Chasing the Dime

By: Michael Connelly

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's Summary

The messages waiting for Henry Pierce when he plugs in his new telephone clearly aren't intended for him:
" Where is Lilly? This is her number. It's on the site."

Pierce has just been thrown out by his girlfriend and moved into a new apartment, and the company he founded is headed into the most critical phase of fund-raising. He's been "chasing the dime" - doing all it takes to come out first in a technological battle whose victor will make millions. But he can't get the messages for a woman named Lilly out of his head:
"Uh, yes, hello, my name is Frank. I'm at the Peninsula. Room six-twelve. So give me a call when you can."

Something is wrong. Pierce probes, investigates, and then tumbles through a hole, leaving behind a life driven by work to track down and help a woman he has never met.

The world he enters is one of escorts, Web sites, sex, and secret passions. The beautiful Lilly is an object of desire to thousands. To Pierce, she becomes the key that might fix a broken life. But in pursuing Lilly, Pierce has entered a landscape where his success and expertise mean nothing. He is a mark, an outsider, and soon he is also the victim of astonishing violence, the chief suspect in a murder case, and fighting for his life against forces he can barely discern.

©2002 Hieronymus, Inc., All Rights Reserved (P)2002 Time Warner AudioBooks, a Division of the AOL Time Warner Book Group

Critic Reviews

"A grabber from the beginning...utterly compelling." (Booklist)
"It's the rare reader who will be able to finger the villain behind all the mayhem." (Publishers Weekly)
"Connelly takes what could have been a typical suspense thriller and turns it into something exceptional through nonstop action and surprising twists." (Library Journal)

Nobody Could Be That Stupid That Many Times!

This book was recommended to me by a good friend. He was highly complimentary and I've liked most of the Harry Bosch novels so I thought I'd give it a try. The main character in the story makes SO many stupid moves that I started getting so frustrated with him that I couldn't listen to the book for more than 20 minutes without pounding my steering wheel and screaming "NO, You idiot! Don't do that!!" The plot is good, the story is good, the narration is excellent. I give it three stars just for that. If you can handle a character that continually makes idiotic, self destructive decisions then get this book, you won't be disappointed.

41 of 41 people found this review helpful

Our hero is an idiot

I found this book very annoying. Our hero, who is supposed to be a PhD chemist, is a total idiot. He makes mistakes no person of normal intelligence would make, such as entering what is obviously a crime scene and leaving his fingerprints all over it. Would you do that? Me neither. I don't require the hero to be a genius, but I would like him to be at least one step up from a potato.

56 of 58 people found this review helpful

Totally Unbelieveable

I have enjoyed all of the Michael Connelly books I have read or listened to in the past; this one was a great disappointment. Pierce's total lack of judgement and very rash approach to the problem isn't consistent with the logical mind of an accomplished scientist. I found myself getting angry and could not finish.

22 of 23 people found this review helpful

Michael Connelly's most frustrating book

Thanks to the reviews, I left this book till last, over the last six months I have happily listened to all of Michael Connelly's books. They are great, I am a huge fan. However I found this book very frustrating and the first half rather boring. I went back to the reviews, because I was thinking about quitting the book half way through.

Please don't judge Connelly by this book, his other twenty or so other books are brilliant!

The main character as well as all the Villians are just so shallow and stupid that listening to this book became a frustrating chore.

The nano tech and other technologies mentioned are reasonably familiar to me so I got nothing much out of that aspect.

The last hour or so is good, but its let down a bit by the main Villian;s attack of stupidity.

Jonathan Davis' narration was quite good, I would be happy to listen to him again.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

Riveting Slipstream Fiction

My first Connelly book. You disappointeds/don't bothers/etc. simply don't understand the mind of a scientist. The wrong number was a fresh challenge, a side-project, if you will to get him through the rather mundane task of finding investors. These things bore scientists, so, with a small grain of salt, I can see why he'd be curious. The scientific underpinning of a nanotechnological 'engine' or energy source (a real scientific challenge to nanotech) was done quite well. Putting your disbelief behind you however, the story was riveting and having listened to probably 100 books on Audible it's the only book I ever sat down at night to finish (versus listening during the commute). I am now a huge Michael Connelly fan. I've now heard Lost Light and am working on the Narrows. Connelly constructs flawless plots that are at once complex and easy to follow. In the end, please save your dissing for Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, if you want to talk about improbable, intellectually suicidal stories.

27 of 30 people found this review helpful

Don't bother

In spite of the hype, I found myself struggling to keep listening. The main character is so naive and makes mistake after mistake, the novel is too frustrating. I want my characters to inspire. I dropped out two thirds of the way through. Waste of time.

65 of 79 people found this review helpful

A different kind of Connelly book

What made the experience of listening to Chasing the Dime the most enjoyable?

in first part of the story, I thought the main character, Henry, was the "bad guy, but my view changed. A tangled, but interesting story.

What did you like best about this story?

The way it led the reader through the story. I kept changing my view of Henry.

Which character – as performed by Jonathan Davis – was your favorite?

He shows the reader about Henry's life and relationships in the present and also gives information about his past, that lends some understanding to his actions. During all of this his life is unraveling in dangerous ways. This made for an interesting story.

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

Nothing!, Great narrator!

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Not as good as Connelly's others.

I am a big fan of Michael Connelly's thrillers, and have listened to all of them available on this site. Whereas the others are great, this one is just okay. I agree with other reviews that the main character is just too naive, and the plot is driven by his unbelievable blunders.

If you're new to Michael Connelly, don't start with this one -- get one of the Harry Bosch mysteries instead.

9 of 11 people found this review helpful

A break from Bosch

For any Connelly fan, this book is a great break from Harry Bosch. Not a hard boiled detective book but a great thriller for anyone with a more than a few neurons flashing. It is a great listen and better than any James Patterson trash ever.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Stopped reading...

Ditto on the "Don't bother" & "Disappointed" reviews. Got through the 1st book and part of the 2nd, then I finally had to stop listening-- just way too implausible. Save your time and look for something else.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Conelly goes science-fiction!

This last Conelly is kind of science-fiction where the science is boring and the fiction unbelievable. Sorry, C., this is not up to uor standards.
Peter in Sweden

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

I read all of them!

If you could sum up Chasing the Dime in three words, what would they be?

Another super story in the series

What was one of the most memorable moments of Chasing the Dime?

I enjoyed not just one moment but the overall experience

What about Jonathan Davis’s performance did you like?

A very professional and competent performance

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

As with all of Connelly's books, I had a general feeling of participation

Any additional comments?

It is with regret that I am nearing the end of Michael Connelly’s series of Harry Bosch books. Though an octogenarian, I walk about three miles each morning – on the treadmill if it’s raining - always accompanied by my iPod. So in recent months I have looked forward to each morning’s hour or so listening to the exhilarating exploits of out of the ordinary LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch. Connelly’s first book in the series was published in the early 90s and each succeeding book reveals Bosch employing the prevailing technology as well as getting a little older, something quite unique among fictional detectives. My review therefore applies not simply to one book but to all 16 in the series. Connelly writes with knowledge, validity and authenticity. His plots turn and twist with realism and reason and I have never had the feeling of being unnecessarily sidetracked. Over the months I have made friends with the “regulars” who appear in the stories and more and more I have come to appreciate the inner feelings of our resolute and intrepid hero. Fortunately Connelly is a prolific writer. I look forward to enjoying more of his output, hopefully in the Harry Bosch genre.