Chasing the Dime

Harry Bosch Universe #12

by Michael Connelly

The phone messages waiting for Henry Pierce clearly aren't for him: "Where is Lilly? This is her number. It's on the site." Pierce has just moved into a new apartment, and he's been "chasing the dime"--doing all it takes so his company comes out first with a scientific breakthrough worth millions. But he can't get the messages for Lilly out of his head. As Pierce tries to help a woman he has never met, he steps into a world of escorts, websites, sex, and secret passions. A world where his success and expertise mean nothing...and where he becomes the chief suspect in a murder case, trapped in the fight of his life.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Thriller, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Detective

448 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Librarian 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.

Reviews

[James Thane · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple of days ago, I wrote a review complaining because one of my favorite authors, John Lescroart, had set a plot into motion by having his protagonist do something incredibly stupid. Now, another of my favorite authors, Michael Connelly, has done exactly the same thing.

In Connelly's defense, this book was first published in 2002. It's his eleventh book overall, and does not feature Harry Bosch or any of the other series characters that Connelly has introduced through the years. The protagonist here is a guy named Henry Pierce, the head of of a tech startup firm called Amedeo Technologies. The company is doing pioneering work in molecular computing, and the ultimate objective is to produce a computer smaller than a dime, hence the title. Pierce is the genius behind the company and has made a major breakthrough that could put the firm well ahead of its competitors in the field.

The problem is that the company is very short of cash and in desperate need of finding a major investor--a "whale"-- who can write the check that will enable Pierce and company to move forward. Happily, they have such an investor on the hook. The guy is coming in for a dog and pony show, at the end of which, hopefully, he will write a huge check in return for a small stake in the company.

Unhappily, though, only a few days before the demonstration, Pierce breaks up with his girlfriend and moves out of the house they shared. His personal assistant helps him move into a new apartment and, among other things, signs him up for telephone service. (This is, obviously, back in the day when people still had land lines, and besides, Henry really doesn't trust these new-fangled cell phones.)

Henry arrives at his new apartment, plugs in his phone, and immediately begins getting calls for a woman named Lilly. The calls are coming from men who are phoning from hotels and who sound very nervous, and Henry quickly realizes that his new phone number must have previously belonged to a hooker.

Any logical, sensible, intelligent person would unplug the phone, wait until Monday, call the phone company, and ask for a different number, especially if he had to finish a presentation that could mean the survival of his company and of his dream. But Pierce decides to investigate. He browses websites, looking for Lilly's ad, and finds her on a site called L.A. Darlings. He wonders why Lilly is no longer answering her number, and assumes that something bad may have happened to her. (It apparently never occurs to Henry that Lilly may simply have grown tired of selling herself, given up the number, resumed using her real name, and moved back to Omaha.) Inevitably, of course, Henry's search will bring him up against some very nasty characters and will get him into serious, maybe even fatal, trouble. But he soldiers on in spite of the risks.

Which makes absolutely no damned sense at all.

Henry needs to be in his lab, perfecting the demonstration that will propel him and his company into computer superstardom. His partners, employees and other investors have everything riding on him. What the hell is he doing, messing around trying to find this woman and putting himself and his company in serious jeopardy? Everyone who even gets a hint of what he is doing, tells him he's crazy and that he needs to get his head back into the game, but will he?

He will not, which simply leaves the reader, or at least this reader, shaking his head in disbelief. The character behaves so irrationally that in the end, it's impossible to care about him. If this novel had been written by somebody named Joe Blow, one might conclude that it's an "okay" book, but one expects more from a writer as talented as Michael Connelly. Interestingly, at an author event a couple of weeks ago, even Connelly himself could not remember the name he had given to the protagonist of this novel. And given that, perhaps the reader can be forgiven for fairly quickly forgetting it and the book as well.

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Molecular computing entrepreneur Henry Pierce, on the verge of getting multi-million dollar funding for his soon-to-be proprietary technology, keeps on getting telephone calls from men asking for a previous number-owner 'Lily'. On trying to contact Lily to get her to update her listing, Pierce gets drawn into her world as it appears she has gone missing. Instead of prepping on ensuring his multi-million dollar funding he gets thrown into Lily's life which is definitely on the other side of the street. A pretty entertaining and cool mystery using the normal-man gets caught up in underworld trope and doing a fine job with it. This story is very much on the periphery of the Bosch universe, and probably works better because of it. Another Connelly books scoring an 8 out of 12, Four Stars with me.

2024 read

[Diane Wallace · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok read! too far-fetched of a storyline to believed...M.Connelly could have done better and has because there are many of his excellent and well written books out there,this just isnt one of them (paperback!)

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected this to be better as Michael Connelly of Harry Bosch fame is usually an excellent writer. This 2005 story was less than satisfactory. 4 of 10 stars

[Cathy DuPont · Rating 1 out of 5]

I never, ever, ever thought I would put a Michael Connelly book down. But never say never.

This stand alone was so contrived and the protagonist was so damned stupid it just annoyed me to no end. Here he is the founder and CEO (or whatever) of a multi-million dollar company and he acts like he a verified idiot (if there is such a thing.) He acts stupid, stupid, stupid.

I love Michael Connelly and have raved on about both his series, Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller but either one of them have more sense in their little finger than this guy has in his entire head.

What's his name? I don't know and don't care but if I see it again, I'll recognize it and will put the book down.

Michael Connelly is still a bright, shining light writer. This hic-cup of a book will not stop my reading everything out there he's written that I haven't yet read.

And he's easy on the eyes to boot that's for sure. He reminds me of Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

A stand alone novel by Michael Connelly published 2002.

This book might not have Harry Bosch in but it’s still a knockout.

This book is now 18 years old and a great deal of it is concerned with nanotechnology in computers. And here we are 18 years later still talking about it, well I am at least.

Henry Peirce, the head of a small but influential nanotechnology lab is about to unleash a product that will change the world as we know it. But this does not please everyone. There are some very big, very powerful corporations that would do anything to prevent it from seeing the light of day.

After having broken up with his girlfriend Henry is setting up a new place to call home. Unfortunately his new phone number seems to belong to working prostitute. After a lot of some very annoying and at time obscene phone calls Henry decides to get in touch with this woman in an effort to stop her calls coming to him. But everything he tries ends up at a dead end. Intrigued Henry start on a journey that will take him to places he never though existed and come in contact with people who will send him to hospital.

A tense, tight plot with not a lot of twist but what there are, are major. I was blindsided by the end, blinded in a good way.
There’s a bit of tech talk but it didn’t detract from the pace one bit.

A recommended 4 star read

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

When tech entreprenuer Henry Pierce gets a new phone number, he finds out it’s not new enough. The previous owner—a lovely young woman named Lilly, who lists that phone number on the website “LA Darlings”—is still getting eager calls from scads of interested men. Or, to be precise, Pierce is getting those calls. And they are clogging up his answering machine and wasting his time. Intrigued, Pierce attempts to track down Lilly. He is unsuccessful, but increasingly fascinated. The few clues he finds are disturbing, and he begins to suspect that Lilly is the victim of murder.

I like the way Connelly combines a lucid description of Pierce’s revolutionary scientific discovery—a microbiological form of nanotechnology (think “Fantastic Voyage”)—with an absorbing account of our savvy geek’s expert use of “social engineering” to find out more about Lilly, putting himself in greater and danger until he realizes not only that he himself is a murder suspect but that he himself may be the object of “social engineering” too.

The novel kept my interest, but I found it too elaborate and conspiratorial to be completely credible. I stopped suspending my disbelief about two-thirds of the way through the novel … and that is damaging to the enjoyment of a thriller of like this.

Still, it was a wild ride full of surprises. It is a successful and expert entertainment.

[Mihaela Abrudan · Rating 4 out of 5]

La început am crezut că-mi pierd timpul cu o carte aiurită, dar pe măsură ce acțiunea avansează, iar personajul principal se dezmeticește cartea devine foarte interesantă, iar finalul este chiar surprinzător. O carte un pic diferită de ceea ce scrie deobice Connelly.

[Jane Stewart · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t like the main character Henry so I couldn’t enjoy the story. He does “stupid” things for 90% of the book.

STORY BRIEF:
The background and secondary story:
Henry is a computer science chemist. He formed a company to research molecular computing. He has created a molecular energy source call Proteus. He needs $12 million to move forward with the research. His financial guy has been looking for investors. Their first choice is Goddard who is coming next week to see Proteus. The title is a metaphor for finding a deep pocketed investor (a whale).

The main story:
Nicole and Henry lived together, but she broke up with him because he worked too much and didn’t spend enough time with her. The story begins on a Friday with Henry moving into an apartment. He just received a new phone number which used to be Lilly’s phone number. This phone number appears on the LA Darlings web site for escorts (prostitutes). Many men call Henry’s phone asking for Lilly. A normal guy might wait until Monday and call the phone company to change the number, but all these calls make Henry curious. He wants to contact Lilly to tell her to change her web site phone number. On Saturday he visits the office that manages the website. He talks to another prostitute. He visits Lilly’s home and place of work. No one has seen her for over a month. Now Henry is worried about her and wants to make sure “she is ok.”

REVIEWER’S OPINION:
The author is a good writer, but I cannot recommend this book. For most of the book I was saying “This guy is stupid. Why is he doing that? Don’t do it!” He has no common sense. It’s like a Dr. saying “Don’t pick at your scab,” but he can’t help himself, and he rips it off. He gets beaten by thugs. Lucy a prostitute gets beaten by thugs because she helped Henry. Lucy tells Henry to never call her again. What does he do? He continues to call her and try to find her. His reason is “he wants to see if she’s ok.” I was sick and tired of hearing that reason. That’s the reason he kept trying to find these two women. All that did was get him deeper and deeper into trouble with the bad guys and with the cops. Some of the stupid things he did were illegal, so this forced him to lie to the cops. Of course a cop catches him in these lies. Later a defense attorney tells him that the cops are planning to get a search warrant for his home and car. He says “Let them I have nothing to hide,” which is stupid because someone planted evidence in his car (which he later learns). I could not enjoy a story about this man doing so many stupid things.

The last hour or so of the book was better. Henry started to figure things out. He took some good action to solve his problems. There is a happy ending for Henry which I liked. The bad guys were handled in a way I liked. There was some explanation trying to justify Henry’s stupid actions, but it wasn’t good enough for me. His sister was a prostitute who was murdered and Henry felt guilty. So when he meets a prostitute he wants to make sure “she is ok.”

NARRATOR:
The narrator Jonathan Davis was good.

DATA:
Unabridged audiobook length: 10 hrs and 26 mins. Swearing language: I can’t remember hearing any, but there may have been a couple of strong words. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: one. Setting: 2002 Santa Monica and Los Angeles area, California. Book copyright: 2002. Genre: crime mystery suspense. Ending: Good for Henry.

[Terence M [on a brief old bloke's hiatus] · Rating 1 out of 5]

Michael Connelly - 2002 Chasing the Dime - A novel
✔1-Star Dnf @54% - Heard June 11, 2019
Audiobook - 10:33 Hours - Narrator: Alfred Molina
Heard: 05:44 Hours- Balance: 04:49 Hours
This review edited for clarity - 25 November, 2025
June 11, 2019: Michael Connelly wrote this novel in 2002, the same year he he wrote "City of Bones", #8 of his incomparable Harry Bosch series, but "Chasing the Dime" reads (sounds) like it was written by an entirely different author.
I had been saving this for "a no Bosch, rainy day" but it is very poorly written and totally unenjoyable! Sad to say, more than half-way through, I am done and it is definitely a disappointing 1-Star Dnf.

[Metodi Markov · Rating 2 out of 5]

Прилично овехтял крими трилър, с много неубедителен главен герой. Конъли може много повече!

Моята оценка - 2,5*.

[Paul Weiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weaker than Harry Bosch ... but stronger than most!

Henry Pierce, a brilliant scientist on the cutting edge of nanotechnology, biotechnology and quantum computers, is about to become very, very rich when his company Amadeo Technologies files the patent on the latest discovery he and his team have put together.

But he's also toting a suitcase jam-packed with distracting baggage at the moment. Recently separated from his lover, he's just moved to a new apartment and has discovered that his new phone number used to belong to one Lilly Quinlan, a high-priced escort (and almost certainly a prostitute) whose services are advertised on a web page called "LA Darlings". When the wrong number calls continue by the dozens, Pierce suspects that something has happened to cause Lilly to disappear and begins to worry that she may be in serious trouble.

Still deeply disturbed by the disappearance of his own sister many years earlier who had fled home, taken to a street life of drugs and prostitution and was ultimately murdered, Pierce decides to search for the missing girl. He soon discovers that there are some very mean, very motivated people out there who will stop at nothing to let him know that he is putting his nose into places where it definitely doesn't belong. When he takes his discoveries to the LAPD, he is shocked to discover that he is in top place on the police's list of possible suspects for Lilly's disappearance and murder.

Previous individual reviewers (and even editorial reviews) have criticized Connelly's basic premise suggesting that Pierce's response to the stimulus of a series of wrong number calls was weak, melodramatic and unbelievable. I beg to differ! Brilliant scientists can almost certainly be correctly stereotyped as outside-the-box thinkers; driven, workaholic people who look internally for solutions to their problems; and, single minded individuals who march to the tune of their own drummers. They are often people who interact poorly under normal social circumstances and who respond differently than you or I might to the same mental stimulus. From that point of view and particularly considering the guilt and grief that Pierce would be subject to on the matter of his murdered young sister, his decision to conduct a one-man police hunt, while a long way from sensible or appropriate, at least might be considered understandable and reasonable under the circumstances.

"Chasing the Dime", like all of Connelly's other novels, is chock full of well-developed, colourful characters. And, no matter what one might believe about the basic premise of the novel, any reader will have to admit that Connelly's plotting is tight and the revelation of the ultimate villains arrives out of left field entirely unseen and unpredicted. Admittedly, the dialogue in "Chasing the Dime" seems a little more clunky and forced than his previous work. It just doesn't have the darkness, the depth or the psychological angst that made his previous Harry Bosch novels such works of art.

By comparison to Connelly's previous body of work, I'd probably award "Chasing the Dimes" no more than three stars. But - and let's be honest here - if James Patterson, Clive Cussler or many of the other "crank-'em-out-six-a-year" thriller authors had written it, it would be getting raves as a tour-de-force! So I think perhaps a rating of four stars is more appropriate in the context of the thriller field at large.

Recommended.

Paul Weiss

[Fred · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henry Pierce, a chemist in Amedeo Technologies, that develops “new” pharmaceutical drug patents worth worth millions. In his new apartment after breaking up with his fiancée (Amedeo’s “ex-intelligence officer”), his new phone number is from a men’s “escort” service website? Why?

He begins research with this new website L.A.Darlings (which is really a Micheal Connelly website)

The calls are a bother!! Why wouldn’t you just get another phone number??
Instead his curiosity, a past family memory, he tracks down the number to a empty apartment, then a murder making him a suspect. Is it a setup? Is he “Chasing the Dime” of new phone calls?

You do see hints of the ending coming but they are good.

Many years ago “phone booth” calls were only a dime? Now everyone has a cell phone!!

FYI notes - The website mention in the book, **** www.la-darlings.com **** brings up Michael-Connelly.com for this book, Chasing the Dime...

[Mike Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the best book by the author I have read. But the others had Harry Bosch, Mickey Haller or Terry McCaleb in and written as police procedurals. This had Henry Pierce, a computer entrepreneur, pursuing a missing sex worker. All leading from him acquiring her phone number on a house move and getting calls for her. The plot felt a bit contrived at times. But ho hum still a quick and exciting read.

[NILTON TEIXEIRA · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

This was my 10th book by this author (I own 18 more titles, all unopened). It’s a standalone book but some characters have been used on previous books.

I thought that the writing was quite solid and the concept was good.

The main character was interesting and intelligent, but like any human with good intentions, tended to make stupid decisions. But I liked him.

The storyline, although a bit farfetched, had a good flow and a good dose of mystery. It kept me interested, so I do have to give some credit to the author. The conclusion had a good twist.

I didn’t find anything special or memorable about this work, but I was entertained and helped forget about work.

e-book (Kobo): 377 pages (default), 102k words (40 chapters)

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great mystery!

[Ettore1207 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un thriller di buon livello atipico per Connelly, dato che che non appartiene né alla serie Bosh né alla serie Haller. Solito livello abbastanza elevato, questo autore è abilissimo nel tenere alta la tensione. Crea dipendenza, a chi piace il genere, beninteso.
Il titolo non c'entra nulla con la vicenda. Chi l'ha inventato non ha letto il libro.

---
Verso la fine c'è uno scivolone. Strano, di solito i libri di Connelly sono molto accurati.

Renner stava già per prendere la pistola dalla fondina, ma Wentz lo precedette. Con assoluta precisione di movimenti il piccolo gangster puntò l’arma e cominciò a far fuoco, e sparando avanzava, con il tamburo della pistola che descriveva un arco a ogni colpo.
La pistola è evidentemente un revolver, ma una pagina dopo si è trasformata in una automatica:
C’era silenzio intorno, poi gli giunse uno schiocco dalla parte opposta della stanza. Un suono inconfondibile: lo scatto di una pistola che espelleva il caricatore. Non aveva molta esperienza di armi, ma dalla direzione del suono capì che Wentz ricaricava o controllava il numero dei proiettili che gli restavano

[Susan (on hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still have great memories of this book!

I purchased and read this in the hardback edition and loaned it to several relatives. I kept recommending it and never got it back.

I've read several of the Hieronymus Bosch novels (and liked them a lot) but I differ from most reviewers in that I liked this more.

I've drifted away from police procedural's toward psychological thrillers but sometimes have an itch to re-visit former flames.

[Jaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

An almost perfect mystery novel.

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

READER'S SUBJECTIVE REVIEW FOLLOWS:

By pure happenstance I stumbled upon a Michael Connelly book that wasn't featuring Harry Bosch! Henry Pierce is a start-up high tech entrepreneur who has created molecular RAM, the engine that will power the next generation of computers. Although he's aware of the market implications of molecular RAM, he is naïve in underestimating the treachery his closest associates will go to steal it from him. If ever there was a perfect example of a who-done-it mystery, Chasing the Dime is it! Connelly stretches out the drama so effectively that the reader has no clue who the real culprit is until the last thirty pages of the book. He achieves this by not introducing the chief antagonist until late in the action, by which time the reader is wondering if the story can possibly wrap in the remaining pages. So Connelly strings you along in Chasing the Dime, but the ride is actually pretty neat as he stages it in upper crust LA with some very identifiable characters. I gave this book four stars and only regret that I was so busy writing myself that it took me two weeks to finally finish it. Chasing the Dime would be a perfect two-sitting book if you could devote the time. All in all, a read worth your effort.

SPOILER PLOT SUMMARY FOLLOWS:

Molecular RAM Becomes Major Theft Target. Henry Pierce, CEO of Amedeco Technologies, and his team of scientists have finally perfected molecular ram, made possible by advances in nanotechnology. The intense hours and effort to produce the prototype has cost Henry his treasured relationship with is former employee and key sales agent Nicole James. As he prepares to have the patent submitted strange things begin happening--just as an angel investor, Maurice Goddard, is scheduled to view the demo and write a $16M check. While Henry knows the importance of molecular RAM, which will be the engine for molecular computing, he isn't aware of the conspiracy being played out by his college pal Cody Zeller. Zeller takes full advantage of being privy to Henry's past where his sister disappeared following her descent into street violence and prostitution. Splitting from Nicole, Henry moves to an apartment and is assigned a land line number that was formerly used by an escort on an internet prostitution site. The number belonged to a popular girl, and Henry is besieged with calls from her former clients before he begins searching for her, only to be cleverly implicated in her disappearance and likely death. As the LAPD begins to put unbearable pressure on him, he is attacked as a warning to give up his search for Lilly. Using all of his reasoning, he searches every person in his life, finally seeing the setup and moving the body from a storage unit reserved in his name by an unknown source. In the end, the LAPD Detective Renner shows up to save Henry from his predator friends and the patent is submitted.

[Jerry B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non-Harry Bosch a little light on plausibility, but still fun!

It's a remarkable coincidence that in the very same month (Nov. 2002) that Michael Crichton published "Prey", a novel about nanotechnology and minuscule robots, Michael Connelly brings out a book on virtually the identical subject. Protagonist whiz kid Henry Pierce is about to patent amazing new technology that will power molecular-sized computers, capable of being injected into blood streams (for example) to ward off disease and effect cures. While helping the company he founded seek investment capital, his workaholic habits separate him from his steady girlfriend. In his brand new bare apartment, at his "new" phone number he keeps getting calls for an escort service "practitioner", Lilly Quinlan, who Pierce then (implausibly) spends much of the book trying to find. It soon turns out she's victim of some very nasty people, and before long Pierce is in way over his head as well. A somewhat flimsy attempt to rationalize his behavior through something that happened to his now dead sister is supposed to help us accept all this.

We've read enough of Connelly's work (both Bosch series and standalone crime thrillers) to understand that he can plot with the best of them, can write cogent scenes, and invent a tale gripping enough to maintain entertainment and suspense. Despite a predominance of seedy characters, those good qualities can all be found in "Dime" -- it's just one of his weaker works from the viewpoint that our doubt over the likelihood of any of this happening kept getting in the way of enjoying the tale. I guess we can take only so much fiction in our fiction!

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ridiculous story line, was still kind of fun.

That half page where he explains to me how the dimmer settings work in a car really pisses me off. "You see there are three settings. One where the light stays on all the time, one where the light stays off all the time and one where the light comes on but only when the door was opened...do you see? Pierce opened his door but the dome light did not come on....Pierce knows he left it on that other setting where the light just comes on when the door is opened. Somebody must have bumped the switch to change it to that one setting where the light doesn't come on ever." An intruder was in his car!!!!!!!! The real paragraph is even longer than that.

Picked up some ineterest but not till the last 50 pages. I'd like to see some of this author's more recent works. This one seems half baked, rushed to the shelves. A lot of his other stuff gets better reviews.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the teaser says, 'murder begins with a phone call'. It is so true in this Connelly stand-alone, whose story I found highly interesting and unique. Something that seems quite tame and perhaps dry on paper comes alive when this master storyteller breathes life into it.

When our main character begins getting phone calls to his new telephone number obviously meant for the former number's owner, he cannot let it go. He MUST get to the bottom of this, if only to ensure the sex trade worker's calls stop coming to him. What looks like a website misprint on the surface explodes into something much more serious and dangerous.

Connelly delves deep into the world of the online sex trade business with a side of nano-technology to come up with this excellent thriller. He also teases those who know his work well by dropping some crumbs in the description and dialogue, but that is for you to find.

Good work... no, GREAT WORK Mr. Connelly.

[Patrice Hoffman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll be honest... I'm a little biased when it comes to my favorite authors. Michael Connelly is one of my favorite authors. The reason I say I'll be honest is because I wanted to give this book 2 stars because the main character just kept making me upset. The story hooks from the beginning. But I, like other readers, could not understand what was motivating the protagonist to find this woman who's number he was given accidentally. Had it not been for the ending, I would have felt this book was a total wash. Thankfully, Connelly didn't let me down and wrote a book that had me hooked from page one.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Connelly's Harry Bosch series, and the Lincoln Lawyer has its charm. So did Blood Work.
The protagonist in this one, Henry Pierce, left me cold. Erratic, old, lacking the passion you'd expect. The first half seemed slow because of the character. But fortunately Connelly bound and solved the story together elegantly towards the end. Still, this and The Outlook are so far my two least favorite books of his. If this was your first Connelly, try some old Harry Bosch books. Ideally in order...

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't improve on what's been said and written about CHASING THE DIME. It worked for me. Quite well, in fact. Maybe the geeky protag put off some readers. Great pacing and tension stood out. I'm hooked on the stand alones.

[Mark Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henry Pierce is just days away from a patent and a huge meeting with a potential investor at the company he founded. However, he's also just moved into an apartment since he has split with his fiancee. That, of course, means a new land line, and Pierce starts to get phone messages for someone named Lilly. Pierce quickly figures out that Lilly is a prostitute, but how did he get her number? Why would she give it up? Pierce isn't able to let the puzzle go, and he begins to spend his weekend obsessing over finding her instead of doing the last-minute things he should be doing for his company. Will he find her? Will he destroy everything he's worked for in the process?

This book is definitely a departure for Michael Connelly, featuring an everyman and bordering on a technothriller. It starts out well with plenty of intrigue, but it gets bogged down in the second half. The pace gets way too slow at one point before picking up again and racing to the climax. Pierce's reasons for getting as involved as he does are reasonable, but we don't find out until the end. He does make an interesting main character, however, and the rest of the cast are just as strong. Since this book originally came out in 2002, it has some dated elements. It's amazing how much our lives have changed in the last decade and a half. This is one of Connelly's rare stand-alones, and you can read it as much, but fans of the Harry Bosch books will recognize some cool Easter Eggs, including a reference to the ending of City of Bones, the Bosch book that came out just before this book did.

Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.

[Linda McHardy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tried listening to this one. After several chapters, I just couldn't live through the boredom anymore. The plot dragged like molasses and the main character was just plain annoying. I suppose it might have picked up eventually considering the average rating on Goodreads is four stars, but I just couldn't be bothered to wade through anymore of the boredom. It's funny--I used to think that once I started reading a book, I somehow had this obligation to finish it even if I wasn't enjoying it. Then a wise person told me, if you read a new book every day of your life, you wouldn't even scratch the surface of all the books available to be read. It was such a freeing concept! Ever since then, once I feel like I've given a book a fair chance, if it hasn't justified itself to me--back on the shelf it goes!

[Marty Fried · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick, enjoyable read. A fast-moving story with unexpected twists, marred only by occasionally frustration at the mistakes made by the protagonist. But people do things for strange reasons sometimes, so I try not to judge. His main mistake was talking too much, especially to the police without a lawyer, but he didn't expect to become a suspect I suppose. Actually, his big mistake was probably getting too involved in the first place, but that's what made the story.

This was a standalone story for Michael Connelly, without any of his usual characters. Might have been interesting if Bosch had been the detective, but it was probably better without him for this one.

[Joel Nisson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typical great Michael Connelly

One interesting thing I noticed with this book is that the audiobook version and the written (e-book) version differ slightly in dozens of places. I’ve seen this before, but not to this extent. It makes me wonder which was written first and which was changed.