Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* After debuting a new series lead, night-shift detective Renée Ballard, in The Late Show (2017), Connelly returns to everybody's favorite hard-bitten cop, Harry Bosch. Harry's gig as a part-timer working cold cases for the San Fernando PD suddenly gets much hotter when the sleepy suburb becomes the scene of a double murder at a pharmacy. The regular detectives look to Harry for help, and soon enough, he finds himself doing something he's never done: going undercover to expose an elaborate scam involving the distribution of opiates. It's not the best time for Harry to go underground, as he's also knee-deep in another scam, this one designed to make him the fall guy when a killer on death row claims Harry framed him decades ago. Connelly cleverly brings Harry's half brother, defense attorney Mickey Haller (The Lincoln Lawyer, 2005), into the story, along with other characters from Harry's LAPD past, including former partners Jerry Edgar and Lucia Soto. Expertly juggling both plots, Connelly mines the double murder for fascinating and frightening details about the opiate epidemic while using the case against Harry as a way of deepening the complex relationship between Bosch and Haller as well as giving Haller a chance to display his dazzling legal legerdemain. Connelly remains atop the heap of contemporary crime writers thanks to his rare ability to combine master plotting and procedural detail with a literary novelist's feel for the inner lives of his or her characters. Both talents are on abundant display this time. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The success of Amazon's Bosch series, starring the superb Titus Welliver as Harry, has only served to increase the popularity of the genre's most compelling character.--Ott, Bill Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Bestseller Connelly's fast-paced 22nd Harry Bosch novel (after 2016's The Wrong Side of Goodbye) puts the aging L.A. detective, now a volunteer with the San Fernando PD, squarely in the middle of two cases. The execution of two local pharmacists-father and son-sends Bosch into the world of "pill shills," crime networks that use homeless people, crooked doctors, and greedy pharmacists to amass prescription opioids for illegal resale. The other case dates back 30 years to Bosch's days in the LAPD, when he helped put convicted killer Preston Borders on death row. When the case is reopened thanks to newly revealed DNA, Bosch stands accused of planting evidence. At times the parallel narrative lines feel too separate, as if two distinct novels are melded into one, but even so, the book unfolds with great urgency and a sense of righteous indignation, particularly about the opioid crisis ("Fifty-five thousand dead and counting"). The two truths of the title encapsulate Bosch's world: "[the] truth that was the unalterable bedrock of one's life and mission. And the other, malleable truth of politicians, charlatans, corrupt lawyers and their clients." This entry isn't Connelly's best, but it's still a solid procedural sure to please his many fans. Agent: Philip Spitzer, Philip G. Spitzer Literary. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by Library Journal Review
Forced into retirement and exiled from the LAPD, Harry Bosch (The Wrong Side of Goodbye) is doing battle in court against an overeager district attorney and a wrongful conviction claim-and the stakes couldn't be higher. Accused of planting the evidence that led to a death row conviction, Harry finds his professional reputation on the line. At the same time, he's working his first homicide in years-a professional hit of a father and son at their family pharmacy. The investigation reunites Bosch with former partner Jerry Edgar, now an investigator for the Medical Board of California. With Jerry's help, Harry goes undercover as a pill shill, and he learns just how ruthless prescription drug fraud can be. Verdict Connelly again delivers a solid crime mystery that will delight fans with his perpetually knocked down-detective managing to fight back with his integrity intact. Harry's half-brother Mickey Haller has a prominent role as his attorney, which should please fans of the Mickey Haller series. [See Prepub Alert, 4/24/17.]-Vicki Briner, Broomfield, CO © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
