204 of 213 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hard-boiled thriller, a great read, December 11, 2000
Michael Connelly's books are definitively within the "hard-boiled urban detective" genre that historically has been highlighted by the work of Raymond Chandler and other great mystery writers. *The Black Ice* is the second in a series of novels with LAPD detective Hieronymous Bosch as the protagonist (the first was *The Black Echo*), and it's definitely a winner. There's murder, intrigue, twists and turns in the plot, and plenty of action, as well.
One thing that Connelly does particularly well is to include geographical/place descriptions in his work. When one reads his descriptions of life in Los Angeles or travels to a bordertown like Mexicali, these places really do seem real and are accurately depicted.
The book is not perfect; as in so many police mysteries, sometimes the clues come just a bit too neatly packaged, and at times this doesn't seem realistic. But then, real police work is probably pretty dull 90% of the time (false leads, endless drudgery, etc.), so streamlining the process for the sake of fast-moving fiction is certainly forgiveable. The other thing that had me rolling my eyes a bit is the obligatory "romantic angle" that seems always to be a subplot in these books. Again, it's kind of a sacred part of the genre, but wouldn't it be interesting if for once Bosch noted the "gorgeous but sad woman" and then went about his business without becoming involved with her?
All in all, this is a terrific book and an absorbing, "can't put it down" read. One last thing: I would recommend that people who wish to read the Bosch novels start with the first (*The Black Echo*) and read them in chronological order, as Connelly is very careful in his novels about maintaining accurate references to what has happened to his protagonist previously.
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38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bosch at his best, December 19, 2000
Michael Connelly consistently delivers exciting hard-boiled police procedurals with Harry Bosch in control. In Black Ice Bosch is cut out of an investigation of an apparent suicide of narcotics officer Calexico Moore by the bigwigs of the department. They want to do what is pc and Bosch is definitely not that. At the same time Bosch's supervisor Pound feels compelled to increase the percentages of his homicides solved so Bosch is elected to solve some cases of an out on stress leave detective, Porter. Harry realizes that Porter's case, his own and Moore's "suicide" are all tied together. As usual Bosch cuts corners and goes out on his own to make the pieces fit.
An excellent read for any fan of mystery and suspense. Connelly is always exciting and hard to put down. I am ready for a new one. For anyone unfamiliar with Connelly and Harry Bosch, read them in order and not spread out over years as I have done.
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47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Sophomore Slump?, August 26, 2005
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.
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