City of Bones

by Michael Connelly

Book Overview

When a dog unearths evidence of a murder in the Hollywood Hills, Detective Harry Bosch must tackle a cold case that sparks memories he's tried to forget.It's a cold case, but for Detective Harry... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316154059
• ISBN13: 9780316154055
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Little Brown and Company
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.2" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Still waiting on book. My rating is actually 0 cause I have not received it

On the invoice the phone number given doesn’t work to check status of delivery.

AUTHENTICITY AND RAPID FIRE ACTION

With "Blood Work" (1998 a major motion picture and "A Darkness More Than Night" (2001) receiving plaudits one might think ace crime writer Michael Connelly would be resting on his laurels, film rights, and royalties. Not so. The energetic author now presents "City Of Bones," another in his bestselling Harry Bosch series. This time detective Harry Bosch faces off with a child murderer, a killer who has remained on the loose for nearly two decades. Once a dog uncovers what appears to be a human bone in the woods of Hollywood Hills, Bosch is called. It takes the savvy sleuth only a glance to realize this is a child's arm bone. Once the media spreads the word Laurel Canyon is crawling with police, amateur crime solvers, the curious, reporters, and (true to Connelly form) a gorgeous young police officer whom Harry takes under his wing in more ways than one. As additional remains are unearthed Bosch determines the bones are those of a long dead abused boy. Obviously, there's a killer out there who believes he's home free, and Bosch is haunted by black images of his own childhood. The pressure is mounting and it's all on Bosch. Few can bring to life the components of a police investigation as capably and thoroughly as former crime reporter Connelly. Authenticity and rapid fire action make "City Of Bones" another can't-put-it-down read. - Gail Cooke

Excellent, excellent

If there is a better police procedural crime novel, I've missed it. I approached this book with some misgivings, having been disappointed by "Chasing the Dime." But Henry (Hieronymous--I liked that little touch) Bosch is a first-class, believable detective, all the way. He's jaded to some degree but tries to maintain some touch with the populace. The us-them relationship police have with the press and the "looky loos," as civilians are called, is there, certainly, but outwardly subdued.The plot feels right, enhanced by the fact that the writer didn't try to tie up all the loose ends, such as, the surprising matter of Julia Brasher and, not to give too much away, the fact that the killer is not at all a sure thing when we reach the final page. Not all killers confess into a tape recorder and psychoanalyze their own motives.Bosch makes mistakes. He goes down dead-end trails after false clues. He is imperfect. In short, he is realistic. So are the other characters, including his partner, the technicians, Bosch's superiors in the department, the suspects, the incidental personae--the entire cast. They don't always do what we expect, but people in real life don't either. Too many books have characters who appear to be "on rails." We know exactly where they are going and how the plot is going to follow them.I realize I haven't outlined the plot, but others have, and sometimes they give away too much. Suffice it to say that I'll read more of the Harry Bosch series and hope for books that are in this same class.

I Was Up All Night Reading This Book -I Wasn't Disappointed

I picked up this book after reading an article about the author in the New York Times. I couldn't put the book down and finished it in two days. Unlike some authors who write about LA and put Downey next to LAX, Mr. Connelly's Southern California is accurate. The little bits of ambience he throws in ---Philippe's sandwiches, farmer's market donuts --are pleasant, but you don't have to be an Angeleno to enjoy his work. With the exception of the Julia Brasher character (I couldn't figure out what was going on there), I enjoyed each of the people I met in the book, from the stars to the bit-players. Little vignettes, like the auditioning LA police officers, the SID scientist who was an avid skateboarder, the anthropologist at the Page Museum who could read a person's history in their bones, the retired doctor, made the book come alive. I'm looking forward to reading more of this author's works.I also want to thank the people who write reviews. I read them in order to decide whether I will enjoy a book or not. I'm not a professional book person by any means, but by adding my voice, I hope that I can help someone decide whether this is a book for their tastes.

Too Many Ghosts

I bought 'City of Bones' when it first came out, but put off reading it for a bit. The last couple of Connelly's novels about Detective Harry Bosch seemed a bit off pace, so I was waiting for a tolerant moment. Once I started reading I discovered that my premonitions were wrong, and that this was going to be a high water mark in the eight volume series. Michael Connelly has a trick of creating an introspective mood without actually making his characters become solipsistic, and 'City of Bones' at its deepest level is about Harry Bosch coming to grips with his own beliefs and needs. This subtext threads its way through a case involving the 20-year-old corpse of a young boy found buried in a small plot of woods. Cases this old are rarely soluble, but somehow just enough information keeps coming to the surface to keep Bosch and his partner, Jerry Edgar, working away at the case. Gradually Bosch becomes fixated on the case as its ramifications begin to have echoes in his own life.One of the key factors in Bosch's character development is a new relationship with rookie police officer Julia Brasher. She is the officer on duty at the murder site, and is drawn into the investigation. This relationship becomes the model for all the other relationships in the book; especially those Bosch has with his partner and his work. In the end it triggers something unexpected in the older detective, and will eventually cause him to make some surprising decisions. Beyond the character level, the plot is tightly drawn and well paced. Generally, a story that turns on forensic police procedure is interesting rather than exciting, but Connelly has goes to great lengths to prove that this does not have to be the case. There is a surfeit of plot twists and the high emotional pitch will keep the reader on tenterhooks - a delightful form of torture, too rarely experienced in the present.Obviously, I enjoyed the book. I found myself intentionally slowing down my reading speed in order to extend my pleasure with a writer whose minimalist style always seems to have more to say than the efforts of wordier contemporaries. This is a milestone in the Harry Bosch series, but hopefully not its last, shining moment.

AUTHENTICITY + NON-STOP ACTION

With "Blood Work" (1998 ) set to become a major motion picture and "A Darkness More Than Night" (2001) receiving plaudits one might think ace crime writer Michael Connelly would be resting on his laurels, film rights, and royalties. Not so. The energetic author now presents "City Of Bones," another in his bestselling Harry Bosch series. This time detective Harry Bosch faces off with a child murderer, a killer who has remained on the loose for nearly two decades. Once a dog uncovers what appears to be a human bone in the woods of Hollywood Hills, Bosch is called. It takes the savvy sleuth only a glance to realize this is a child's arm bone. Once the media spreads the word Laurel Canyon is crawling with police, amateur crime solvers, the curious, reporters, and (true to Connelly form) a gorgeous young police officer whom Harry takes under his wing in more ways than one. As additional remains are unearthed Bosch determines the bones are those of a long dead abused boy. Obviously, there's a killer out there who believes he's home free, and Bosch is haunted by black images of his own childhood. The pressure is mounting and it's all on Bosch. Few can bring to life the components of a police investigation as capably and thoroughly as former crime reporter Connelly. Authenticity and rapid fire action make "City Of Bones" another can't-put-it-down read. - Gail Cooke