The Narrows: Harry Bosch Series, Book 10

By: Michael Connelly

Narrated by: Len Cariou

Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's Summary

FBI agent Rachel Walling finally gets the call she's dreaded for years: the one that tells her the Poet has returned. Years ago she worked on the famous case, tracking down the serial killer who wove lines of poetry into his hideous crimes. Rachel has never forgotten Robert Backus, the killer who called himself the Poet, and apparently he has not forgotten her either.

Harry Bosch gets a call, too. The former LAPD detective hears from the wife of an old friend who has recently died. The death appeared natural, but this man's ties to the hunt for the Poet make Harry dig deep, and lead him into a terrifying, bewildering situation.

So begins the most compelling, frightening, and masterful novel Michael Connelly has ever written. The Narrows places Harry Bosch in league with Rachel Walling, at odds with the FBI and squarely in the path of the most ruthless and ingenious murderer in Los Angeles' history. What follows is a taut and tantalizing mystery that has Harry Bosch racing from the hostile vistas of the Nevada desert to the glittering Las Vegas strip to the dark corners of Los Angeles.

Through it all, Bosch works at his newfound life as father to a young daughter, balancing the deepest love he has ever felt with his own sense of mission and his profound awareness of evil.

Don't miss Detective Harry Bosch on the case in these Michael Connelly crime fiction novels.

©2004 Time Warner AudioBooks (P)2004 Time Warner AudioBooks

Critic Reviews

"Michael Connelly's best crime novel since City of Bones." (The New York Times)
"A dynamite plot, fully flowered characters, and a meticulous attention to the details of investigative procedure....Connelly is a master and this novel is yet another of his masterpieces." (Publishers Weekly)

How to write a good read.

Bosch has really come into his own as a character. The book is well written, well read, fast paced, hangs together well and has lot's of good twists and turns. If all writers made their books this interesting, we readers would be in "hog heaven".

Bosch again

What can I tell you? If you read the prior Harry Bosch novels you'll love it. If this is your first you'll be hooked. It's just great to be able to listen the yarn unfold. Michael Connelley is a masterful story teller.

Anoother winner

Michael Connelly is one of my favorite writers, but this book, The Narrows, top all the rest. It is beautifully written. The characters and their relationships are well drawn. But it is the excitement that kept me listening non-stop. When I had 3 hours left I uplugged my phone and listened!

New to Harry Bosch

Ok, so I admit, I hadn't caught on yet to the series of books with the character of Harry Bosch. Obviously, I regret that. I read some great reviews of this book, and so I made sure to add it to my top five list. Before reading this, however, I picked up the beginning of the story contained in the first book "The Poet". Regrettably, audible doesn't have this available yet, so annoyingly, I had to get it on tape. It was well worth the aggravation. "The Poet" is a GREAT thriller, and I couldn't wait to get to the next installment with "The Narrows".

This book definitely falls in line with the hype. I know some people were annoyed by the transition from first person to third person, but I wasn't confused at all by this. It didn't really register with me until a friend pointed it out.

The characters are compelling and real. The descriptions are graphic enough that a few nauseated me (crime scenes and a few other circumstances) which tells me Connelly is good at his craft. To have physical reactions as well as emotional ones is the sign of a great story.

Do yourself a favor though - be sure to read or listen to "The Poet" first. I think it goes a long way to completing this story, and it will make it infinitely more exciting.

Riders on the storm

Has all the ingredients of a good thriller, and delivers the goods. Exciting plot (without stretching credibility too far), good combination of suspense and action, tightly?written, effective dialogue, well-drawn characters. This is all brought together by a first-class narrator, Len Cariou, who manages to mix the necessary tough guy delivery with the variety of other styles required. The closing scenes might remind you of the atmosphere of the song Riders on the Storm, by the Doors. If this book is ever filmed, the song is a must.

Outstanding Book

Looking for proof that Michael Connelly is the best mystery novelist today? The Narrows is evidence enough. On a very simple level, this is a mystery novel about a serial killer, "The Poet," and at least 14 murders attributed to him in this current wave of mayhem. It's also about a complex ex-LAPD homicide detective, Harry Bosch, and a frustrated FBI Behavioral Sciences Unit reject agent, Rachel Walling. The characters are complex, conflicted, believable, and stretched beyond what is expected but not beyond the potential of each soul. Even the two major locations, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, are drawn with such intensity and multi-faceted power that they almost become characters in themselves. The plot is intricate, surprising, and challenging -- but ultimately so finely composed and exquisitely executed that even the final shock in the last few pages, while completely unsuspected, still resonates with complete authenticity and credibility. And underneath everthing beats the heart of Michael Connelly's mission: to describe the deadly dance between good and evil, a dance that comes within a hair's breadth of consuming both, but ends with hope. The book opens with the powerful intensity of the threat of evil: "I knew that my life's mission would always take me to the places where evil waits, to the places where the truth that I might find would be an ugly and horrible thing. And still I went without pause. And still I went, not being ready for the moment when evil would come from its waiting place. When it would grab at me like an animal and take me down into the black water." And it ends with the dawn of hope: "I looked out at the city and thought it was beautiful. The rain had cleaned the sky out and I could see all the way to the San Gabriels and the snow-covered peaks beyond. The air seemed to be as clean and pure as the air breathed by the Gabrielenos and the padres so many years before. I saw what they had seen in the place. It was the kind of day you felt you could build a future on." And in between is the best fiction anywhere.

Connelly back in top form

After a couple of weaker efforts (Chasing the Dime, Lost light) Michael Connelly is back at the top of his game in The Narrows.

Connelly's books are so satisfying because they seem so real. Most of his books feature Harry Bosch, an LAPD homicide detective. Over the course of ten or so books Harry catches killers, battles various levels of police bureaucracy and struggles with his inner demons. The books are skillfully interconnected. A sentence or two in one book becomes the basis for a book later in the series. A little more about Bosch is revealed in each book. Over time, Bosch's mental state ebbs and flows. Bosch empathizes with his victims and this tends to depress him. In City of Bones it became too painful and he resigned from the police force. In The Narrows, nearly three years later, Bosch is refreshed and doing so much better. He joins forces directly with Rachel Walling (the FBI agent in The Poet) and indirectly with Terry McCaleb (retired FBI in Blood Work) to chase the "Poet," who has resurfaced. It is a very enjoyable listen that is well read. It stands on its own, but my enjoyment was heightened by having read The Poet and Blood Work (as well as having seen the movie Blood Work.) Highly recommended.

Loved the book--transitional music was awful

This was a great mystery, one that kept me hooked. The reader was superb! The only distracting thing was the transitional music between sections or chapters. It was awful. Without the music, which you should try to overlook, I would have given this book a "five star" rating.

Good Tale

This book struck me in a different manner than other Connelly - Harry Bosch tales.

This one doesn't really come from a who-dunnit perspective at all.

It's simply a manhunt for a serial killer. There is never any doubt as to culprit. The way Connelly unravels the path to the murderer was also different than past Bosch fare, but quite good!

This is the first time I ever had a lukewarm comment regarding the reader Len Cariou. He seemed to overemphasize mundane points throughout the book as if he was trying to build suspense where it did not exist. He does not do this in other stories from the Harry Bosch series.

Overall worth it, and I'll be back for more.

My favorite Connelly is "The Lincoln Lawyer". It's a can't miss and I hope Connelly revives the character.

Rachel sleeps around

Of the several Harry Bosch novels I've listened to, Harry seems the most likable in this one. I listened to this after listening to Connelly's The Scarecrow, which was a sequel to The Poet. It provided some closure, but not a lot. I'm not sure that having characters from different series interact is a good literary technique. FBI agent Rachel Walling manages to bed down with Harry in between her trysts with Jack McEvoy in the other two books mentioned. I'm far from prudish but the situation seemed a little unsanitary to me. The story here was interesting, despite a final twist that Connelly inserted simply because he could. It wasn't quite as jarring as the final twist in The Poet, but it was probably wasn't necessary either. A three-star book that was neither exceptional nor disappointing.

Frighteningly Good

Really got to like Hieronymous Bosch. To me each book I read/listen to seems to get better. Excellent read

A Triumph of Plotting and Tension

Bringing together plots from at least two of Michael Connelly's earlier novels, The Narrows, shows a complexity of plotting that is deeply impressive: each clue, each reaction to a clue, each move by the killer to taunt the police, and for the police to pursue the elusive killer, is one more tightening of the tension and suspense of the story. In pursing the Poet each major character puts their fate and their lives in jeopardy. This book is a worthy successor to the previous novel The Poet, and a book not to be missed. The audiobook is skilfully read: well paced and strong.