعه ، لا يأبه لميثاق الشرف والنزاهة وتحقيق العدالة...
عن هؤلاء القتلة ، فهم مرضى نفسيين لكونهم ضحايا لحياة قاسية ومريرة ، فيختارون الطريق الذي يؤدي بهم إلى مسوخ...تتعطش للدماء وتفتك بكل ما يمثل لهم صورة تذكرهم بشقائهم...
ويبدو بأن كل محقق يدعى " هاري " هو مثال للنزاهة والذكاء ، العناد والمثابرة ، لا يحتمل المواربة لذا تراه لن يصبح بمأمن من المآزق ، يتقن التركيز على التفاصيل مهما بدت تافهة، والخوف من الأسئلة الصغيرة ..لا يستهين بها فهي خطيرة وقد يعلق بها المرء دون مخرج....
وأخيراً...ليس لأمثال هاري حظاً طيباً بالحب ، لا أدري هل يتخلي عنهم من يحبهم أم يخافون فقدهم ؟!....
ما الذي يفكر فيه الرجل الشرير ؟
اعتقد إنه سؤال جيد للمحقق الحقيقي ليفكر فيه دائماً....
لقد اختفت " ماري غيستو " منذ ثلاثة عشر عاماً ، لم يكن هناك أي دليل يدل على مُختطفها ، ومع ذلك مازال المحقق " هاري بوش " يتفحص ملف التحقيقات باحثاً عن شيء ما قد يوصل إليها ، كان على إتصال دائم بوالديها ويأمل أن يخبرهما عن مصيرها حتى وإن تسلما رفاتها...
يتلقى اتصالاً من مكتب المُدعي العام ، لقد أُلقي القبض على القاتل وقد عثر في سيارته على أكياس بها أشلاء امرأتين...!
وقد عرض محامي الدفاع عقد اتفاقاً ينص على إعتراف القاتل بجرائمه المتسلسلة ومن بينها مقتل " ماري غيستو " مقابل عقوبة السجن المؤبد بديلاً عن الإعدام !!
فهل يقبل المحقق " هاري " بذلك مقابل ان يصل لقبر الفتاة ؟
من هنا تتوالى الأحداث بإيقاع سريع وشيق ، في حبكة قوية وسرد محكم ، تأتي الأحداث صادمة وغير متوقعة ، تأخذك من منعطف لآخر دون توقف ، تتوالى الألاعيب واحدة بعد الأخرى في مناورات ينحرف معها مسار التحقيقات لتلقي بك في دائرة من الشكوك والمخاوف...
لتكشف عن المطامع التي يلهث صاحبها وراء المال دون أي اعتبارات للمركز المهنيّ أو التاريخ الطويل الذي يصنعه ، لا يأبه لميثاق الشرف والنزاهة وتحقيق العدالة...
عن هؤلاء القتلة ، فهم مرضى نفسيين لكونهم ضحايا لحياة قاسية ومريرة ، فيختارون الطريق الذي يؤدي بهم إلى مسوخ...تتعطش للدماء وتفتك بكل ما يمثل لهم صورة تذكرهم بشقائهم...
ويبدو بأن كل محقق يدعى " هاري " هو مثال للنزاهة والذكاء ، العناد والمثابرة ، لا يحتمل المواربة لذا تراه لن يصبح بمأمن من المآزق ، يتقن التركيز على التفاصيل مهما بدت تافهة، والخوف من الأسئلة الصغيرة ..لا يستهين بها فهي خطيرة وقد يعلق بها المرء دون مخرج....
وأخيراً...ليس لأمثال هاري حظاً طيباً بالحب ، لا أدري هل يتخلي عنهم من يحبهم أم يخافون فقدهم ؟!....
ما الذي يفكر فيه الرجل الشرير ؟
اعتقد إنه سؤال جيد للمحقق الحقيقي ليفكر فيه دائماً....
June 13, 2025
Finally made it through the audiobook!! Glad I stuck it out. After a few hours I was able to get a little more used to Len Cariou’s narrating. (Loved him as a guest star on Murder She Wrote. Best tv show ever!!!!)
I think Rachel is attracted to the men she is with only when they are involved with a case that she can be involved with. After recently listening to two of the Jack McEvoy books, it was a little strange for me to hear her with Bosch. I am not sure how many books she is in because of course I am listening to books out of order🤦🏼♀️.
Another good Bosch book. I think I would have an easier time really getting into the books if I was reading them as opposed to listening to them. The change in narrators is messing with my visualization of Bosch. Harry has really grown on me so I am going to keep giving the audiobooks a go. Even if it takes nearly a month of starting over with some of them. That says nothing about the actual book, it’s all my ears and attention span!
I think Rachel is attracted to the men she is with only when they are involved with a case that she can be involved with. After recently listening to two of the Jack McEvoy books, it was a little strange for me to hear her with Bosch. I am not sure how many books she is in because of course I am listening to books out of order🤦🏼♀️.
Another good Bosch book. I think I would have an easier time really getting into the books if I was reading them as opposed to listening to them. The change in narrators is messing with my visualization of Bosch. Harry has really grown on me so I am going to keep giving the audiobooks a go. Even if it takes nearly a month of starting over with some of them. That says nothing about the actual book, it’s all my ears and attention span!
December 17, 2018
Whew! I finally got to read the other half of the story in the Bosch TV series season 1. And the book does not disappoint.
The book has a complex, multi-layered story that unfortunately did not make it into the video version. I loved how there were conspiracies within conspiracies. The mystery is great (especially if one has not watched it before) with massive red herrings. And there is the unique Bosch twist at the end.
So, overall, another great Bosch story.
The book has a complex, multi-layered story that unfortunately did not make it into the video version. I loved how there were conspiracies within conspiracies. The mystery is great (especially if one has not watched it before) with massive red herrings. And there is the unique Bosch twist at the end.
So, overall, another great Bosch story.
March 30, 2018
And so I continue this incredible series with book number 12, Echo Park. I can’t believe I’ve read so many books featuring Harry Bosch already, I am dreading reaching the most recent book in this series.
Echo Park was another masterclass in how to write crime fiction. The authenticity is present on every single page. Characterisation is brilliant. Bosch continues to evolve as a character, once again the job comes between him and a potential partner (the fantastic Rachel Walling, and the scenes between these two are at times reminiscent of Reacher and Neagley. I hope to see Rachel again and again). On an emotional level this book contains some of the most hard-hitting scenes I’ve read in a Connelly novel and honestly, there’s not much to fault in this entire story. (Though I did find it hard to believe that Bosch couldn’t remember how many cases he has solved over the years. For somebody who lives and breathes his job, I can’t accept that he wouldn’t remember each and every closed case as opposed to just the ones who got away).
The plot here is as always multi-faceted and contains more twists than I don’t know what. Connelly is the master at completely deceiving the author (and Bosch himself at times) and so there were plenty of moments here that I was shocked at what I was reading. As with any great series such as this, the closing scenes in the story are always incredibly bittersweet. Whilst I enjoy the wrapping up of another tale featuring a favourite character of mine, I am sad that the story is over, but excited for the next one and I can’t wait to continue with this series.
Echo Park was another masterclass in how to write crime fiction. The authenticity is present on every single page. Characterisation is brilliant. Bosch continues to evolve as a character, once again the job comes between him and a potential partner (the fantastic Rachel Walling, and the scenes between these two are at times reminiscent of Reacher and Neagley. I hope to see Rachel again and again). On an emotional level this book contains some of the most hard-hitting scenes I’ve read in a Connelly novel and honestly, there’s not much to fault in this entire story. (Though I did find it hard to believe that Bosch couldn’t remember how many cases he has solved over the years. For somebody who lives and breathes his job, I can’t accept that he wouldn’t remember each and every closed case as opposed to just the ones who got away).
The plot here is as always multi-faceted and contains more twists than I don’t know what. Connelly is the master at completely deceiving the author (and Bosch himself at times) and so there were plenty of moments here that I was shocked at what I was reading. As with any great series such as this, the closing scenes in the story are always incredibly bittersweet. Whilst I enjoy the wrapping up of another tale featuring a favourite character of mine, I am sad that the story is over, but excited for the next one and I can’t wait to continue with this series.
February 27, 2017
Working in the Open-Unsolved Unit gives Detective Harry Bosch a chance to look into an unsolved case where he was the lead investigator. Thirteen years ago, 22-year-old Marie Gest walked out of a grocery store and was never seen again. Her car was found in the garage of an apartment available for rent. The District Attorney has now contacted Harry about the case against Raynard Waits. Waits was found driving around Echo Park with two bodies in the back of his van. In hopes of not getting the death penalty, Waits has offered a deal to give up the whereabouts of several bodies, including Marie Gest. Harry doesn't like the idea of taking the death penalty off of the table, but wants to bring Marie's body back to her family.
I loved the idea of Harry working to solve one of his old cases. But I thought the first half of this book really dragged. It felt like Harry and his partner, Kiz, spent the first 200 pages reading the old files and deciding what questions they would ask Raynard Waits. Finally at the half way point this book got very interesting. I did end up figuring out the twist in this story, but still enjoyed it. My rating: 4 Stars.
I loved the idea of Harry working to solve one of his old cases. But I thought the first half of this book really dragged. It felt like Harry and his partner, Kiz, spent the first 200 pages reading the old files and deciding what questions they would ask Raynard Waits. Finally at the half way point this book got very interesting. I did end up figuring out the twist in this story, but still enjoyed it. My rating: 4 Stars.
September 8, 2022
Goodreads - Best Police Procedurals - #3 as of 8/1/2019
Bosch is back after 2 years of retirement.
A killer, Raynard Waits, in jail for 7 murder cases, now He admits to 2 others to stay off death row. One being a unsolved 13 year “open” case of Marie Gesto that has brought high anxieties to Bosch over 13 years.
To determine if Waits is telling the truth, he agrees to lead the police thru a Echo Park wooded area, to where 13 years old ago he buried Gesto?
He does lead them to her body. But it’s also a chance to escape, he grabs a gun, able to escape thru the woods shooting Bosch’s own partner, Kiz Rider. These chapters with Kiz severely shot in the hospital remind me of a “police phrase” that I have heard many times .... “my partner is as close as family”....Bosch would not leave her side.
Bosch chases Waits to learn he did killed 7, but he was to offered, to confess for 2 others with a promise to stay off death row (e.g. Gesto). Bosch determines & knows the 2 people who made the promises - police/political gains...
Bosch is back after 2 years of retirement.
A killer, Raynard Waits, in jail for 7 murder cases, now He admits to 2 others to stay off death row. One being a unsolved 13 year “open” case of Marie Gesto that has brought high anxieties to Bosch over 13 years.
To determine if Waits is telling the truth, he agrees to lead the police thru a Echo Park wooded area, to where 13 years old ago he buried Gesto?
He does lead them to her body. But it’s also a chance to escape, he grabs a gun, able to escape thru the woods shooting Bosch’s own partner, Kiz Rider. These chapters with Kiz severely shot in the hospital remind me of a “police phrase” that I have heard many times .... “my partner is as close as family”....Bosch would not leave her side.
Bosch chases Waits to learn he did killed 7, but he was to offered, to confess for 2 others with a promise to stay off death row (e.g. Gesto). Bosch determines & knows the 2 people who made the promises - police/political gains...
September 22, 2015
This was a great return to form for Connelly and Bosch.
I enjoyed this book version of Echo Park, somewhat different from the parts combined with City of Bones to create the superb Amazon TV series, BOSCH: A wonderful mix, refreshing and extremely well produced and written show.
I also enjoyed Rachel Walling a lot more in Echo Park. She is far more real, and involved, more alive. She contributes to the plot and solution convincingly. She has her own views, often different from Bosch, but able to accommodate his strong ideas without losing herself. Very important.
The other characters are less cartoonish than the previous few books before The Closers. Kizmin has her role for a while, and will return again in other ways.
All-in-all, a very long awaited return to form. Loved it.
I enjoyed this book version of Echo Park, somewhat different from the parts combined with City of Bones to create the superb Amazon TV series, BOSCH: A wonderful mix, refreshing and extremely well produced and written show.
I also enjoyed Rachel Walling a lot more in Echo Park. She is far more real, and involved, more alive. She contributes to the plot and solution convincingly. She has her own views, often different from Bosch, but able to accommodate his strong ideas without losing herself. Very important.
The other characters are less cartoonish than the previous few books before The Closers. Kizmin has her role for a while, and will return again in other ways.
All-in-all, a very long awaited return to form. Loved it.
July 24, 2017
3.5ish stars.
I read this series sporadically.
Sometimes I like them solidly. Usually I think they're good enough, readable, could be better could be worse.
I really enjoyed the brief Lincoln Lawyer series, but Bosch is one I always think, between readings, that I probably actually enjoyed more than I did.
I see so many people saying Bosch is their favorite detective. I think well, not bad, and I should give him more credit because he's a reasonable character competently written.
So by the time I get around to doing some Bosch catch-up, because there are never enough new books in the various series I really look forward to, I e convinced myself that this time Bosch is really going to speak to me.
In Bosch's defense, as I listened to this story I realized I had read it before, quite a few years ago. But I couldn't remember much of how it went. So I listened all the way through to close the gap.
It wasn't bad, I wasn't itching for it to be over, but at the same time I was glad to be done and move on. To the next Bosch catch-up in the queue. Maybe this will be the one :)
I read this series sporadically.
Sometimes I like them solidly. Usually I think they're good enough, readable, could be better could be worse.
I really enjoyed the brief Lincoln Lawyer series, but Bosch is one I always think, between readings, that I probably actually enjoyed more than I did.
I see so many people saying Bosch is their favorite detective. I think well, not bad, and I should give him more credit because he's a reasonable character competently written.
So by the time I get around to doing some Bosch catch-up, because there are never enough new books in the various series I really look forward to, I e convinced myself that this time Bosch is really going to speak to me.
In Bosch's defense, as I listened to this story I realized I had read it before, quite a few years ago. But I couldn't remember much of how it went. So I listened all the way through to close the gap.
It wasn't bad, I wasn't itching for it to be over, but at the same time I was glad to be done and move on. To the next Bosch catch-up in the queue. Maybe this will be the one :)
June 10, 2023
Oooweee! Bosch is still with the Opened and Unsolved Cases division, or whatever it's called, with his partner, Kiz Rider. For this reaon I thought "oh, a cold case, this is going to be boring". What hubris is this to think any Michael Connelly book could be 'boring'?! This was anything but.
This was good! We have a cold case that quickly becomes hot - or does it? Throw in an FBI agent, a rich guy and his son, a confession, a possibly greasy prosecutor and some politics and this mixed bag of tricks spits out an action-packed page turner that's anything but boring. The red herrings are good, the twists are great and the reveal is excellent.
Less one star because I'm kind of tired of Rachel Walling, the FBI agent. Maybe she wasn't awful. Maybe I just hated her voice, as portrayed by Len Cariou (actually a fantastic narrator). But mostly I think her reason for breaking it off with Harry is absolutely not in keeping with her character. And I know Michael Connelly is good at writing women.
Onto the next!
This was good! We have a cold case that quickly becomes hot - or does it? Throw in an FBI agent, a rich guy and his son, a confession, a possibly greasy prosecutor and some politics and this mixed bag of tricks spits out an action-packed page turner that's anything but boring. The red herrings are good, the twists are great and the reveal is excellent.
Less one star because I'm kind of tired of Rachel Walling, the FBI agent. Maybe she wasn't awful. Maybe I just hated her voice, as portrayed by Len Cariou (actually a fantastic narrator). But mostly I think her reason for breaking it off with Harry is absolutely not in keeping with her character. And I know Michael Connelly is good at writing women.
Onto the next!
January 20, 2014
Harry, Harry, Harry. Will you you never learn to stay out of trouble? Oh...I get it. If you did I wouldn't have much to read about.
Hard to believe that I was thinking that book number one was the only one of the series I would read because I didn't particularly like Harry. But my buddy Harry R. (whose review you would want to read) encouraged me to read another, so I did. The end of the story? I got snagged, hook, line and sinker by Harry Bosch.
While I like to read a series beginning at the beginning, readers of the Bosch series can jump in at just about any time so if you see a Bosch on sale at the used book store, grab it and introduce yourself to Harry. He can be the best friend you'll have for hours and hours of pleasure. Of the platonic sort I'm talking about.
Hard to believe that I was thinking that book number one was the only one of the series I would read because I didn't particularly like Harry. But my buddy Harry R. (whose review you would want to read) encouraged me to read another, so I did. The end of the story? I got snagged, hook, line and sinker by Harry Bosch.
While I like to read a series beginning at the beginning, readers of the Bosch series can jump in at just about any time so if you see a Bosch on sale at the used book store, grab it and introduce yourself to Harry. He can be the best friend you'll have for hours and hours of pleasure. Of the platonic sort I'm talking about.
May 22, 2025
Michael Connelly's “Echo Park” returns readers to the streets of Los Angeles, with LAPD detective Harry Bosch once again at the center of a haunting case which involves a file Bosch could never truly let go.
Years later, new evidence in the form of a serial killer’s confession offers closure, but as is typical for Bosch, easy answers don’t satisfy him. This is classic Connelly territory: police work that’s both methodical and deeply personal, drawing readers into the emotional and ethical struggles of a detective haunted by the ones he couldn’t save.
While “Echo Park” references previous Bosch cases and relationships, it would “work” for newcomers to the series as well. Long-time fans, however, may notice it lacks some of the intensity and inventiveness of earlier series entries, such as “The Concrete Blonde” or “The Last Coyote”. The plot moves briskly, but certain character arcs - particularly Bosch’s relationships with colleagues - sometimes feel eclipsed by the procedural elements.
Still, Connelly’s skill is in crafting small, human moments that bring the characters to life.
»He started the car and pulled out, heading back to the freeway. They drove silently. When he got back to the 134 the flower vendor was still in the median. Rider looked down at the bouquet in her hand, realized that Bosch had gotten them as an afterthought and started laughing. Bosch joined in.«
These understated moments create space within the propulsive plot, grounding the story in relatable emotion.
The novel’s central ethical dilemma - what kind of detective Harry Bosch chooses to be - comes late but at a crucial point in the story:
»And, well, Harry, I guess this is the dog you chose to feed. I hope you’re happy with it. And I hope it fits in perfectly well with the way of the true detective.«
Bosch’s stubborn pursuit of justice, regardless of consequence or cost, defines him as a character and the series as a whole.
“Echo Park” may not reach the atmospheric heights of Connelly’s best work, but it remains a satisfying read: taut, engaging, and true to the spirit of its detective hero. If you like Bosch, you’ll enjoy this book.
Four stars out of five.
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Ceterum censeo Putin esse delendam
Years later, new evidence in the form of a serial killer’s confession offers closure, but as is typical for Bosch, easy answers don’t satisfy him. This is classic Connelly territory: police work that’s both methodical and deeply personal, drawing readers into the emotional and ethical struggles of a detective haunted by the ones he couldn’t save.
While “Echo Park” references previous Bosch cases and relationships, it would “work” for newcomers to the series as well. Long-time fans, however, may notice it lacks some of the intensity and inventiveness of earlier series entries, such as “The Concrete Blonde” or “The Last Coyote”. The plot moves briskly, but certain character arcs - particularly Bosch’s relationships with colleagues - sometimes feel eclipsed by the procedural elements.
Still, Connelly’s skill is in crafting small, human moments that bring the characters to life.
»He started the car and pulled out, heading back to the freeway. They drove silently. When he got back to the 134 the flower vendor was still in the median. Rider looked down at the bouquet in her hand, realized that Bosch had gotten them as an afterthought and started laughing. Bosch joined in.«
These understated moments create space within the propulsive plot, grounding the story in relatable emotion.
The novel’s central ethical dilemma - what kind of detective Harry Bosch chooses to be - comes late but at a crucial point in the story:
»And, well, Harry, I guess this is the dog you chose to feed. I hope you’re happy with it. And I hope it fits in perfectly well with the way of the true detective.«
Bosch’s stubborn pursuit of justice, regardless of consequence or cost, defines him as a character and the series as a whole.
“Echo Park” may not reach the atmospheric heights of Connelly’s best work, but it remains a satisfying read: taut, engaging, and true to the spirit of its detective hero. If you like Bosch, you’ll enjoy this book.
Four stars out of five.
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Ceterum censeo Putin esse delendam
December 27, 2023
Good story, although several plot points were frustrating. For example, and the reveal disappointed me in a minor character I had liked until now.
Harry's still on the cold case squad, and this time he's working one of his own Open/Unsolveds. Thirteen years ago, a young woman disappeared without a trace and has never been found. Her parents kept her room just the same while they still wait for answers.
Meanwhile, an incarcerated felon named Reynard Waites has agreed to talk to Bosch and Kiz regarding nine missing girls he claims to know about (in addition to the ones he was found guilty of murdering). Hoping one of them is who he's been looking for, he reaches out to FBI Agent Rachel Walling to prepare him for that very important interview. Waites lures them in with enough facts to prove he was involved before moving to the old ploy of "I have to show you where she's buried." The police agree to it. Chaos ensues.
Next up: The Overlook.
Harry's still on the cold case squad, and this time he's working one of his own Open/Unsolveds. Thirteen years ago, a young woman disappeared without a trace and has never been found. Her parents kept her room just the same while they still wait for answers.
Meanwhile, an incarcerated felon named Reynard Waites has agreed to talk to Bosch and Kiz regarding nine missing girls he claims to know about (in addition to the ones he was found guilty of murdering). Hoping one of them is who he's been looking for, he reaches out to FBI Agent Rachel Walling to prepare him for that very important interview. Waites lures them in with enough facts to prove he was involved before moving to the old ploy of "I have to show you where she's buried." The police agree to it. Chaos ensues.
Next up: The Overlook.
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