The Black Ice (Harry Bosch) [AUDIOBOOK] [MP3 AUDIO] [UNABRIDGED] (MP3 CD)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this surehanded sequel to The Black Echo , LAPD detective Hieronymous "Harry" Bosch stalks drug traffickers in L.A. and Mexico.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

From Kirkus Reviews

Second tense, tightly wound tangle of a case for Hieronymous Bosch (The Black Echo, 1991). This time out, the LAPD homicide cop, who's been exiled to Hollywood Division for his bumptious behavior, sniffs out the bloody trail of the designer drug ``black ice.'' Connelly (who covers crime for the Los Angeles Times) again flexes his knowledge of cop ways--and of cop-novel clich‚s. Cast from the hoary mold of the maverick cop, Bosch pushes his way onto the story's core case--the apparent suicide of a narc--despite warnings by top brass to lay off. Meanwhile, Bosch's boss, a prototypical pencil-pushing bureaucrat hoping to close out a majority of Hollywood's murder cases by New Year's Day, a week hence, assigns the detective a pile of open cases belonging to a useless drunk, Lou Porter. One of the cases, the slaying of an unidentified Hispanic, seems to tie in to the death of the narc, which Bosch begins to read as murder stemming from the narc's dirty involvement in black ice. When Porter is murdered shortly after Bosch speaks to him, and then the detective's love affair with an ambitious pathologist crashes, Bosch decides to head for Mexico, where clues to all three murders point. There, the well-oiled, ten- gear narrative really picks up speed as Bosch duels with corrupt cops; attends the bullfights; breaks into a fly-breeding lab that's the distribution center for Mexico's black-ice kingpin; and takes part in a raid on the kingpin's ranch that concludes with Bosch waving his jacket like a matador's cape at a killer bull on the rampage. But the kingpin escapes, leading to a not wholly unexpected twist--and to a touching assignation with the dead narc's widow. Expertly told, and involving enough--but lacking the sheer artistry and heart-clutching thrills of, say, David Lindsay's comparable Stuart Haydon series (Body of Evidence, etc.). -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• MP3 CD
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio on MP3-CD Lib Ed; Library edition (June 10, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593356390
• ISBN-13: 978-1593356392
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (96 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,955,946 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 2 in The Harry Bosch Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard-boiled thriller, a great read, December 11, 2000

By	Douglas A. Greenberg (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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This review is from: The Black Ice (Harry Bosch) (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bosch at his best, December 19, 2000

By	booknblueslady (Woodland, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Black Ice (Harry Bosch) (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Harry Bosch...one of a kind.....made it right, December 20, 1999

By	Manuel Gwiazda (Buenos Aires, Argentina) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Black Ice (Harry Bosch) (Mass Market Paperback)

After reading the black echo, I found the black ice a more consistent story, far more interesting and credible. This time Harry is driven down to the US- Mexican border in his quest to solve a drug related crime of an anti-narcotics unit cop who apparently crossed to the bad side of the line. Harry, stubborn, bright and cunning makes his own decisions, shows a little quota of contempt and rebels himself against his bosses making him an example of self determination and a character of his own.

In my opinion, this work would have been a little bit better if in some chapters action were slowed down in exchange for more suspense, adding bogus elements, scary episodes and false clues to confuse and frighten the reader moving him down to the edge of his chair, Nevertheless, the book is compelling, original, very graphic, entertaining and though keeping on a main line of investigation all the way along, ends with a master twist (the best) that almost knocked me off my own chair showing the top quality of Mr. Connelly as a crime writer