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City of Bones  By  cover art

City of Bones

By: Michael Connelly
Narrated by: Peter J. Fernandez
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Publisher's summary

On New Year's Day, Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch fields a call that a dog has found a bone - a bone that the dog's owner, a doctor, feels certain is human.

That chance discovery leads Bosch to a shallow grave in the Hollywood hills, evidence of a murder committed more than 20 years earlier. It's a cold case, but it stirs up Bosch's memories of his own childhood as an orphan in the city. Digging through police reports and hospital records, tracking down street kids and runaways from the 1970s, Bosch finds a family ripped apart by an absence - and a trail, ever more tenuous, into a violent, terrifying world.

As the case takes Bosch deeper into the past, a rookie cop named Julia Brasher brings him alive in the present in a way no one has in years. Bosch has been warned about the trouble that comes with dating a rookie, but no warning could withstand the heat between them - or prepare Bosch for the explosions when the case takes a hard turn.

Drawing on the "precision-tooled twists" and "wellspring of authentically lurid detail" (Los Angeles Magazine) that have made him one of the fasted-selling novelists at work today, Michael Connelly has written a riveting, hard-edged, and unforgettable thriller.

Don't miss Detective Harry Bosch on the case in these Michael Connelly crime fiction novels.
©2002 Hieronymus Inc., All Rights Reserved (P)2002 Time Warner AudioBooks, a Division of the AOL Time Warner Book Group

Critic reviews

"Dark and angst-ridden...crackles with energy." ( Publishers Weekly)
"Hard-boiled cop fiction at its most gripping." ( Booklist, starred review)

Featured Article: Best Mystery Series—Listens That'll Take You Right to the Crime Scene


While a standalone mystery is great when you're in the mood for a one-and-done, sometimes you want to feed your craving with an entire mystery series—knowing there's a world and characters you can keep coming back to for the satisfaction of solving crimes. With audiobooks, you get the added bonus of sinking deeper into the setting, clues, and suspects as the story is performed for you, so you'll feel like you're alongside detectives, ready to bust a case.

What listeners say about City of Bones

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

A good book

The book was highly addictive. I didn't want to shut it off. Overall, enough plot twists to keep me interested. Good character development and I thouroughly enjoyed it.

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38 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

What a great listen!

This was a wonderful book. I have not listened to any of Michael Connelly's books, so this one was my first. It was really great. Very enjoyable. The main character, "Harry Bosch" is a very lovable guy. If you liked the old movies that featured Humphrey Bogart, you'll love this one. The narrator sounds like old Bogie himself. So I could actually visualize him as Harry Bosch. There are some surprises in line for you as to 'who dunnit' if you choose to listen to this great story. This was quite a long story, but I didn't mind.I will now go back and purchase some more books by this author, especially the books about Detective Harry Bosch.

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35 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

A good read

If you're looking to be entertained, or to pass the time in an enjoyable manner, try this book. It's not at the tip top of the line, but it holds its own. The development of the main character was essential to the success of this story, and it is done well. He is charismatic and the reader learns a lot about him by the end of the book, coming to really like and respect him.

I read other reviews before buying this book and was looking out for the out-of-place relationship with the rookie cop that so many mentioned. I, however, found that relationship to be completely necessary to the story. It kept the narrative from constantly revolving around the murder, which would quickly have gotten dull. It added another dimension to the main character, taking away the tough cop facade and showing us the human beneath. I think it was these parts of the story that really caused me to like the guy.

Overall, I liked this book. It was not one that marked me; I probably won't remember it in 2 years. But it kept my mind happily occupied from the time I went in until the time I came out. That's what matters, and I recommend it to anybody who likes a good read.

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34 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Intriguing tale

After reading Blood Work I wanted to give Connelly another go. I think I broke my all time record for completing an unabridged novel with this one. If it were a book I'd say I couldn't put it down. Since it was a cold and dreary weekend, I was satisfied to just sit back and enjoy. I'm still not sure what role the rookie cop, Julia Brasher, had to do with anything except fill. I kept wondering what she had to do with the plot. I guess Connelly figured he needed a cute young woman in there to spice it up. I do recommend this book regardless.

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21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

A good listen.

While I found the characters formulaic and the plot predictable, the high-quality narration of this good story provided 11 hours of enjoyable listening. I recommend it and probably would listen to it again.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Story is a 5, reader is a 2

After the terrible "Darkness" book this book got back into the swing of what a good Bosch book is all about. While the story is great unfortunately is was not paired with a great reader. Because this is an "Audio Book" review I had to bring the rating down to a 3, while the story was a 5, because the reader is really just reading and not emoting the story or distinguishing the characters at all. If you can deal with a subpar reader, i still would recommend the book for the story.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Not Connelly's best

I have gone through almost all of Connelly's books and this one just didn't do it for me. I would have to agree with the previous posting from Joel that the narrator of this book does not have much fluctuation in his voice for the different characters, which leads it to being very dry and at times confusing. I really haven't been a Terry McCaleb fan and this just proved the point even more. The story line is okay, not his best. My fav. Connelly books- The Lincoln Lawyer, The Black Echo, or to make is easier his first five books.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Pretty disappointing stuff.......

I've reviewed quite a few books here on Audible and this is the only one where I have had cause to complain. This is boring, I mean really boring. The plot is languorous, the characters tiresome and the narration bland. The twist is unbelievably pointless, I was like.....this is it? Buy something else.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Oh Harry, Harry - what will you do now?

This was my second Harry Bosch reading. After listening to A DARKNESS MORE THAN NIGHT, I picked this to follow the Harry Bosch trail - I thought he was an interestng character.

There were some flaws in the plot. I don't see a detective such as Bosch leaving Julis'a back story where it was. I think he would have spent a little more time chekcing out her past after the tragedy.

I also agree that the Dr's character was a little too superficial as another reviewer said.

I think Bosch is an interesting, complex character, though. He's got a brilliant mind but he misses some very obvious things until he stumbles on the right answer later on.

There are two more Bosch stories written since this one (LOST LIGHT and THE NARROWS which is coming out in May in print) but I'm going to go back to the beginning and read the earlier ones first. Hopefully the newer ones will be out on Audible by that time.

This isn't a perfect book but definitely worth listening to.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

not his best work

this book is better that the last. a darkness more than night is the worst in the series. this is a close 2nd. the narrator is terrible in this book and the last. the last narrator made hin sound like a 70 year old drunk this one is to crisp and chipper. should've stuck with dick hill.. just my humble opinion.

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8 people found this helpful