The Black Box

By: Michael Connelly

Narrated by: Michael McConnohie

In a case that spans 20 years, Harry Bosch links the bullet from a recent crime to a file from 1992, the killing of a young female photographer during the L.A. riots. Harry originally investigated the murder, but it was then handed off to the Riot Crimes Task Force and never solved.

Now Bosch's ballistics match indicates that her death was not random violence, but something more personal, and connected to a deeper intrigue. Like an investigator combing through the wreckage after a plane crash, Bosch searches for the "black box," the one piece of evidence that will pull the case together.

Riveting and relentlessly paced, THE BLACK BOX leads Harry Bosch, "one of the greats of crime fiction" (New York Daily News), into one of his most fraught and perilous cases.

Critic reviews

PRAISE FOR THE DROP:

"Connelly inherits the mantle of Raymond Chandler.... Their books share a kind of ambitious artistry that strains to reach beyond genre fiction."—Chuck Leddy, Boston Globe

"Connelly is superb at building suspense."—Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal

"Bosch is one of the best detectives in crime fiction, and Connelly continues to amaze with his latest effort."—Jeff Ayers, Associated Press

Basic Bosch

There's nothing new here Bosch-wise: same high-energy, straight ahead Harry we have grown to love. He's still working Open/Unsolved crimes, and picks up one that he began twenty years earlier. He didn't wrap up the earlier one because it occurred in the chaos and confusion of the LA riots that followed the Rodney King verdict in 1992. All he has to go on initially is one shell casing, but trust Harry to apply his instincts and hunches to find the killer.

Along the way he gets caught up in police politics - a white victim in the midst of all the black killings, and solving it and not the others looks bad for the chief. True to the character Connelly has created, Harry bucks the system and presses on anyway. No, not his favorite chief Irvin Irving, he's gone. This fellow's name is O'Toole, nicknamed (of course) the Tool.

The book really gets rolling when Harry strikes out on his own to confront the bad guys in their own town. Some pretty hairy scenes, though Harry doesn't get so badly mistreated as many other modern mystery heroes do. I guess that all started with Mike Hammer, and now it seems mandatory for the hero to get beat up, often pretty severely (though they seem to recover pretty quickly!)

There's a good bit of treatment of Harry's relationship with his daughter, none of which contributes to the plot. Maybe Connelly just wants to show us Harry's human side. There's little to no love interest for Harry this time, although FBI Rachel does make a cameo appearance.

Michael McConnohie does an OK job. No, he's not Len Cariou, but he's better than some of the other Harry Bosch narrators. McConnohie's narration history does include a number of factual nonfiction books, and I think he's probably better off sticking with that. McConnohie doesn't do a very good black ghetto voice. You have to pay close attention to the story to know when one of those bad guys is supposed to be talking, you won't get it from the dialect.

On the whole, though, a credit well spent.

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If you could sum up The Black Box in three words, what would they be?

Fantastic, Michael Connelly attention to detail is worth noting

Any additional comments?

Another fine story by Michael Connelly. As I said early...His attention to detail makes this novel a spell binder.

Please send McConnohie back to Non Fiction!!!

What did you like best about The Black Box? What did you like least?

This guy is making Harry boring! It is awful. Not as painful as Joe Montagnea reading Spenser (He Said- She Said ugh!!! and I love both Joe and Spenser just never ever together again!, I digress...) I am trying to muddle through this as I anxiously await new Connelly but this is SOOOOOO boring! All due to the narrator. Where oh where has Len gone??

The Narrator isn't that bad.

Would you listen to The Black Box again? Why?

Yes it is a good solid story. Not my favorite Harry Bosch story but still entertaining.

What did you like best about this story?

The developing relationship between Harry and his new partner.

Which scene was your favorite?

The escape.

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

No

Any additional comments?

A lot of the reviews have focused on the new narrator and they almost stopped me from buying the book until I read a review indicating that the fix was as simple as changing the speed setting on your ipod. That worked and although the narrator isn't as good as Lou, he is adequate.

horrible narration

the story is good but the marathon was boring. He didn't enspire any emotions at all.