The Last Coyote: Harry Bosch Series, Book 4

By: Michael Connelly

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

Suspended from his job with the LAPD, Harry Bosch must face the darkest parts of his past to track down his mother's killer...even if it costs him his life.

Harry Bosch's life is on the edge. His earthquake-damaged home has been condemned. His girlfriend has left him. He's drinking too much. And after attacking his commanding officer, he's even had to turn in his L.A.P.D. detective's badge. Now, suspended indefinitely pending a psychiatric evaluation, he's spending his time investigating an unsolved crime from 1961: the brutal slaying of a prostitute who happened to be his own mother.

Even after three decades, Harry's questions generate heat among L.A.'s top politicos. And as the truth begins to emerge, it becomes more and more apparent that someone wants to keep it buried. Someone very powerful...very cunning...and very deadly.

Edgar Award-winning author Michael Connelly has created a dark, fast-paced suspense thriller that cuts to the core of Harry Bosch's character. Once you start it, there's no turning back.

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

©1995 by Hieronymous, Inc. (P)1995 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Grabs you and shakes you-and it feels great." (Kirkus Reviews)

"Connelly is at the top of his form in this brilliant mystery. Dick Hill does an outstanding job capturing Bosch's cynicism and anger, confusion and hurt. Hill changes his voice well to portray the other characters, most notably the female police psychiatrist...this is a first-rate production." (AudioFile)

"A powerful book." (Houston Chronicle)

Good listen

The book was obviously
Great and the voice presenter did a great job presenting each character and was clear

Back story revealed

Great narration and love Harry Bosch stories. This one deals with his past and it was interesting to get Bosch’s back story. Kept me engaged throughout.

Harry

Great story can’t wait for the next one. Looking forward to book number five in the Harry Bosch series.

This was really good. It was hard to stop reading

Bosch did many smart things that surprised me, things I did not expect.

REVIEWER’S OPINION:
Early in the book Harry said “I want (pause) I’m going to find her killer.” (My thoughts were yes you will. Not many people could say that but you can. You are so smart at solving crimes – I’ve seen him in action in three previous books.) It was hard for me to imagine how anyone could solve something so old. It was fascinating to watch what Bosch did to uncover clues and talk to people and figure out what happened 33 years ago.

I was impressed with how Harry got people to talk to him and to do things – like several different bureaucrats he needed information from. The dialogue was very good. Even the simple scene of Bosch renting a room at a hotel was interesting. I chuckled at the conversation with the landlord. One of the reasons these books are so good is that Bosch does the unexpected. In one scene I thought he would try to get someone’s fingerprints, but no. He asked pointed questions, left, and then had a note delivered. From afar he watched the reaction to the note and said “spooked you didn’t I you f***.” Something else unexpected was why Bosch was using a fake name and what happened as a result.

Two vicious men tortured and killed someone. Then they kidnapped Bosch. They hit him with a tire iron giving him a concussion and were going to kill him. My favorite and most memorable scene was what Bosch did to survive and get away (alone with no help). This is not a spoiler because we know he survives to be in the sequels.

STORY BRIEF:
The book begins with Bosch hitting his superior and put on involuntary stress leave. During this forced time off he decides to look into his mother’s death from 33 years ago. She was murdered. It was never solved. There was some kind of coverup and payoffs connected to powerful political people.

AUDIOBOOK NARRATOR:
The narrator Dick Hill was very good.

DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Unabridged audiobook length: 12 hrs and 54 mins. Swearing language: strong but not frequently used. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: two, told not shown. Setting: 1994 mostly Los Angeles, California, plus Florida and Nevada. Book Copyright: 1995. Genre: crime mystery. Ending: I felt regret for murdered victims but was pleased with eventual justice. The good guys win.

A Hard Listen

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

The reader has a trick of appearing to run out of breath and gagging on his words in the middle of a sentence, apparently as a means of conveying emotion. He seems quite proud of this technique, because he uses it over and over again, pointlessly and without any regard to the dramatic context. Generally, the reading was grossly overacted to the point of distracting from the flow of the story.

Inside Harry Bosch...

This is a great police procedural. A great mystery solved and an intimate look inside Harry Bosch. All the accolades you read are true, this is a great series and I HIGHLY recommend it if you are into the genre. You will find no better!!!!

Good twists and turns

This one will keep you up at night -- listening. It helps that I was living near Harry's house at the time this takes place, so it brought back many memories, including of the earthquake.

Dick Hill is the GOAT!

These books are very well written. Dick Hill is one of my very favorite narrators. Such a good listen!

A soul seeking book for Harry.

My favorite book so far. Harry changes after this book and becomes less psyco. I liked because it was soul seeking. Good move on Mike C's story line because the emotional loose cannon of Harry Bosch would have gotten old.

Connelly does it again.

This is the best and most introspective Bosch to this point. It’s weird to see Harry questioning hisself but it’s interesting as it’s not cut and dry. You’ll not want to put this down.