reviews

The Closers

"In Connelly/Bosch's world, character, context and procedure are what count, and once again the author proves a master at all. Most striking of all, in developments that give this novel astonishing moral force, the pair explore the "ripples" of the long ago crime, how it has destroyed the young girl's family—leaving the mother trapped in the past and plunging the father into a nightmare of homelessness and drink—and how it drives Rider, and especially Bosch, into deeper understanding of their own purposes in life. Connelly comes as close as anyone to being today's Dostoyevsky of crime literature, and this is one of his finest works to date, a likely candidate not only for book award nominations but for major bestsellerdom."
— Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

"Connelly's background as a journalist shows in his direct, unadorned writing style. He moves the story along at a brisk yet unhurried pace, and his dialogue brings the characters to life far more effectively than any amount of momentum-halting background. It hardly matters whether you've read all 10 Harry Bosch stories or are starting with this one; through the course of the story we learn all we need to know about him, to care about him ... This is the kind of writing that elevates Connelly head and shoulders above almost everyone else in crime fiction. It's from the heart as much as from the head. The story is full of effective twists and turns - but we actually care, about Harry and Rider, the victim and even the key suspect, because in a way, he's a victim too ... This is Michael Connelly at his best, and a welcome reminder of how good crime fiction can be."
- Jeff Glorfeld, The Age (Melbourne)

"Connelly artfully reclaims the procedural genre. The technical drill in this narrative is as detailed as it gets, and when Bosch applies himself to his first case...he is, in effect, taking the reader on an inside tour of the machinery running the new and streamlined L.A.P.D. ... ...Bosch can't bring back the victims, but in his new job he can honor his resolve ''to carry on the mission'' and make good on his promise ''always to speak for the dead.''"
— Marilyn Stasio, New York Times

"Mr. Connelly's previous Bosch novel, "The Narrows," was a career high point. "The Closers," an engrossing and exciting tale, does nothing to lower the standards of the series. Throughout, Mr. Connelly takes as his subject not just Harry Bosch and his circle of friends (and enemies) but Los Angeles itself: "A city as great as any other. And just as mean.""
— Tom Nolan, The Wall Street Journal

"Fans of Connelly will recognize the deliberate progression of Police Procedural 101, in which he excels; also the thick acronym soup of cop-speak. They will welcome back Bosch on full alert and with tricks aplenty, most of them legal."
— Eugen Weber, Los Angeles Times

"Connelly's in top form once again with this tight-as-a-noose tale of retired homicide detective Harry Bosch, who returns to the LAPD to investigate a 20-year-old unsolved murder."
— LIFE Magazine