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 A Great Overlook!!! August 27, 2008
This current Harry Bosch offering by Michael Connelly is just as exciting as all his other Harry Bosch offerings. Michael is an expert in writing detective novels, as he was a Crime Reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Harry is a Detective for the Hollywood Special Homicide Division and his first case from being transferred from the Cold Case Unit, has him finding a body on the Overlook over Hollywood. With his young partner, Iggy, they, along with the FBI, attempt to track down the murderer of a Phycisist working with Cesium, a radioactive isotope used for treating ovarian -uteran Cancer. Along with murder, Harry is thwarted by the FBI, who wants Harry out of the loop, since a heist of this isotope by known terrorists makes this a National Security issue. With a few plot twists and turns, this makes for an outstanding who-donut. If you can handle the few bad words, this is a great novel. Since I was born and raised close to LA, there are places very familiar to me. If you want to learn more about how Homicide works and all the politics between the divisions and between the locals and the Feds, you'll enjoy this offering and the rest of the Harry Bosch books. Michael's new one with Harry comes out in a few days. I highly recommend this page-turner, as it takes you straight to the last page to resolve the case.
 New case, old problem August 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Harry Bosch is back on the homicide squad - and even though the call he goes out on seems like it might be more related to Organized Crime, he is loathe to give up his first fresh case in years. Contradictions quickly arise - as they always do in these books - showing that the murder victim, who appears to have been the victim of a mob-type "hit" has no ties to organized crime - but he did have access to radioactive material from just about every hospital in the LA area. The FBI show up - including Rachel Walling, one of Bosch's former lovers - and want a piece of the action - preferably the biggest piece.
While Harry tries to solve the crime, being thwarted on almost every side, a deadly danger could be menacing LA. Can he find the answer in time?
Great story - lots of action and suspense. A definite recommend.
Bare Bones Bosch August 22, 2008
Michael Connelly fans know Harry Bosch. He's the kind of scrupulously honest, clever, always-ready-to-break-the-rules-to-solve-the-case kind of detective you would want on the trail, assuming you're a good guy. Having read several Bosch novels, I was able to fill in the blanks a lot here, for the characters, several of whom appear in earlier works, are not well developed.
The plot centers on a Connelly staple: the tension between the feds (Foolish Bureau of Investigation?) and the locals. There's also the classic bit about the grizzled veteran breaking in the new partner.
The big mystery is the cold-blooded murder of a man who is carrying a large amount of radioactive cesium. It seems the cesium was stolen by terrorists.
The first fifteen chapters read like something Connelly could have written in his sleep. But, fortunately, it heats up, and the last eight chapters build to an exciting climax.
One thing I've found from Connelly's books: pay attention, particularly when Bosch is sniffing around. Connelly doesn't clutter his work with meaningless leads.
I haven't rated any of the other Connelly books that I have read, but I believe they were all solid fives. However, this book needs more depth, more detail. So, holding this work up against the high standards of other Connelly novels, I have to give it a four.
A great addition to the "Harry Bosch" series! July 28, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I became a fan of the "Harry Bosch" novels by Michael Connelly late in life. I think it was the movie, Blood Work, starring Clint Eastwood and based on one of Connelly's other books, that caused me to buy The Narrows when it came out in paperback. I read that and found myself immediately hooked on the Bosch character. I've since gone back and purchased the other novels in the series (thirteen in all) and have loved each one of them. The Overlook is the newest one out in paperback and please don't confuse it with the Overlook Hotel in Stephen King's greatest horror novel, The Shining. There's no relation between the two.
The story begins with a murder at night on a bluff off of Mulholland Drive, overlooking (hence the title of the book) the city of Los Angeles. The victim, Stanley Kent, was shot twice in the back of the head, and LAPD Homicide Detective Harry Bosch is called out to investigate. Several things then happen in a relatively short period of time. The first is that Harry's ex-lover, FBI agent Rachel Walling, shows up within a few minutes of him getting to the crime scene, and she makes it clear from the start that Kent's death is now a matter of national security and that the FBI is taking over the case. It appears that the victim was a doctor with access to radioactive materials such as cesium, which is used for the treatment of cancer. Kent and his wife, Alicia, had apparently been warned sometime back by Walling and her partner that they could be the focus of Middle Eastern terrorists because of the doctor's ability to get cesium at the local hospitals. The cesium could then be used to create a radioactive bomb. When Harry and Walling visit the Kent's home to break the news to Alicia of her husband's death, they discovered her naked and bound in the master bedroom. It seems that two men with Middle Eastern assents entered the home and tied her up, then called Stanley and told him to steal a supply of cesium, if he didn't want them to kill her. The victim did as required and was then murdered on the bluff. As the FBI pursues the investigation with the belief that terrorists could be planning to set up a bomb in Los Angeles, Bosch refuses to be kept out of the loop and diverts his attention to primarily solving the murder. It's his belief that either all count, or no one counts, and he won't allow the death of Stanley Kent to fade into the background of the bigger picture.
The Overlook was originally published as a serial in The New York Times Sunday Magazine, and then as a hardcover and now as a paperback. The book is shorter than the others in the series and that certainly makes for a faster pace. In fact, I read this in just two days. I quickly got caught up in the murder investigation, Bosch's newest partner, Ignacio "Iggy" Ferras, who seems to fight his mentor every step of the way with how he chooses to do things, the tension between Bosch and his former lover, Agent Wallings, the struggle between the LAPD and the FBI, and the question of whether or not the death of one person should be forgotten in order to stop the possible deaths of thousands. Connelly has definitely created one of the finest characters of police procedurals during the last half of this century. Harry Bosch is the kind of guy you want covering your back when you go through the front door of a dangerous situation. And, if you go down the hard way, Bosch will make sure that justice is delivered one way or another, no matter what the rules are. I have to also state that the author captures the beauty and desolation of Los Angeles in ways that stay with you long after the novel is finished. On one side of the coin, it's a place where dreams can come true, while on the other side it's a city filled with crime and death and people who will do whatever it takes to get what they want, no matter how many individuals are hurt in the process.
In terms of how good a novel The Overlook is, I would rate it in the top five of the "Harry Bosch" novels. I definitely enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to anyone interested in reading the series.
 Reviewed for Midwest Book Review July 1, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
LAPD detective Harry Bosh has a new job in the Homicide Special division, which handles murders with political, celebrity or media connections, or those called hobby cases, which are difficult to solve and take much time. His first call out involves a doctor killed at an overlook above Mulholland Dam. Bosch and his new partner, Ignacio Ferras, are surprised when the FBI shows up at the crime scene. The dead doctor worked with radioactive materials and the FBI thinks his murder is tied to a terrorist plot to build and activate a dirty bomb in Los Angeles. When they learn that radioactive material has been stolen from the doctor, the case shifts to investigate the terrorists who took the substance instead of who killed the doctor. But Bosch thinks there's more to this murder than what's obvious.
Harry Bosch is once more at odds with the FBI and his own police department, but this relentless detective will not back down and pursues his own investigation in his own way. Bosch is an edgy man with a rebellious streak, a detective whose skills continue to keep him in good standing with the upper echelons of the police department, although he always manages to alienate most of those around him. Although this mystery is relatively easy for the reader to solve, the plot is tight and suspenseful, and takes place within a 12-hour time span.
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