28 March 2011

Book Banter -- The Overlook

Title: The Overlook
Author: Michael Connelly
Genre: Mystery
Length: 225 pages
Where Bethany's Copy Came From: Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library
Plot Basics: LAPD Detective Harry Bosch is on his first case with a special homicide division after the debacle of his last case with the Open-Unsolved Unit (Echo Park's story...) When a doctor is murdered on a highway overlook, Bosch and his new partner are called out to handle the case. In the course of investigating, they discover he has access to the radioactive material necessary to make a dirty bomb and the FBI -- including Bosch's former lover, Rachel Walling -- sweep into the case in a flurry of anti-terrorism efforts. Bosch is angry that he's getting pushed aside and that the original murder seems to be less of a priority. Bosch, however, won't let the murder go and when key evidence turns up, he jeopardizes himself and Rachel again to catch a killer.

Banter Points: This is another winner in the Harry Bosch series. The Overlook is short, but it's fast-paced which fits the fact that the whole story takes less than 24 hours to unfold. Connelly again takes current fears about terrorism and fits them neatly into a police procedural novel. It's also neat to see Bosch work with a new partner after he's pretty much had the same ones the whole series and now is faced with a younger cop in his shadow and unfamiliar with Bosch's methods

Bummer Points: This book doesn't do much to propel Bosch's character forward, focused far more on plot. Bosch is faced a little bit with his own mortality, but it didn't come across as something that's going to affect him much in future books.

Word Nerd Recommendation: If you're looking for an entry point to the Bosch series without tackling the whole backlist, this is a good starting point because the quick plot will snap up any reader's interest.

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