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Dark Sacred Night  By  cover art

Dark Sacred Night

By: Michael Connelly
Narrated by: Christine Lakin, Titus Welliver
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Publisher's summary

LAPD Detective Renée Ballard teams up with Harry Bosch in the new work of fiction from number-one New York Times best-selling author Michael Connelly.

Renée Ballard is working the night beat again and returns to Hollywood Station in the early hours only to find a stranger rifling through old file cabinets. The intruder is retired detective Harry Bosch, working a cold case that has gotten under his skin. Ballard kicks him out but then checks into the case herself, and it brings a deep tug of empathy and anger.

Bosch is investigating the death of 15-year-old Daisy Clayton, a runaway on the streets of Hollywood who was brutally murdered and her body left in a dumpster like so much trash. Now, Ballard joins forces with Bosch to find out what happened to Daisy and finally bring her killer to justice.

©2018 Michael Connelly (P)2018 Little, Brown & Company

Critic reviews

"It was only last year that Connelly introduced Ballard, a fierce and fascinating new protagonist who instantly emerged as a reader favorite. Bosch, meanwhile, is a grizzled veteran by now; Dark Sacred Night marks the 21st novel to center on him. But fans always finish eager to come back for more." (David Canfield, Entertainment Weekly)

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


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What listeners say about Dark Sacred Night

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

I tried to like it but...

Who thought it would be a good idea to alternate chapters, one narrator reading his/her own voice AND the other voice each chapter? Lakin reads for herself and Bosch in her chapters, Titus Welliver does Bosch and Ballard in his chapters. It was so distracting that I wasn't sure I could even finish the book. And, Ms. Lakin is NOT Renee Ballard to my ears - too wistful, emphasis on wrong syllables, wrong words. No edge to her. Bringing the two characters together seemed appealing, and I really like both characters, as a long-time Bosch reader. The story was not Connelly's best in my opinion, but I'll keep reading them! It was a let-down, after waiting so eagerly for this new installment I actually paid for it rather than wait for a credit! Mr. Connelly - please get this narration business straightened out.

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83 people found this helpful

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

Bosch lost in the female voice

Story line was okay, but I couldn't get into the Bosch character when it was read with a female voice. AUDIBLE, please only have Titus Welliver read Bosch and only a female voice read Ballard.

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62 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story, narrating was different than expected

First, the plot was excellent. Having Bosch and Ballard pair up, I think, was a fantastic idea. I do miss not having two books with one of each, but they are a power duo.

My ONLY complaint was with the narration. First, I think both narrators were great, however, they way the narration was produced was bizarre. Coming into this story, I expected to have Bosch completely narrated by Welliver and Ballard entirely narrated by Lakin. What they did, though, was broken different chapters into the characters, so a new chapter may be 'Bosch", in which Welliver narrates the entire chapter, even if Ballard is speaking. Same goes for Lakin. She will narrate entire conversations between Ballard and Bosch. It seemed like if they were going to have two narrators, they would have actually had the two narrators be the voices for the entire story, not just specific chapters.

I loved the plot, but the idea behind that style of narration was slightly disappointing. The story is still good enough that I would recommend a purchase!

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62 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One of Connelly's best; great narration!

I really do not understand where the bad ratings and reviews are coming from. They must have listened to a different novel. Christine Lakin, the female narrator, is a major improvement compared to the narrator of The Late Show (Book 1 of the Renée Ballard series).

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57 people found this helpful

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

So So

Story was good. The use of the 2 narrators was too much. This bouncing back and forth with story seeems to be popular now but I think it looses the pace of the story....Always a fan of Harry's...

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49 people found this helpful

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

Disapointed

Every avid reader likes to have a half dozen authors he or she can count on for a good read. Michael Connelly has been one of those for me. I have read every Harry Bosch book he has written. I was so looking forward to this one. What a letdown. It was obvious quite early on that this one was not one of Connelly's best efforts. Gone is the wisecracking Bosch I had previously enjoyed. What's worse he is replaced by a disguised voice that sounds like a two pack a day female. If this is an experiment by the author. I don't appreciate paying for it. Since there were two Narrators It would have made sense for me if Christine had done Ballard's voice and Titus the voice of Bosch.

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41 people found this helpful

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

Not my favorite.

I love Harry Bosch, Renee Ballard, not so much. This novel had too much Renee, and not enough Bosch. I pray this is not the direction this series is going, as I find Ballard's character to be annoying, as well as the person reading as Ballard. I did not enjoy her storyline at all.

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30 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Meh

Story was pretty meh.Connelly seems to just be relying on the same formula repetitively. A leak, a bad cop, a kidnapped cop (someone needs to be worried about how easily that happens) and crazy coincidences leading to a murderer. Besides that, this particular story branches off in so many directions that it's difficult to invest any feelings into any of them. He also seems to be trying to cash in on the emotions around the current political and social climate, and it's just awkward and cringe worthy. Ballard's comes off as whiny and weak at times, and it's not fitting for the character he is attempting to create. Ballard is a bland character, and Bosch has become the same. There is almost no depth to either of them is this story. I'm really finding it difficult to stay engaged in his books, or be excited about any new releases.

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29 people found this helpful

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

Harry Bosch Fan Disappointed!!!

I have read all the Bosch novels and this has to be worst one written so far, to me this isnt really a Bosch novel but more like a Ballard novel with Bosch guest starring in it. The story line is just out right atrocious and stupid. Not to give out spoilers but the way the "bad guy" was introduced was simply horrible and then they way they caught him was another poorly written plot.

I read the late show where Connelly introduced Ballard and that was a bad book to me and the narration on top that just made the book even more horrible. The character really doesnt have any detective'ness to it and quite frankly if that was a real cop in life then she would get fired or be labeled as a bad cop. This book almost made the detective pair look like they were above the law and though Harry is a little out there with questionable tactics, Connelly never made me feel that Harry could play dirty but in this he did which is one of the reason why I hated this book so much. Ballard still shows all the useless backage that he introduced with her which to me was pointless and made me hate the character even more.

Overall this book is just outright horrible, Titus did a pretty good job narrating as always and Christine was ok narrating Ballard, she was definitely better then the last narrator. In my reviews, I generally dont say to people dont waste your credit for this but I would definitely recommend that wait for a deal or something before spending a credit on this. To me this wasnt worth the credit.

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24 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Not his best

I've loved Michael Connelly from his first book. I cannot get into his character Renee. She was better in this book, but a homeless police detective who leaves her dog for days at a time? She is not very believable. Also, Harry did some things out of character for him. I will probably give them one more try, but then I'm going to retire Harry Bosch.

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18 people found this helpful