The Black Echo: Harry Bosch Series, Book 1

By: Michael Connelly

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

An LAPD homicide detective must choose between justice and vengeance as he teams up with the FBI in the first novel of the "thrilling" Harry Bosch series (New York Times Book Review).

For maverick LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch, the body in the drainpipe at Mulholland Dam is more than another anonymous statistic. This one is personal...because the murdered man was a fellow Vietnam "tunnel rat" who had fought side by side with him in a hellish underground war. Now Bosch is about to relive the horror of Nam. From a dangerous maze of blind alleys to a daring criminal heist beneath the city, his survival instincts will once again be tested to their limit. Pitted against enemies inside his own department and forced to make the agonizing choice between justice and vengeance, Bosch goes on the hunt for a killer whose true face will shock him.

Impressed? Ace detective Harry Bosch is also on the case in other exciting Michael Connelly crime-fiction novels.

©1992 by Michael Connelly. (P)1992 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Good story, keeps you interested.

Have been looking for a series since listening to Reacher and Pendergast series. This could be it. Dick Hill is a great narrator but I see that he doesn't read this whole series. I don't like when narrators are changed in a series. That may be the only drawback for this series.

Ahhhhh ...... Harry Bosch

Would you consider the audio edition of The Black Echo: Harry Bosch Series, Book 1 to be better than the print version?

Dick Hill brings the story to life in a way that reading doesn't allow.

What did you like best about this story?

Harry and J. Edgar are the perfect match. Of course Harry doesn't have an agenda and just jets around trying to solve a murder. J. Edgar is wound up in selling real estate. But, he's an excellent cop and they are friends. That's very important to this story.

Have you listened to any of Dick Hill’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes, all of Lee Child, and many others. This one is classic Hill.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Nearly. Harry Bosch is off the chain and needs supervision and you can hardly wait to see what he's gotten himself into.

Any additional comments?

I hate to admit it, but this book was my first Connelly book. I try to read as close to 55 books a year........I know that's not a lot for some, but for me it is. I have to say that I've read all of the books in this series both on paper and audio.......After you meet Harry Bosch, you will swear that you know him or someone who could be him. My challenge to you is to read the entire series before leaving a review on the first book.

Story? Amazing! Narrator? Not so much

If you could sum up The Black Echo: Harry Bosch Series, Book 1 in three words, what would they be?

Amazing. Thrilling. Shocking! I have read several Michael Connelly books and the Bosch series has always been one of my favorites. I decided to go back to the beginning where it all began, and start from there on the series. This series starts off so well and can't wait to read the rest.

What did you like best about this story?

I really liked plot. Thought it was really well-thought out and put together very nicely.

What aspect of Dick Hill’s performance would you have changed?

I would have gotten this man a bottle of water! I liked his performance overall, but about halfway through the book I noticed I could hear him swallowing and that drove me nuts! He just sounded as if his mouth was dry from reading so much. He did well at doing different voices for the different characters.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes! I think that's how all of Michael Connelly's books are

Outstanding!

The book itself is excellent and this narration is amazing, making it like a long movie to listen to. I love the Harry Bosch character.

Harry Bosch Is Dirty Harry! Narration Is Superior

Michael Connelly is a phenomenal writer with an innate attention to detail which is second to none.

Amazing

Where does The Black Echo: Harry Bosch Series, Book 1 rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This ranks top 10

What other book might you compare The Black Echo: Harry Bosch Series, Book 1 to and why?

can't compare to anything really its a great book

What does Dick Hill bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I was ok with Dick and I love the voice changes.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This book made me think and guess what was next.

Any additional comments?

I'm just starting the series but going to continue

another great book

loved it, another great book of the series. will definitely try the other books by Michael Connelly.

The absolute best!!!

The story line is exciting from the start & it was read well. It’s smart and interesting. I absolutely loved it.

A Good "Read"

I had never heard of Connelly before the Lincoln Lawyer movie. I know movie scripts are a bastardization of books usually but the story in the movie was pretty good and since Sanford was between books in the Prey series and his new Flowers series, Demille with his Khoury novels hasn't a new one - so I got this one.

Connelly does as good a job as Sanford in building the characters in his story and the interactions between them are realistic and not contrived. This story had a nice flow to it..multiple story lines which came together nicely at the end, and teases to the surprise without ruining it. I was left impressed and liking Harry...enough that I will be on to the next books in Harry Bosch series.

My personal opinion is that the reader has much to do with the enjoyment of an audio book...they can truly make it or kill it. The reader for this book does a great job with voice, inflection and the use of a slight tunnel effect for phone calls to add realism to the book and draw the listener in...I hope he is reading the future ones.

I'd rank this overall a 9 out of 10, especially if you like Character driven detective or mystery books.

Bosch, The Tunnel Rat

This first Harry Bosch novel is a winner. The mystery is complicated and involving and it had me guessing "whodunnit" through most of the book. I'm intrigued by the character of Harry and want to find out more about him - a good motivation for continuing to read more in the series. The book deals with Harry's Vietnam experience and ties his experiences there with his current (1992) time as a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. I didn't know anything about the "tunnel rats" of the Vietnam War; I liked the way Connelly integrated this aspect of the war into his story. The narration by Dick Hill is excellent - he has the right timbre in his voice for the world-weary Harry and his voicing of the other characters is also very good.