City Of Bones [Import] [Paperback]

Michael Connelly (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Orion Books (2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1407208179
• ISBN-13: 978-1407208176
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (239 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,472,663 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Connelly decided to become a writer after discovering the books of Raymond Chandler while attending the University of Florida. Once he decided on this direction he chose a major in journalism and a minor in creative writing ' a curriculum in which one of his teachers was novelist Harry Crews.

After graduating in 1980, Connelly worked at newspapers in Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, primarily specializing in the crime beat. In Fort Lauderdale he wrote about police and crime during the height of the murder and violence wave that rolled over South Florida during the so-called cocaine wars. In 1986, he and two other reporters spent several months interviewing survivors of a major airline crash. They wrote a magazine story on the crash and the survivors which was later short-listed for the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing. The magazine story also moved Connelly into the upper levels of journalism, landing him a job as a crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times, one of the largest papers in the country, and bringing him to the city of which his literary hero, Chandler, had written.

After three years on the crime beat in L.A., Connelly began writing his first novel to feature LAPD Detective Hieronymus Bosch. The novel, The Black Echo, based in part on a true crime that had occurred in Los Angeles , was published in 1992 and won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel by the Mystery Writers of America. Connelly has followed that up with 18 more novels. His books have been translated into 31 languages and have won the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, Shamus, Dilys, Nero, Barry, Audie, Ridley, Maltese Falcon (Japan), .38 Caliber (France), Grand Prix (France), and Premio Bancarella (Italy) awards.

Michael lives with his family in Florida.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fast paced, engaging police procedural., September 2, 2002

By 

Silver Springer "mary1anne2" - See all my reviews

This review is from: City of Bones (Hardcover)

I have heard lots of good comments about the Harry Bosch novels and I was not disappointed with this seventh book of the series. Bosch is a hard boiled homocide detective in the Hollywood division of the LAPD who gets a call that a dog has discovered a human bone. The investigation uncovers a 20 year old murder of a 12 year-old boy who was the victim of child abuse. As the case proceeds, Bosch meets and becomes involved with a rookie cop named Julia Brasher, who has an idealistic view of police work.
Some information leaks and false clues initially sidetrack the investigation but slowly the victim is identified and his short and tortured life revealed. Connelly draws his characters with fine strokes and his development of the details of the police procedures which are key to solving cases was really fascinating to me. Understanding the murder book, how warrants were drawn up and served, and details behind the forensic investigation added to my enjoyment of the story.

False directions provide intrigue but I was a little disappointed with the unsatisfying way the murderer was revealed and dealt with.

All in all though, a fast paced (I read it in one 24 hour period), and very enjoyable read.

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Too Many Ghosts, October 22, 2002

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: City of Bones (Hardcover)

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.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars LA X-Ray, September 18, 2002

By 

sweetmolly (RICHMOND, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: City of Bones (Hardcover)

"City of Bones" was a happy reunion for me. I met again the Michael Connelly to whom I was introduced in "Black Echo" and "Concrete Blonde" and "Black Ice" that electrified me with his broody LA, sharp characterizations and twisting suspense. No one in "City of Bones" is 100 percent nice or straight arrow, though all are very recognizable. I had my usual problems with Harry, always wanting to tell him to lighten up a bit. By this time, I should be resigned. Harry Bosch is to gloom like Goldie Hawn is to giggles.

Harry walks into a cold case when a dog digs up an old bone in Laurel Canyon that turns out to be human. Harry's superiors are unenthusiastic because the chances of closing a 20-year old case are slim to none. Harry is grimly determined because when more of skeleton is found, it is ascertained the victim was an abused child. Harry first runs afoul of a former girl friend Medical Examiner (suspiciously close to Cornwell's Kay Scapetta) who has risen so far in the world; she cares more about photo ops than the integrity of the case. Along with hard working cops, there are plethoras of politician/cops who are willing to set up and convict the first likely guy that comes up on the radar. As if Harry doesn't have enough troubles, an ill-fated romance with a police rookie streaks across his horizon. He antagonizes his own partner with his lone wolf tactics, and seemingly neglects an obvious suspect for far too long.

The denouement has twist after twist, surprise after surprise leaving us breathless and far behind Harry all the way. Then Harry gets another idea, leaving us hollering, "wait a minute!" but Harry just keeps walking right off the last page.