The Narrows: A Novel (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "SHE WAS IN DARKNESS, floating on a black sea, a starless sky above..." (more)
Key Phrases: triangle theory, last charter, missing men, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Agent Walling (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

There's a gravitas to the mystery/thrillers of Michael Connelly, a bedrock commitment to the value of human life and the need for law enforcement pros to defend that value, that sets his work apart and above that of many of his contemporaries. That gravitas is in full force in Connelly's newest, and as nearly always in the work of this talented writer, it supports a dynamite plot, fully flowered characters and a meticulous attention to the details of investigative procedure.There are also some nifty hooks to this new Connelly: it features his most popular series character, retired L.A. homicide cop Harry Bosch, but it's also a sequel to his first stand-alone, The Poet (1996), and is only his second novel (along with The Poet) to be written in both first and third person. The first-person sections are narrated by Bosch, who agrees as a favor to the widow to investigate the death of Bosch's erstwhile colleague and friend Terry McCaleb (of Blood Work and A Darkness More Than Night). Bosch's digging brings him into contact with Rachel Walling, the FBI agent heroine of The Poet, and the third-person narrative concerns mostly her. Though generally presumed dead, the Poet—the serial killer who was a highly placed Fed and Walling's mentor—is alive and killing anew, with, we soon learn, McCaleb among his victims and his sights now set on Walling. The story shuttles between Bosch's California and the Nevada desert, where the Poet has buried his victims to lure Walling. The suspense is steady throughout but, until a breathtaking climactic chase, arises more from Bosch and Walling's patient and inspired following of clues and dealing with bureaucratic obstacles than from slash-and-dash: an unusually intelligent approach to generating thrills. Connelly is a master and this novel is yet another of his masterpieces.
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From Bookmarks Magazine

With a writer of Connelly’s popularity, particularly one that works with a regular cast of characters, mixed reviews are to be expected. Each successive book opens the possibility of a narrative letdown. Part of Connelly’s decision to collate a few of his most enduring characters into The Narrows was to address concerns many fans had with the ending of The Poet. Though it strikes a few critics as a risky move that doesn’t bear repeating, the general consensus is that Connelly pulls the sequel off. Some reviewers disagree about whether the back-story is ample enough for the uninitiated. But whether The Narrows is his best or his worst work, its has elements of both, and plenty of the subtle characterization and gripping storyline that fans have come to expect from Connelly.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (May 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316155306
• ISBN-13: 978-0316155304
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (216 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #343,534 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 10 in The Harry Bosch Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

61 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Only Gets Better, May 4, 2004

By	G. Passantino (Costa Mesa, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Looking for proof that Michael Connelly is the best mystery novelist today? The Narrows is evidence enough. On a very simple level, this is a mystery novel about a serial killer, "The Poet," and at least 14 murders attributed to him in this current wave of mayhem. It's also about a complex ex-LAPD homicide detective, Harry Bosch, and a frustrated FBI Behavioral Sciences Unit reject agent, Rachel Walling. The characters are complex, conflicted, believable, and stretched beyond what is expected but not beyond the potential of each soul. Even the two major locations, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, are drawn with such intensity and multi-faceted power that they almost become characters in themselves. The plot is intricate, surprising, and challenging -- but ultimately so finely composed and exquisitely executed that even the final shock in the last few pages, while completely unsuspected, still resonates with complete authenticity and credibility. And underneath everthing beats the heart of Michael Connelly's mission: to describe the deadly dance between good and evil, a dance that comes within a hair's breadth of consuming both, but ends with hope. The book opens with the powerful intensity of the threat of evil: "I knew that my life's mission would always take me to the places where evil waits, to the places where the truth that I might find would be an ugly and horrible thing. And still I went without pause. And still I went, not being ready for the moment when evil would come from its waiting place. When it would grab at me like an animal and take me down into the black water." And it ends with the dawn of hope: "I looked out at the city and thought it was beautiful. The rain had cleaned the sky out and I could see all the way to the San Gabriels and the snow-covered peaks beyond. The air seemed to be as clean and pure as the air breathed by the Gabrielenos and the padres so many years before. I saw what they had seen in the place. It was the kind of day you felt you could build a future on." And in between is the best fiction anywhere.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Michael Connelly All Stars !, June 25, 2004

By	Craobh Rua "Craobh Rua" (N. Ireland) - See all my reviews

Michael Connelly's 14th book - his 10th to feature Harry Bosch - is the book he once swore he'd never write : the sequel to "The Poet". For it, he's assembled an all-star cast. Bosch, a former member of the LAPD and now a card carrying PI - is joined by FBI Agent Rachel Walling. Walling was one of the central characters of "The Poet" and - at the time - was based at BSS in Quantico. However, shortly after the events of that book, she was "demoted" to North Dakota. Terry and Graciela McCaleb and Buddy Lockridge - who all made their first appearances in "Blood Work" - also have parts to play. Of the three, Terry's is the smallest, but certainly the most significant. Cassie Black, the central character of "Void Moon", also makes an appearance - if you know where to look. And then, obviously, there's the Poet.

Bosch now divides his time between LA and Vegas, where he rents a small one room efficiency to be near his daughter. Things aren't going well between Harry and his ex-wife, Eleanor Wish - who makes her living at the city's poker tables. Harry's first appearance in the book sees him talking to Terry McCaleb's widow. Graciela. Terry was a former FBI Agent, and had previously worked a couple of cases with Harry. His first appearance was in the 'solo' novel "Blood Work". This was only Connelly's second book not to feature Bosch, and was later made into a movie starring Clint Eastwood. Terry has recently died of a heart attack while on a fishing trip, after having received a heart transplant a number of years earlier. Graciela, however, believes the heart attack was caused because someone interfered with his medication - essentially meaning he was murdered. Graciela wants Bosch to look into it, an assignment he is happy to accept. He starts by looking through some case files Terry kept on his boat - one of then deals with the Poet.

Meanwhile, Rachel Walling receives a phone call from a former colleague at the FBI in Quantico. A package has arrived there, through the post, addressed to her - despite the fact that it's been a number of years since she worked there. It contains a Global Positioning System (GPS) reader, with one way-point marked : the Mojave desert, just inside California. A fingerprint on its battery confirms that the Poet sent the package, and a number of bodies have subsequently been found at the location marked by the way-point. Walling, due to her links to the case, is summoned to the field-office in Vegas to assist the investigation.

With two main characters, Connelly tells the story in two distinct ways. The sections featuring Bosch are written from his point of view ("Without a word, he reached down and grabbed two fists full of my jacket"). However, the sections that focus on other characters are written about them ("Rachel was at the second row of tables, sitting by herself"). While I did enjoy the book - much more so than "Lost Light" - I felt the pace only really picked up when Bosch and Walling started working together. I was also surprised and disappointed that Connelly killed Terry McCaleb off. The Poet seems less of a threat in this book, though this is possibly because his identity has already been established. My advice ? If you're a fan of Michael Connelly, and you've read most of his books, you'll certainly enjoy this one. However, this is far from the best place to start if you've never read anything by him. I'd definitely recommend reading at least "The Poet" before this one - and as many of the other Bosch books as possible !

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reading this book by Connelly was like going home..., June 19, 2004

By	Joy Marie "Lover of the Written Word" (United States) - See all my reviews

everything was so familiar..the characters..the settings..the cases and crimes and of course Hieronymous Bosch, former detective in the LAPD. This author-driven novel of mystery and suspense is the best of the best. I would not have believed that Connelly could bring together so many of his characters and cases and blend them as smoothly as chocolate pudding. He certainly makes the reading tasty and leaves the reader hungry for more.

Meeting Backus again, the villain from his best-seller THE POET, was thrilling and chilling as Bosch and Rachel Walling, exiled FBI agent, track down this cunning thought-dead serial killer. Backus has re-surfaced, his newest victim a close friend of Bosch who worked with him on many cases.

Connelly has Bosch circling from the left and Rachel Walling circling from the right...both on a collision course that meets at a burial site in the Nevada desert and ends in the Narrows of the Los Angeles River.

A comfortable lounger, a rainy day and Michael Connelly's THE NARROWS will lead you down a path of unbridled suspense and mystery, however you might want to read it in bright sunlight surrounded by friends and family if you are feint of heart.

Now that Bosch is back, we hope that Michael will sate our hunger for him in another novel...very soon. I must add that Connelly's adherence to police and FBI protocol is amazing in that it is ever-present and precise yet so well incorporated as to not overwhelm the reader. Thank you for another great one Michael. I hesitate to say this is your best because you keep making them better and better...this is the best so far and I eagerly await the next.