"It has been awhile since I have taken the time to write up anything for Reading, so I figured (with your encouragement) it was about time...
"Stef [Jim's significant other] and I were recently introduced to Harry Bosch, an LAPD homicide detective, created by Michael Connelly.
Harry Bosch has a personality that is hard to ignore. His close ratio on his cases is higher than the average, which comes from a sometimes over-the-top need to find the truth. Harry Bosch plows through his cases, like a parent running through a burning-house searching for a lost child -- more concerned about the outcome than himself (politically, as well as physically).
"I found myself not only being drawn into the mysteries of each book, but into Bosch as well. My interest in psychology led me to try and understand why Bosch acted the way he did.
"Connelly created a wonderful character in Harry Bosch, whose actions are not always perfect, but who appears more real than a number of other characters I have read about. His first book The Black Echo introduces the reader to Bosch in what seems to already be the middle of his story. You learn about major events that have already happened in his life. This is yet another way Connelly adds a touch of reality to his character -- he didn't pop into existence with the first book, but had prior life, which seems to contain as many stories as those that have been written.
"I prefer not to reveal too much of the stories in order to save the mystery for those who decide to meet Detective Harry Bosch on their own. I will offer these clues: his mother was killed when he was only a child; his mother's killer was never found; Bosch is driven by the murder of his mother -- the more similarities a case seems to have to his mother's the more entwined he seems to become.
"I will say that there are a number of wonderful mysteries, which always leave some twist that few readers will figure out until the end -- even though the clues are there. If you decide to take my suggestion I hope you find the reading as engrossing and enjoyable as Stef and I have.
"Not all of Michael Connelly's books revolve around Bosch. One of his books, which is my personal favorite, is centered on a newspaper reporter. The book titled The Poet is an even better mystery."
Thanks, Jim. Connelly's books sound like good ideas. I look forward to hearing about The Poet next time around here.
