Chasing the Dime: Booktrack Edition

By: Michael Connelly

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Length: 10 hrs and 23 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)

Not a believable storyline.

The main character did something stupid at every turn. I spent a lot of time thinking no way would he do that, just not credible.

Suspenseful

Good details. the story kept moving, and had me keep looking at how much time was left because of all that needed explaining! at times, i was breathless just waiting for the other foot to fall!

Loved it, the music was nice

Lots of technology info and can chase you away, great story. The music was nice.

Great book to listen to…..

Great Book … lots of twists and turns…
Makes you think of who had set him up for the crime…

An interesting tale

A story quite different from other police tales from Connelly. It merges two drama’s into one. Drama and knowledge result.

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.

Connelly Strikes Out

I've read every other Michael Connelly book and loved them all. This one is the exception. The protagonist is such a moron I found myself yelling, "No! No!" when he was about to make one of his uncountable horrible decisions. The writing style is different than other Connelly books - almost like someone else wrote it, or he was trying to intentionally create a different style. The narrator doesn't help either - his tone makes most of the characters sound like hip, arrogant, self-absorbed jerks. What a disappointment. But don't let this review stop you from reading other Connelly books - they are VERY good.

Seriously Disappointed

I've read every Michael Connelly book written, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one. But it didn't take long for the main character's stupidity to annoy the heck out of me. I was drawn in at first, but the whole premise seemed a reach. One minute he was doing something fairly intelligent, the next, totally stupid. I had to turn it off several times, and I finally ended up skipping a bunch of chapters to see if I was right about "who dunnit." I was. Between the Amazon series, and the pressure to keep writing, I guess he's maybe going a bit commercial. I'll always love Bosch, and the Lincoln Lawyer, but this was very disappointing. This was an outing I would expect from a writer with only one or two books under his belt.

A bit of a disappointment

This book was not bad, but it was somewhat disappointing. I'm a real fan of Connely's "Harry Bosch" novels, and this just didn't live up to what I've come to expect from this author.

After having seen the reviews that some others have written, I do have to defend this book to some extent. A number of reviews talk about the fact that the main character is supposed to be a super intelligent person, and yet he keeps making stupid decisions that make the story unrealistic. I have to disagree. Have you ever made one decision that you were embarrased by, and then had to cover up for it by making another bad decision? The next thing you know you are in over your head, and looking for a way out. It happens. This is just such a story, and the author does a very good job of making the reader/listener feel very trapped and uncomfortable. I'd say that's pretty good writing.

So why did I only give this book three stars out of five? Than answer is that although the writing was pretty good, it just wasn't a story that I cared much about. The science is plausible and accurate. The mystery itself is pretty good. But for some reason I just kept looking for more.

Would I buy it again? I might. Can I recommend it? That depends on which day you ask.

Ummm...

Not sure what to say about this book. Probably my least favorite of Michael Connelly. Just not a believable story.