The Black Ice (Harry Bosch)
by Michael Connelly
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Book Reviews of The Black Ice (Harry Bosch)
Book Review: No Sleep Till Mexicali
Summary: 5 Stars
This is Michael Connelly's second book and - like his first - features Harry Bosch as its central character. Little has changed for Bosch in the eighteen months since the events of "The Black Echo". He's still a jazz-loving loner who's happy to bend the rules, while his taste for coffee, beer and cigarettes remains undiminished. As the book begins, it's Christmas Day and our hero is at home, alone and on call. Monitoring police / fire / ambulance radio messages on his scanner, he picks up a message regarding an apparent homicide within Hollywood boundaries that is being dealt with directly by RHD. Despite the fact that it's Christmas, Bosch isn't too happy that he wasn't notified first - as he should've been, according to protocol. Arriving uninvited at the scene of the crime, he tries to edge his way into things. At first glance, it's an apparent suicide involving Cal Moore, another cop working out of the Hollywood Division's narcotics unit. Although they worked in the same department, Bosch didn't know Moore that well. They'd only spoken properly once, about a stalled case Bosch was working : the murder of a drugs runner called Jimmy Kapps. Bosch was hoping Moore could give him a few leads - about the drug he was smuggling in from Hawaii, called Ice, and possible rival gangs who may have been responsible for his death. Bosch was aware, however, he'd had a few problems - including a possible showdown with IAD. Bosch's only involvement in the case, however, is informing Moore's widow.
The following day, Bosch's boss - Harvey '98' Pounds - tells him to stop working the Kapps case and to keep away the Moore case. One of Bosch's fellow homicide detectives, Lou Porter, has decided to retire on stress related grounds - though it has been commonly known for some time that Porter had a drinking problem. Pounds has assigned Porter's cases to Bosch in the hope that Bosch will be able to clear at least one of them by New Year's Eve. Things soon become complicated though - Bosch's investigations constantly bring Cal Moore back into the equation. Of Porter's cases, he settles on the murder of an unidentified Mexican, whose corpse has been found dumped beside the kitchen door of a diner. Although it was Porter's case, Cal Moore had found the corpse. Not long afterwards, Bosch is contacted by Moore's former colleagues - Moore had left a file for Bosch's attention, with some information regarding the Kapps case. The information throws up some interesting coincidences - and Bosch doesn't believe in coincidences. Now believing that Moore case isn't a straightforward suicide, he believes that the cases are so tightly connected that in solving one he'll solve them all.
Like Connolly's first book, I found this a very enjoyable story. Although this is the second book to feature Harry Bosch, it's not entirely necessary to have read the books in order. There's nothing in it that'll have any major impact on this story - but I would recommend reading "The Black Echo" first. It will clarify a couple of minor points and cover some parts of Harry's background.
Book Review: A GATEWAY TO BETTER BOSCH...
Summary: 3 Stars
The Black Ice is book number two in the series of books by Michael Connelly that star detective Hieronymous Bosch. It is in ways more symbolic and experimental than both its predecessor and all of its successors. While this is interesting, and not entirely without merit, it all adds up to a sum that is less than its parts.
This is the weakest of the Bosch novels so far.
There is an overwrought, yet uncompleted feel to The Black Ice. Its conclusion in particular is more than a little far-fetched and all too convenient.
With that said, here is why The Black Ice is worth reading:
1. Michael Connelly is one of the most interesting and talented writers out there. The combination of his journalistic training and his ability to paint cinematic word pictures that still work as lengthy pieces of fiction is unmatched by other genre writers.
He links all of his books together in interesting ways. Once you step into his world, you begin to get inklings of just how vast it is. This is something rare in genre fiction--at least it is very rarely done this well.
2. Harry Bosch is one hell of a character. Rather than being the one-sided archetype so often found in genre fiction, Bosch is fully human. He is exceptional in that though he is quite humanized, he is completely dedicated to his "mission" as a detective--most ably summed up by Bosch himself:
"Everybody counts, or no one counts."
(An aside: I was recently discussing with my wife who her favorite character in Stephen King's Dark Tower Series is. We have read the books together. She went the emotional route and chose Oy--a sentimental, furry little creature.
When asked who mine is (outside of Cuthbert, who is a bit player in books 1 & 4) I answered Roland.
My wife does not like Roland. He is too mission-driven for her taste. I find, that like Bosch, Roland is more human for having to labor under the weight of a mission (I also feel that Oy gives his all for the mission as well, that he is not all cutesy and cuddly, but that is neither here nor there). The point being, that Bosch and Roland are two of the most fully fleshed out characters that I have come across in some time.
I feel that this is because, conciously or not, we all live by a "mission" of sorts; be they for ill or good.
an aside within an aside: my wife likes Bosch.)
3. The Black Ice is the gateway to the rest of the Bosch books. The books take a huge leap in quality from book three on. Its well worth paying the price of admission: reading the first two books.
I recommend the Bosch series of books very highly.
As part of that recommendation, I suggest you grin and bear The Black Ice.
Who knows, maybe you will find more here than I did.
Book Review: Sophomore Slump?
Summary: 3 Stars
Let me preface this review by saying that I'm a big Connelly fan. I've read virtually all of his books but never got around to reading his sophomore effort "The Black Ice" until now. And I have to say that I was a bit disappointed.
In his Edgar Award winning first novel, "The Black Echo", Connelly delved deep into the demons of main character Harry Bosch's past and relates it to the case before him. In "The Black Ice", Connelly focuses less on the development and insight into Bosch's character and more on Bosch's hard-nosed determination to find the link between two cases, one involving the murder of a "Juan" Doe and the other involving the apparent suicide of a cop in the narcotics unit.
First the positives: There are flashes of vintage Connelly in this book, such as attention to detail when involving the reader in the different locales Bosch visits in pursuit of his investigation. And without revealing too much, the investigation takes us to both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, and Bosch's struggle to keep the case moving forward while still trying to maintain the appearance of compliance with Mexican law enforcement officials is particularly interesting.
Now the reason for 3 stars: To be honest, it's a bit slow. Connelly focuses too many pages of the book on the investigation of the narcotics cop's suicide, then once the results of that is revealed, the book then goes into a whirlwind of activity that makes the story seem disjointed, as if one author wrote the first half and another author wrote the second half.
You also sympathize less with Bosch's character in this book. Again, without revealing too much, Bosch "intimate" encounters in this book make you almost hate him. Then Bosch will later reflect upon the muck of being a cop and the lack of morality he sees in the city, and how he tries to rise above that. I understand that Bosch is imperfect and scarred, but the aforementioned activities Bosch indulges in make him look like a (for lack of a better term) complete jerk.
The ending is also a bit cliched, and it seems Connelly really tried to pattern the cookie cutter outline of this book to some of Raymond Chandler's works, namely the Long Goodbye. Unfortunately, I think The Black Ice falls short.
For Connelly fans, let me give you an idea of how I rank this book to his other works: I would give The Black Echo and Bloodwork 5 stars, Trunk Music (which got lukewarm reception from reviewers but which I enjoyed) I would give 4 stars, and The Poet, which I thought was Connelly's most disappointing and weakest work, I would give 2 stars. The Black Ice gets 3 stars from me... it's not a horrible read, but if you happened to have skipped this book during your journey through the Harry Bosch series, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to not go back.
Book Review: "I found out who I was"
Summary: 4 Stars
The first thing that stood out about this book is how good the writing was. I started reading it and even though the events where not following at a very fast pace, I found myself halfway through the book in no time. The main reason behind this was the skill Connelly displayed for describing the different characters, and the ability for creating engaging dialogues.
There are two reasons why I did not give this novel the top rating. The first one is that I felt a little cheated by one of the points near the end. Halfway through the book most readers will likely start thinking about a likely solution to the mystery, but will discard this due to a very specific piece of information, which at the end gets explained in a not too convincing way. The other reason for a less than excellent rating is the number of mistakes on Spanish expressions. It is surprising that an author of this quality cannot take the time to verify that the little Spanish he is using throughout the novel is accurate. Instead, we find several cases of gender incompatibility in the expressions, and misspelled words, like beer as "Cervesa" instead of the correct "Cerveza", not once, but many times in a row.
The good points are much more prominent though, and it is really hard to pinpoint all of them. I would have to say that the thing I like most about these novels is the main character. Harry Bosch is a detective that does not care about politics in the department, or about what the press may think; he just wants to find the culprits and deliver justice for the victims. He also has a heavy personal baggage related to his childhood and upbringing, which still affects him to this day and makes for some mesmerizing psychological aspects. But this character is just one piece of the puzzle, since the author clearly has a great ability for weaving an interesting plot and then uses the detective to start revealing the facts layer by layer, as if he was peeling an onion until getting to its core. And in this case, there are many layers to consider. Harry gets involved in a series of murder investigations that include among its victims a member of the force, an informant, and a laborer. Adding some romance to the dangerous mix works wonders, and we are drawn into the story as a moth to the fire.
I am confident that most mystery readers will find this book to be very satisfactory. The fact that the author has created a complex main character, and has displayed a natural writing ability leads me to believe that this series can only get better. I am looking forward to reading the next installment!
Book Review: This is NOT about cross-border shopping!
Summary: 4 Stars
Calexico Moore, a depressed NYPD detective who is treading on the illegal dark fringes of the drug culture he's investigating, eats both barrels of his own shotgun in a dreary motel room only days before Christmas. With Moore gone and another officer about to be placed on permanent disability leave because of alcohol abuse, the homicide unit is clearly under-staffed and overwhelmed with an outstanding case load. Lieutenant Harvey "98" Pounds, in a callous bureaucratic gesture, pleads with Harry Bosch to pull some overtime and begs him to clear just one case before New Year's - that will put the unit's clearance ratio over 50%, a marginally acceptable level in the eyes of the public and the police brass! Bosch digs in and quickly determines that not only are two of the outstanding murders related but the confusing road he must travel to solve them enters the high stakes world of designer drug smuggling and also crosses paths with the tortuous trail that led Calexico Moore to the motel room in which he took his own life.
Most readers will agree that the Harry Bosch series is within the "police procedural" genre. But the ending twist and resolution to these complex murders rivals the endings of the finest thrillers on bookstore shelves today.
As a character piece, "The Black Ice" firmly entrenches Harry Bosch as a very complex man to fathom with depths that are almost impossible to plumb - compassionate at times and yet outrageously brutal and callous at others; openly contemptuous of the rules of the police bureaucracy and yet rigid in the establishment of his own personal code of conduct and integrity; often shallow in his relationship with women and yet clearly longing for the depth of a meaningful relationship based in true love and compatibility; he is also an obvious "user", entirely willing to use a personal relationship for the achievement of his own short-term goals. In short, he is entirely human and not entirely likeable - but as a complex protagonist in a thrilling police procedural that you will be cheering for - well ... Connelly has simply hit the nail right on the head!
Because of an underlying thread of multi-layer character development, references to past events and the slow but sure revelation of Bosch's history, "The Black Ice" is best served as the second entrée in a multi-course meal which begins with the first Bosch novel, "The Black Echo", followed by "The Concrete Blonde". Ten further courses are available for your gustatory delight! Enjoy.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss