The Black Ice (Harry Bosch)
by Michael Connelly
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Book Reviews of The Black Ice (Harry Bosch)
Book Review: When other suspense gets boring, read Connelly.
Summary: 4 Stars
I like reading Michael Connelly because typically he writes his characters as free-speaking without being too over-the-top. There is a certain irony with that feeling and this book, but I still enjoyed it. Harry Bosch is Connelly's serial character and he is a misfit detective in Hollywood because...well, because cops who get along with other cops are no fun to read about.
I found myself thinking that, in The Black Ice, Harry Bosch was a little too "rogue warrior action hero." Some of the things he did and situations into which he was written were maybe a little extravagant. I wondered if after the book was released if anyone considered optioning the character for the Harry Bosch Action Figure.
Normally when you read detective fiction you should expect to read about cops who have seemingly endless supplies of both cash and contacts which move their cases along with the greatest of ease. I have come to accept that. It doesn't bother me anymore, and I definitely know that it is not how things really work (most of the time); it just makes good books. This was a little different from that, but while it stood out in my mind, it did not bother me.
Rather than read the Harry Bosch books as they come out and skipping the earlier books because I found the series late, I have decided to read the series in order. The Black Ice is the second installment. It had the unfortunate duty of following a very highly praised novel in The Black Echo. The Black Echo lacked the commando vibe I tried to describe about The Black Ice, so I had not expected it. Sophomore slump? I don't think so. I think I liked The Black Ice a little more than The Black Echo. So who knows, maybe there will be more of that feeling, or maybe not. I am not done with this series, not by a long shot.
I love a good mystery/suspense novel. Sometimes the lengths to which the detectives go are a little unrealistic, but that is part of why it is on the fiction shelf. The Black Ice was a little unrealistic at times, but it was still a fast-paced story that I enjoyed greatly.
Book Review: "The Black Ice" -- A Dark, Cold Detective Story
Summary: 5 Stars
In "The Black Ice," Michael Connelly delivers another spellbinding mystery initially set in the underbelly of Los Angeles. Connelly owns this turf as no mystery writer has since Raymond Chandler: the Hollywood Hills, hugged by houses perched precariously on stilts; the once-respectable, now seedy motels; the dirty streets; the hierarchy of bars, from bleak to bleaker to bleakest; and the empty, soul-less creatures who need one more shot to get through another day. This is the Los Angeles where Hieronymous (Harry) Bosch tries to piece together a puzzling series of murders, which start as separate crimes but are soon seen to be interrelated.
No "Joe Friday" LAPD booster, Bosch works his cases alone, often contending with the infighting within the LAPD and the rivalry between the LAPD and other agencies. The bureaucracy itself can be mindboggling. Bosch is initially assigned to one of these cases simply to improve his division's "cleared" statistics. As Bosch walks through Parker Center (LAPD headquarters), he is acutely aware of the jealously-guarded fiefdoms invisibly dividing each floor. And his initial meeting with a DEA agent, where each man is holding back information, sadly rings true.
The cases themselves, starting with the suicide of a fellow officer and spreading to the deaths of drug dealers and more, take Bosch from Los Angeles to the sister cities of Calexico and Mexicali. Connelly has clearly done his research, and the descriptions of those cities and the bull-fighting spectacles south of the border are first rate. Despite being both helped and hampered by the Mexican police, Bosch painstakingly solves the cases. The last plot twist was a complete surprise to me.
This is the second Harry Bosch mystery I've read (I'm reading them in order) and I believe it is even better than Michael Connelly's first, Edgar-winning effort, "The Black Echo." I look forward to reading more works by this engaging author.
Book Review: An Intriguing, Complex Plot with an Unexpected Twist!
Summary: 4 Stars
Michael Connelly's novel The Black Ice features veteran LAPD detective Harry Bosch. This time Harry is investigating the death of "one of their own".
Cal Moore, a narcotic's officer that Harry knew vaguely, is found in a motel bathroom with his head practically blown off by a shotgun and a suicide note in his pocket that read `I found out who I was'. When Harry is given the duty of notifying next of kin, he finds himself inexplicably drawn to Moore's wife, Sylvia, and the attraction builds slowly, albeit perhaps a bit too predictably.
As Harry investigates an unidentified `Juan Doe' who seems to have a connection to Moore, one of Moore's partners gives him a file that Moore had been working on. It was a case involving `black ice', a deadly rock narcotic that had hit the streets.
A series of murders in Hollywood and Mexico lead Harry to a Mexican drug lord Zorrillo, known to his compatriots as El Papa--the pope. Zorrillo is a man shrouded in mystery and death.
From beginning to end, The Black Ice is full of action and suspense. The only thing lacking is perhaps a bit more warmth and emotion from Harry, who has lived the single life far too long. I'd like to see him have a real and deep relationship, instead of always the carefree bachelor kind.
Regardless, it's still a great book by a great author. Fast-paced, technical in crime scene investigation and believable. This book kept me reading and wanting more.
But it is the final three chapters that give you an unexpected twist and a final, explosive confrontation leads to death. The plot weaves through intricate subplots, with the familiar touch of a protagonist that is multi-dimensional in character. Harry Bosch has grown immensely in Connelly's last few novels. Looking forward to his next case.
~ Cheryl Kaye Tardif
Author of Divine Intervention
Book Review: Another strong effort...
Summary: 4 Stars
The Black Ice by Michael Connelly is one in a series of Harry Bosch mysteries that I have read lately, and I am impressed with the consistency and the quality of his work.
Christmas night finds LAPD homicide detective, Harry Bosch, eating alone when his police scanner announces the discovery of a body of a fellow cop, Calexico Moore. Moore was a narcotics officer who was under investigation by Internal Affairs, and it appears to be a suicide. The next day, Bosch is given a pile of unsolved homicides belonging to another cop who has pretty much stopped doing his job due to alcoholism. Bosch's boss is hoping that Harry might solve a case or two, thus boosting their rate of unsolved cases to over 50%. The two most recent cases keep bringing Bosch back to Cal Moore, and the detective gets the feeling that his is a homicide made to look like a suicide. The common denominator in these cases is Black Ice, a combination of heroin, cocaine and PCP being imported from Mexico and Hawaii.
Connelly brings a realism to his books that comes from his years as a LAPD crime reporter. The author takes us into the mind of a cop in ways that few writers have before. Bosch muses most "murder victims know their killers... But Hollywood was different. There are no norms. There are only deviations, aberrations. Strangers killed strangers here. Reasons were not a requirement." Or about solving a case, a partner once told Bosch "facts aren't the most important part of an investigation, the glue was. He said the glue was made up of instinct, imagination, sometimes guesswork and most times, just plain luck." There's a lot of truth in that.
I am almost done another Connelly mystery in the Bosch series, The Narrows. While this is also a great book, my only suggestion is that you read these books in order. Doing so will greatly enhance your enjoyment of each book.
Book Review: Stereotypical Set-up, but with Excellent Results
Summary: 4 Stars
I've been looking for this novel, you see. It's about a well adjusted and highly effective police detective, on the fast track, who is loved by all the brass and has a nice family waiting at home for him every night. This detective is given a lot of support by the investigative apparatus and has developed a nice working relationship with the press. He works cases methodically and practically, never making himself the target of some psycho. Well, I haven't found it yet, but one thing I can tell you is Harry Bosch is not that detective and The Black Ice is definitely not that book. Michael Connelly has developed the stereotypical me against the world cop book that comes off as anything but stereotypical. In this latest police procedural, the procedure are all thrown out the window as Bosch tries to solve the murder of a fellow policeman that no one seems to want solved. Tied in with the death of narcotic's officer Cal Moore's demise, is a few drug related killers and the recent sudden retirement of a fellow homicide detective. Connelly spins a web of corruption and lost youth, symbolically weaving together the tough childhood's of the slain detective and Bosch and takes the tale south of LA, to twin Mexican Border Towns and a ring of smugglers transporting the latest hip drug, Black Ice.While this may not have been a great novel, Connelly does a great job with the subtle symbolism in this book. He doesn't need to hit you over the head with it and he gives the reader a lot of credit for intelligence. But then it all breaks down in the end after the obligatory action scenes, Bosch takes a turn as Hercule Poirot, and needs to explain everything down to the last detail to an ungrateful boss. For the most part this was a brisk paced and fun addition to the Harry Bosch series.