The Dark Hours – Michael Connelly

AS NIGHT FALLS, A KILLER COMES TO LIGHT…

On New Year’s Eve at the end of one of the hardest years in history, hundreds of revellers shoot their guns into the air in time-honoured LA tradition. But as the rain of lead comes down, a man is shot dead in the middle of a crowded street party.

Detective Renée Ballard soon connects the bullet to an unsolved cold case last worked by legendary ex-LAPD detective Harry Bosch. As they investigate where the old and new cases connect, a new crime shatters the night shift.

The Midnight Men are a pair of violent predators who stalk the city during the dark hours, and will kill to keep their identities secret.

In a police department shaken to the core by pandemic and protests, both cases have the power to save Ballard’s belief in the job – or take everything from her…

I received a review copy from Orion and was invited to join the blog tour by Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers.

A Ballard and Bosch thriller but The Dark Hours is very much the book in which Renée Ballard gets to shine. I can’t immediately think of a scene in the book where Ballard doesn’t feature and she is a formidable force throughout. Bosch fans need not worry as Harry does get plenty of involvement but this is all about Ballard.

Proceedings open on New Years Eve when all the cops are on the streets for a “time-honoured” tradition of LA residents shooting their guns into the air (and I thought we Scot’s were hardcore revellers on Hogmanay). A call comes through for Ballard – a death to attend after the rain of bullets had fallen on the city.

Although Ballard is not working homicide cases and has been seconded to Sex to assist with a case the police are calling The Midnight Men she attends the scene and has suspicions this death may actually be a murder. Although Ballard should be handing over the case to the detectives that work homicides they are too busy with an “all hands onboard” case which has potential to be high profile and damaging for the reputation of LAPD. Ballard starts to investigate her suspected murder and opens a can of worms.

The murder weapon appears to link to an unsolved murder several years ago, the investigating detective was Harry Bosch. The pair are reunited and Ballard drafts in Bosch to assist so she can try to track a killer before she is told to hand over the case to the homicide detectives. As she starts asking questions she draws attention to herself, there have been other murders down the years and Ballard’s victim is just the latest person who fell foul of a ruthless collective. But with the department seemingly reluctant to lift the lid on historic murders which may make LAPD look bad she is fighting a losing battle to progress her enquiries.

Ballard’s frustration with the politics of policing is very clear in The Dark Hours. Michael Connelly has made his latest novel very relevant to today’s circumstances. He is one of the few authors making lockdown and Covid very much part of the ongoing narrative. There are mentions of George Floyd and the January 6th issues in the Americal capital. Ballard has seen the public perception towards the police shifting and it doesn’t help her doing her job. This brings a fascinating new dynamic to a police story which the author exploits to magnificent effect.

I referenced The Midnight Men – a dual team of predators who have been conducting violent sexual assults on women. Ballard is officially working this case but is saddled with a colleague who Ballard feels has lost her drive and empathy. These scenes in the story will be disturbing and Ballard’s determination to see justice served will drive her to making some questionable decisions to see the perpreatrators caught. Is the result more important than following procedure? Ballard thinks so but she will still need to answer for her actions.

The Dark Hours is easily one of my favourite reads this year. The story feels frantic and unrelenting. Ballard is spinning plates and burning the candle both ends and the reader is caught up with her determination to make good and help the victims in all the crimes she has to investigte. But hunting the worst people makes her a target and Ballard will need to be very careful as not all threats are physical, political pressures may also stop her achieving her goals.

I don’t know how Michael Connelly can consistently deliver such compelling stories but I am in awe that the does.

The Dark Hours is published by Orion and is available in Hardback, digital and audiobook copy. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08WPWZ57C/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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November 5

The Law Of Innocence – Michael Connelly

THE MOST IMPORTANT CASE OF HIS LIFE.
ONLY THIS TIME THE DEFENDANT IS HIMSELF.

“The law of innocence is unwritten. It will not be found in a leather-bound code book. It will never be argued in a courtroom. In nature, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In the law of innocence, for every man not guilty of a crime there is a man out there who is. And to prove true innocence the guilty man must be found and exposed to the world.”

* * * * *

Heading home after winning his latest case, defense attorney Mickey Haller – The Lincoln Lawyer – is pulled over by the police. They open the trunk of his car to find the body of a former client.

Haller knows the law inside out. He will be charged with murder. He will have to build his case from behind bars. And the trial will be the trial of his life.

Because Mickey Haller will defend himself in court.

With watertight evidence stacked against him, Haller will need every trick in the book to prove he was framed.

But a not-guilty verdict isn’t enough. In order to truly walk free, Haller knows he must find the real killer – that is the law of innocence…

I received a review copy of The Law of Innocence from Orion through Netgalley. I would also like to thank Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for the opportunity to join this blog tour.

There are a lot of Michael Connelly books. As a fan I consider this to be a very good thing, my relationship with Connelly’s characters has been developed and nurtured over many books and many years. So when I discovered The Law of Innocence was a Mickey Haller story my anticipation heightened. Haller is The Lincoln Lawyer and this suggested a courtroom drama was heading our way.

Not just any courtroom drama – a huge drama as it is Haller himself that is the accused. Of murder. And despite knowing he is innocent Haller will need to be at the very best of his game to ensure he can also convince a jury of his innocence. Who else is at the very best of his game? Michael Connelly is too as The Law of Innocence is one of his best yet (possibly even THE best).

If you enjoy a courtroom drama then The Law of Innocence is your essential read – I can’t think of a legal thriller I have enjoyed more. Haller is everywhere in this story and we see everything unfold as he does. From the point he is arrested to the time he spends in jail awaiting a bail hearing we are there experiencing Haller’s predicament with him.

Connelly has crafted this so well. Readers get to see Haller and his team building his defence. The frustration at tricks which the prosecution will pull to hamper his case. We will cheer when the judge reprimands the prosecuting attorney and laugh as Haller scores points at their mis-steps. You cannot help become anything but wholly immersed in this story.

As the case draws closer Haller and his team begin to peel back layers of lies and secrets which suggest Haller has been unwittingly dragged into something far bigger than he originally anticipated. For someone Haller is a useful and expendable distraction. If he gets too close to the truth then Haller cannot be allowed the opportunity to take the stand and present his defence…now it is not just his freedom which is at risk.

The Law of Innocence breezes straight onto my Best of 2020 selections – few books are more befitting of the title “page turner”.

Loved it.

The Law of Innocence will be published by Orion on 10 November 2020. It will be available in hardback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B087ZCX3CD/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2

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May 22

Dark Sacred Night – Michael Connelly

A MURDER HE CAN’T FORGET.
A CASE ONLY SHE CAN SOLVE.

Daisy Clayton’s killer was never caught. In over ten years, there has been no breakthrough in her murder case.

Detective Renée Ballard has faced everything the LAPD’s notorious dusk-till-dawn graveyard shift has thrown at her. But, until tonight, she’d never met Harry Bosch – an ex-homicide detective consumed by this case.

Soon, she too will become obsessed by the murder of Daisy Clayton.

Because Ballard and Bosch both know: every murder tells a story. And Daisy’s case file reads like the first chapter in an untold tragedy that is still being written – one that could end with Ballard herself, if she cannot bring the truth to light…

I received a review copy from the publishers to take part in the paperback blog tour. My thanks also to Tracy Fenton for the invitation to host this leg of the blog tour.

Fans of Michael Connelly will likely have already encountered Renée Ballard – she was the star of The Late Show – and events in that story are alluded to in Dark Sacred Night. Possible spoilers to be found but Dark Sacred Night can be read (and enjoyed) without first reading The Late Show.

Ballard works the night shift for LAPD, “dusk to dawn.” One evening she returns to her desk to find a stranger rifling through the filing cabinets of one of her colleagues. Naturally Ballard challenges the stranger and discovers she has finally met Harry Bosch…a name well known in the LAPD and a name very much known and loved by the crime fiction fraternity.

Ballard and Bosch will team up to try and uncover the truth behind the murder of a young woman, Daisy Clayton. Daisy’s murder has been unsolved for too long and it troubles Bosch. Not least because he currently has Daisy’s mother, Elizabeth, sleeping in his spare room. Elizabeth is with Bosch as he has taken her in to try to allow her time to get her life sorted out. She is a habitual drug user and the loss of her daughter and her addiction had left her in a bad way. Bosch is trying to help but Elizabeth’s presence is causing friction in Bosch’s relationship with his daughter.

The story in Dark Sacred Night flips between Ballard and Bosch. Each have their own lives and each are involved in a case (or cases for Ballard) which does not concern the other. Readers get to follow Ballard on her nightly shifts and the random crimes she is required to investigate and then we spend time with Bosch who is determined to bring down a gang leader. As they are working together we also get some overlap when Ballard and Bosch meet up to discuss Daisy’s murder and the progress (or lack of) in chasing down leads and identifying possible suspects.

The variety of cases Ballard comes into contact with were particularly fun to follow, it broke up the focus on murders and gangs and gave the author the chance to show off Ballard’s skills and reasoning. She is surely a character with much more potential and I do hope she gets further chance to shine in future.

Bosch does not have it so easy. The gang leader he is chasing becomes aware he is the focus of attention and he takes steps to warn Bosch off. The lengths the gangs are prepared to go to to ensure the police do not get too close are shocking and this, in turn, led to some terrifically dark twists in the story. Bosch will find himself in more danger than he may have considered. As he is clearly not as young as he once was, the reader does start to wonder if Mr Connelly is planning for a future without his leading man.

Dark Sacred Night is a very pleasing murder story. The interaction between Ballard and Bosch worked very effectively and they make a great team in this story. Splitting the narrative broke up the story nicely – at 480 pages it is one of the longer crime books I have read of late. Yet the dual voices kept the story flowing and allowed the action to be shared between the characters so we don’t feel Ballard pings from one fraught danger to the next without taking time to catch her breath.

With so many wonderful tales already committed to print, readers can know that picking up a Michael Connelly book will be a rewarding reading experience. Let yourself get lost in another cracking book from this master story teller – you can’t go wrong with Connelly.

Dark Sacred Night is newly released in paperback by Orion and is also available in digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Sacred-Night-Ballard-Thriller-ebook/dp/B079753GG4/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1UJABTHNLUONB&keywords=michael+connelly&qid=1558290153&s=digital-text&sprefix=michae%2Cdigital-text%2C149&sr=1-1

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October 12

Guest Post: Mason Cross – Serial Heroes

The last day of this run of Serial Heroes and I have been looking forward to sharing this with you.

When I ask someone if they would like to take part in this feature they generally agree first and only then do I ask which author or series they would like to discuss – I love that!

When I asked Mason Cross which author he would consider writing about for Serial Heroes he immediately asked about Michael Connolly…I have been looking forward to reading this post ever since.

Serial Heroes – Harry Bosch

”Everybody counts or nobody counts,” is a recurring theme in Michael Connelly’s long-running series starring Hieronymus Bosch (Harry for short). It sums up Harry’s philosophy – he’s an unfashionably moral cop in a literary LA crime scene often defined by bad men versus worse men, like James Ellroy’s protagonists.

Which is not to say he’s by-the-book, exactly. In fact it’s Bosch’s drive to never take the easy way out, to always get the job done right, that often puts him in conflict with his superiors, and sometimes even his partners. Maybe that’s the secret to his success as a series hero: he gives you all the rule breaking thrills of a standard-issue maverick cop, but underneath that he has a moral code as unshakeable as Atticus Finch’s.

The Bosch series started off in 1992 with The Black Echo, which introduced Harry and made use of his backstory as a Vietnam tunnel rat in a story that sees him on the trail of some of his fellow veterans, who are planning a bank vault heist using their tunneling expertise. Bosch has aged in real time, so by the most recent installment (The Wrong Side of Goodbye) he’s been retired a couple of times already and has still managed to find a way to unretire himself. Like other long-running characters such as Ian Rankin’s Rebus and Lee Child’s Reacher, this longevity is a big part of the enjoyment for a reader. You get to see how the hero evolves (or doesn’t) as he ages and the world changes around him.

Just as Rebus’s Edinburgh has changed a lot over his tenure, so has Bosch’s Los Angeles. When The Black Echo was published, the LA riots were a few months away, and OJ Simpson was famous only as an ex-football player with a minor film career. Bosch has seen a lot of changes in his hometown since then.

As a reader, I’ve always loved LA crime, from Raymond Chandler’s classics through more recent masters like Walter Mosely, Robert Crais and James Ellroy. I even had a go at writing one of my own, in The Samaritan, which is the only one of my novels so far to be almost entirely set within one city. While you can make a good case for New York and San Francisco, LA is simply the classic noir city for me, exemplified in films like Chinatown, The Long Goodbye, LA Confidential, Collateral, and even Blade Runner. Connelly’s books are very much rooted in the modern world, but each one channels the history and atmosphere of noir in the City of Angels.

That’s a quality that the Bosch TV show has sensibly taken and run with. Although they’ve changed a few elements (Titus Welliver’s version of the character has been de-aged and made a Gulf War vet instead of Vietnam), they’ve kept the core of the character exactly intact, and made use of some underused but cinematic parts of LA. Like the books, it glories in the incidental details of LA: getting a burger at In-And-Out, or the numerous ways the darker side of Hollywood crosses into the underworld.

It’s no mean feat that I’ve never read a bad Connelly book, given he’s written more than thirty of them. Most of those star Bosch, but Connelly has created an interrelated universe of characters who drop in and out of the various books, and some who star in their own series, like Harry’s half-brother Mickey Haller, The Lincoln Lawyer. Haller is almost the opposite of Bosch: cynical, charming and driven by money and success, but he keeps a similar innate sense of justice carefully concealed beneath the flash exterior. Reading the pair’s meeting in the latest book, I couldn’t help but wonder if Connelly will be tempted to put Haller and Bosch on opposite sides of a murder trial one day.

It’s tough to pick a favourite in the series when the books are of such consistent high quality, but if you held a gun to my head I might plump for the first one I read: Lost Light. Or maybe The Drop. The Black Box was pretty great too. Damn it, you might as well pick all of them. They all count.

Mason Cross is the author of the hugely popular Carter Blake series. You can find all his books here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mason-Cross/e/B00FWO52KC/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1507490732&sr=8-2-ent

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