The Black Echo (Harry Bosch)
by Michael Connelly
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Book Summary Information
Author: Michael ConnellyEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-12-01
ISBN: 0446612731
Number of pages: 496
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Book Reviews of The Black Echo (Harry Bosch)
Book Review: The Black Echo, A Review by SpeekNDaTruuf
Summary: 3 Stars
The Black Echo 482pgs.
by Michael Connelly
Review by SpeekNDaTruuf
Ever wish you could curl up in a comfortable chair with your favorite drink and immerse yourself in a good thriller, a captivating "whodunit"? Well, wish no more! Michael Connelly provides this in The Black Echo, taking you on a ride that you wish didn't end on page 482.
When a man is murdered, his body dumped into a pipe line of the Mulholland Dam, LAPD homicide cop Harry Bosch is called to investigate the crime. But this crime is unlike others, because this time, it's personal. The victim, a heroin addict, happens to be a former "tunnel rat" who served alongside Bosch in the Vietnam War. It is believed and widely accepted that along with drugs comes violence, so this should be an open and shut case, right? Wrong! Bosch, who doesn't believe in coincidences, stumbles upon too many things that don't sit right with him, thus he begins his investigation immediately. Teamed with a female FBI agent, Bosch has to determine why this victim was killed, and what he finds out leads him into the past, into her bed, into the underworkings of the city where a heist is taking place, and into his own personal nightmares.
One aspect that I enjoyed about this novel was learning about the "tunnel rats". As a product of the '80s, I didn't learn in depth about any wars until the late '90s. One, in particular, was the Vietnam War which ended in 1975, four years before I was born. Connelly didn't know that I had very little knowledge of the war, but he provided enough history and visual references to educate me on the underground horrors that the "tunnel rats" faced in 'Nam. That is one thing that I love about this novel. You don't have to know it all, you don't even have to know a little bit, because Connelly gives it to you as if he is educating, say, a child. And because of his outstanding imagery, it's easy to become caught up in imagining what these men, these "tunnel rats", must have endured: trudging through the confined tunnels which oftentimes felt like infernos, panicking as the stench or as the darkness encamped around you, not knowing whether you were going to be captured and killed in a booby trap, losing your sense of direction and becoming lost. If I were claustrophobic, I am sure that there would have been times when I had to put this book down because it was so real.
Another aspect that I loved was the relationship between Bosch and the female FBI agent, Eleanor Wish. The chemistry between this pair is perfect, even though Bosch is a middle-aged white detective and Wish is a middle-aged black FBI agent. Connelly has written both of these characters so that there is no power struggle nor any racial tension between them evident. There are, at times, the feeling that the man has to take control, that he has to be in charge. But the two respect each other, and they try not to step on each other's toes. In fact, they find themselves attracted to each other, and that leads into another, different, world in this novel. While reading this, I thought of the interracial relationships of the past and of today. America's past isn't pretty, to say the least. While it was common for a white man to take a black mistress, it was suicide for a black man to have a white anything. Then, not so long ago, we saw the rise of interracial relationships, and it was still more white men taking black women, but not necessarily as mistresses. People still turned their heads and their noses up when they saw an interracial couple. Today, however, it seems more acceptable by society's standards. So, it was good to read a novel that reflected today's beliefs.
One last, but not final, aspect that I enjoyed about this novel was the inner workings of the law enforcement world. Connelly has written such an in-depth novel where we are able to see how the different agencies work together to solve a crime. There's the LAPD and the FBI, but then there's also the other local law enforcement (BHPD - Beverly Hills Police Department, the medical examiners, etc.), and each of these organizations have their chiefs, deputies and so on and so forth. While he does use a lot of abbreviations, Connelly also, perhaps two or three lines further down, tells us what these abbreviations mean. That is another reason why I loved this book. It would've been hell to try to decipher what these acronyms meant, and I'm thinking that Connelly knew that as well. That is why he included the description of each organization, of each acronym and abbreviation. Reading this, I feel as if I have a better understanding how the law enforcement works, and what organizations deal with what. I've always seen them as a separate, secret society all their own because they have the duty of protecting and serving us, and sometimes I can't see how they're protecting and serving yet they're getting paid for it, but I have a better understanding now. And I must say, I have a higher respect for them now. Not as high as someone more patriotic, but I do have a better respect for them. But, as usual, there is always someone inside that secret society that looks to only bettering him/herself, regardless if it will hurt someone else. Connelly includes that aspect in this novel as well, and what you find here might just surprise you! No wonder he was voted as the winner of the Edgar Award for Best First Novel and that the New York Times deemed him a bestselling author.
I loved this book, and I believe you will too, especially if you're interested in mystery novels. I give Michael Connelly and The Black Echo THREE AND A HALF STARS.
Summary of The Black Echo (Harry Bosch)
For maverick Lapd homicide detective Harry Bosch, the body in the drainpipe at Mulholland Dam is more than another anonymous statistic. This one is personal...because the murdered man was a fellow Vietnam "tunnel rat" who had fought side by side with him in a hellish underground war. Now Bosch is about to relive the horror of Nam. From a dangerous maze of blind alleys to a daring criminal heist beneath the city, his survival instincts will once again be tested to their limit. Pitted against enemies inside his own department and forced to make the agonizing choice between justice and vengeance, Bosch goes on the hunt for a killer whose true face will shock him.Children's Books
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