The Harry Bosch Novels: The Black Echo, The Black Ice, The Concrete Blonde [Kindle Edition]

Michael Connelly (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

For the first time in one volume, the three novels that introduced Michael Connelly's great LAPD homicide detective, maverick Hieronymous (Harry) Bosch. The Black Echo (Winner of the Edgar Award for Best First Novel) For Harry Bosch-hero, loner, nighthawk-the body stuffed in a drainpipe off Mulholland Drive isn't just another statistic. This one is personal. Billy Meadows was a fellow Vietnam "tunnel rat," fighting the VC and the fear they used to call the Black Echo. Harry let Meadows down once. He won't do it again. The Black Ice The corpse in the hotel room seems to be that of a missing LAPD narcotics officer. Rumors abound that the cop had crossed over-selling a new drug called Black Ice. Now Harry's making some dangerous connections, leading from the cop to a string of bloody murders, and from Hollywood Boulevard's drug bazaar to Mexico's dusty back alleys. In this lethal game, Harry is likely to be the next victim. The Concrete Blonde When Harry Bosch shot and killed Norman Church, the police were convinced it marked the end of the hunt for the Dollmaker-L.A.'s most bizarre serial killer. But now Church's widow is accusing Harry of killing the wrong man-a charge that rings terrifyingly true when a new victim is discovered with the Dollmaker's macabre signature. For the second time, Harry must hunt the murderer down, before he strikes again. Together, these three novels are the perfect way to discover, or rediscover, the sleuth the New York Times Book Review called a "wonderful, old-fashioned hero who isn't afraid to walk through the flames."

About the Author

Michael Connelly is the author of ten novels, including the bestselling series of Harry Bosch novels and the bestsellers Void Moon, Angels Flight, Blood Work, and The Poet. He lives in Los Angeles.

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 1549 KB
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1st Omnibus ed edition (October 22, 2001)
• Sold by: Hachette Book Group
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000FC1MNC
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,306 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #55 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Police Procedurals
  • #62 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Police Procedurals

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

100 of 103 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 3 books with a great place to start series, December 12, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Harry Bosch Novels: The Black Echo, The Black Ice, The Concrete Blonde (Hardcover)

The Bosch series is for anyone who likes a good police detective thriller. The story isn't as fast paced as James Pattersons - Alex Cross series, but the pace will keep you reading. The Black Echo, Black Ice, and Concrete Blonde (4 stars, 4 stars, and 5 stars, respectively) are a great compilation for starting with the Bosch Series. The first book may be a slightly predictable, but it gives good detail on the lead character. The second book builds on the first, with a lot of twists, and the third is the best of them all, a must read.

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Reads at a Super Value, January 5, 2005

By 

D. R. Jeanclerc "Reader, Listener & Obsessive... (Brunswick, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Harry Bosch Novels: The Black Echo, The Black Ice, The Concrete Blonde (Hardcover)

This volume collects the first three Harry Bosch novels into one hardbound edition. Bosch is a detective with the LAPD - a bit of a maverick, a bit of a loose cannon, a whole lot of an outsider within the force. His ideals and devotion to justice repeatedly put him at odds with the bureacrats, political movers and crooked officers within the force.

Each of these three books is a great read on its own. The stories are well-paced, the crimes and subsequent investigations are intriguing, and Connelly's gift with words (especially dialogue) is apparent. But reading these three books one right the other really hooks the reader on the Bosch character. There's a great balance here between the individual crime plots and the developments in Bosch's life that made him who he is today and continue to guide him toward his future. Connelly also does a great job of credibly moving characters in and out of Bosch's life in the books further down the road, so these three provide a necessary foundation.

The best of the three is final book, "The Concrete Blonde". Throughout the earlier books there are references to a very important case in Bosch's past. In "The Concrete Blonde", Connelly uses an excellent tactic to flesh out this case without resorting to a prequel: the case is reopened and retried when new evidence is brought to light that may exonerate the man whom Bosch originally collared. The current day trial retells the original events while Bosch must reinvestigate his own methods and conclusions, all leading up to a super surprise ending. Very good whodunit reading.

Since the original printings are long gone, this volume represents your only shot to get them in a new hardcover edition. The fact that this attractive package costs less than would the three paperbacks combined makes it a must-have for any fan of mystery or police procedural fiction.

40 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Three Stunning Mysteries In One!, November 8, 2001

By 

David Montgomery "Book Critic" (davidjmontgomery.com) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Harry Bosch Novels: The Black Echo, The Black Ice, The Concrete Blonde (Hardcover)

Now available for the first time in a single volume edition, "The Harry Bosch Novels" brings together the first three mysteries by Michael Connelly, one of the finest writers in the detective genre. If you haven't yet read this terrific series, this book presents the perfect place to begin.

These three stories can easily be read one-by-one, or all three in a row. Such is Connelly's skill that readers are unlikely to tire soon of the unfolding story of Detective Harry Bosch. This omnibus volume is a great way to start this series and will help prepare readers for the release of the 7th Bosch novel (coming in early 2002), which promises to be one of the best yet.

If you're not reading Michael Connelly, you're missing one of the best authors fiction has to offer. What are you waiting for?