Lost Light (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "The last thing I expected was for Alexander Taylor to answer his own door..." (more)
Key Phrases: Angella Benton, Lawton Cross, Los Angeles (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Award-winning former crime reporter Connelly (The Black Echo; City of Bones) hits all the right notes with this latest in his Edgar-winning mystery series featuring sax-playing L.A. detective Harry Bosch. Even though this marks the ninth outing for Harry, the principled, incorruptible investigator shows little sign of slowing in his unrelenting pursuit of justice for all. Disillusioned by his constant battle with police hypocrisy and bureaucracy, Harry quits the department after 28 years on the job. Like so many ex-cops before him, he finds retirement boring: "I was staying up late, staring at the walls and drinking too much red wine." He decides to take advantage of his newly minted private-eye license and get back to work. The case he chooses-one that he had been briefly involved in four years before-is the puzzling unsolved murder of 24-year-old Angella Benton. Angella's death is linked to the theft of $2 million from a film company foolishly employing real cash as a prop on an action-movie set. Harry patiently follows the bloody trail from Angella's violated body through the Hollywood heist to the disappearance of an FBI computer expert and the shooting of two LAPD cops. His investigation eventually leads him to the elite terrorist hunters of the new Department of Homeland Security. Few will follow every twist and turn of the labyrinthine plot, but no matter. The fun comes in watching Harry slowly and brilliantly separate the seemingly impossibly knotted strands and then knit them back into whole cloth. This exciting procedural is as good as any in the series, and Connelly's concluding coda has a kicker about Harry's private life that will draw gasps of astonishment from longtime readers.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-After more than 25 years with the L.A. Police Department, recently retired Harry Bosch decides to finish the murder investigation of Angella Benton, a case he had been quickly pulled off more than four years earlier. Gaining additional background information from a former colleague, now a quadriplegic as a result of having been shot during the investigation, Harry begins contacting any and all of the people who could have facts pertaining to the crime. He believes that the murder is tied to a film scene and $2 million in cash, and that the entire caper was ingeniously set up well in advance. With dogged determination, he risks his life more than once to prove his theory correct. Connelly expertly weaves the many complex story parts together, resulting in an action-packed ending. As in real life, all aspects of the case must be researched thoroughly, and the bulk of the novel involves the time-consuming, labor-intensive effort that goes into finding answers. Several subplots-including ones involving jazz, Harry's ex-wife, and another murder-help to round out characters, inject other interests, and relieve the intensity of solving the murder. Young adults who read true crime and forensics, or who are interested in police procedures, will surely pick this one up.
Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown; 1st edition (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316154601
• ISBN-13: 978-0316154604
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (174 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #429,842 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 9 in The Harry Bosch Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Series Continues: Lost Light, November 7, 2003

By	Kevin Tipple (Plano, Texas) - See all my reviews

From his first incredible book, "The Black Echo," LAPD Detective Harry Bosch has had one mission and one mission only as he sees it-to speak for the dead. To bring justice to those who have killed and some measure of comfort, no matter how small to the victims left behind as survivors. When he retired, he took his watch and his files and thought his mission was over.

Instead, while he does not have the authority of the badge any more, he realizes as time passes that the mission remains. In particular, a case from a four year old unsolved murder begins to work its way into his mind. Angella Benton, an employee of Eidon Productions, was found dead in the vestibule of her apartment building. Bosch was assigned the case and was working it days later on a movie set when the set was robbed of two million dollars during a brazen daylight robbery shootout. Bosch would wound one robber, none of whom were ever caught, and the money was never found. After the robbery and the resulting high profile glare of the media, the Benton case was pulled from Bosch and folded into the robbery investigation and given to two detectives from Robbery Homicide. Days later, while eating lunch, one of the detectives was killed and the other permanently paralyzed in a robbery at a neighborhood bar.

That was a death knell for the case as cops are a superstitious lot and there are always new cases that demand immediate attention. But Bosch without a badge is just as aggressive as he was when he carried the shield. He may be retired, but he still goes at it the only way he knows how and soon seems to have antagonized his former bosses as well as other parties. Before long, old friends are annoyed, a federal terrorism task force is involved and unhappy, as well as numerous other shadowy figures. Once again, violence comes home in more ways than one, but no matter what, Bosch won't stop.

As in the other novels of this enjoyable series, Connelly looks deep into the dark abyss that lurks within everyone where life is cheap and greed in the moment wins out over human decency. At the same time, by using an unexpected plot twist, one of several at the end, Harry is redeemed and temporarily at least, finds the peace and solace he has sought for in novel after novel.

While this book reads like it might be the final one in the Harry Bosch series, which has had one heck of a run, I hope not. If it is, Michael Connelly has fittingly ended the series by exploring and further developing his signature character. He has done so in new and unexpected ways while adding plenty of action, an intriguing core mystery as well as additional secondary storylines, and a fine plot. This is a top notch read and proof of why he is simply one of the best crime writers in the business today.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Harry Bosch Through The Eyes of a First Time Reader, May 1, 2003

By	Tucker Andersen (Wall Street) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

While I have been aware of Michael Connelly's impressive reputation as an author and the many readers who are fans of detective Harry Bosch, this is my introduction to this series. My five star rating indicates that I enjoyed the book tremendously and felt that it was exactly what the book jacket led me to expect and what the author was trying to accomplish. This is neither a great work of fiction nor is it even the best crime story that I have ever read, but it is well plotted, fast paced and very enjoyable with enough surprising details before the case is solved to keep the reader's interest.

Recently retired LAPD Detective Harry Bosch is still haunted by the four year old unsolved murder of twenty-four year old Angella Benton, an assistant to a famous movie producer. He is also bothered by the apparently coincidental robbery and murder that occurred on the movie set as he was investigating Angie's murder a few days later. The two million dollars taken in the heist was never recovered. Furthermore, the cops in the Robbery-Homicide Division who took over the case became the victims in a subsequent apparently unrelated robbery that left one dead and the other completely paralyzed and extremely bitter.

This is a classic detective story, and while it has many of the ingredients of a police procedural one of the important elements is that Harry is no longer on the force and has to rely on favors from his friends rather than having the power of his badge to get to the truth. The reader knows what happened and suspects that the question of why will in some way relate all the apparently random elements to the heist, then waits for Bosch to uncover who was involved and how they escaped apprehehension.

The thing that I appreciated about the story was the author's ability to add enough complexity so that even when the clues were sufficient to lead the reader in the general direction of the solution, you still wanted to learn how all the various threads were interrelated. The other surprising fact was that my concern about reading a novel whose main character had appeared in so many previous books was totally misplaced. The references to Harry's previous cases and relationships were self explanatory, and the use of the first person technique with Harry as the narrator of the story allowed a first time reader to easily develop a familiarity with him, since his motivations are an integral part of the story. In fact, as is often the case in long running detective series, this book is as much or perhaps more about Harry and his life in a post-LAPD world than it is about the case.

This is a very fast read, and should be enjoyed by long time Connelly fans as well as first time readers such as myself. The details and relationships of the characters are as important to keeping your interest as is the major story line; if you succeed in solving all the unexplained elements of the various crimes before Harry, then you should undoubtedly become a mystery novelist yourself. I also found the last scene both unanticipated and very upbeat. LOST LIGHT was so entertaining that I definitely plan to read some of the earlier books in the series.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than I expected, and I expected a lot, April 22, 2003

By	Jim Rolf (Cheyenne, WY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I read the first two chapters of this book before it was published, and was sure I'd hate it for two reasons - it's written in first person, and Bosch's anti-authority figure would suffer without the LAPD supervisors to give him battles to fight. Then, I read the entire book. Connelly came through for me again. Bosch still has windmills to flail against and the story was so exciting that I forgot it was narrated by the man himself. An excellent read - not as much to my liking as CONCRETE BLONDE or ANGELS FLIGHT, but far superior to BLOOD WORK and CATCHING THE DIME.

My greatest complaint about Connelly is that he has ruined my enjoyment of other authors - they just don't measure up. I can no longer find excitement in the writings of Patterson or Burke or any of those authors I used to read before I got hooked on Bosch.

And, here comes Bosch again - fighting bureaucracy in search of the truth, rekindling old flames and renewing old relationships, and just flat tearing up anything that stands in the way of justice. If ever a character jumped out of the pages and lived, it has to be Harry Bosch.

Thanks, Mr. Connelly, for renewing my faith in you. I can't for the life of me figure out how you can keep up the pace, but I'm mighty glad you do. I can hardly wait for the next installment!