The Waiting

Renée Ballard and Harry Bosch, Book 6

By: Michael Connelly

Narrated by: Christine Lakin, Titus Welliver, Madison Lintz

LAPD Detective Renée Ballard tracks a serial rapist whose trail has gone cold, and enlists a new volunteer to the Open-Unsolved Unit: Patrol Officer Maddie Bosch, Harry’s daughter.

Renée Ballard and the LAPD’s Open-Unsolved Unit get a hot shot DNA connection between a recently arrested man and a serial rapist and murderer who went quiet twenty years ago. The arrested man is only twenty-four, so the genetic link must be familial: His father was the Pillowcase Rapist, responsible for a five-year reign of terror in the city of angels. But when Ballard and her team move in on their suspect, they encounter a baffling web of secrets and legal hurdles.

Meanwhile, Ballard’s badge, gun, and ID are stolen—a theft she can’t report without giving her enemies in the department ammunition to end her career as a detective. She works the burglary alone, but her mission draws her into unexpected danger. With no choice but to go outside the department for help, she knocks on the door of Harry Bosch.

At the same time, Ballard takes on a new volunteer to the cold case unit: Bosch’s daughter Maddie, now a patrol officer. But Maddie has an ulterior motive for getting access to the city’s library of lost souls—a case that may be the most iconic in the city’s history. Complex, satisfying, and full of dexterous twists, The Waiting demonstrates once more that “you can’t do better than Michael Connelly” (Forbes).

©2024 Michael Connelly (P)2024 Little, Brown & Company

Critic reviews

“A Hawaiian coda provides the best news of all: This distinguished series has plenty of miles to go. Aloha, and hooray.”—Kirkus Reviews

Connolly is the best

Michael Connelly has done it again with The Waiting, another superb addition to the Harry Bosch and Renée Ballard series of unputdownable police procedurals. This latest novel once again showcases his unparalleled storytelling talent, which, as always, is at its absolute finest. From the very first scene, the novel grips you with its intricate plot and never lets go. This is Connelly at his best, and there’s truly no one better in the crime thriller genre!

As a longtime fan of the series, I’ve listened to multiple entries more times than I can count, and every year I eagerly await each new installment with the same level of excitement. The Waiting does not disappoint. Its pacing, tension, and emotional depth create an experience that feels like catching up with old friends, all while unraveling a new and thrilling mystery.

Another highlight of this audiobook is its outstanding narration. The trio of top-notch actors and narrators—Christine Lakin, Titus Welliver, and Madison Lintz—deliver a performance that elevates the listening experience to an all-time high. Their voices perfectly capture the intensity and complexity of the characters, making the story even more immersive and personal. Whether it’s Lakin’s portrayal of Ballard, Welliver’s iconic voice as Bosch, or Lintz bringing Maddie Bosch to life, each of them brings something unique and fantastic to this audio production.

If you’re already a fan of Connelly’s work, you’ll love this latest entry, and if you’re new, this will convince you to check out the entire series. Either way, The Waiting is an unmissable audiobook that will keep you on the edge of your seat and leave you wanting more.

Although I enjoyed the audiobook tremendously, now I’m sad that I’ve finished The Waiting—because now, my waiting begins for the next novel in this unique series!
For flawless writing and perfect narration, The Waiting gets my highest praise: the Editor’s Choice Award for Excellence in Entertainment. This award celebrates the exceptional cooperation between author and narrators, which always elevates the narrative experience to the highest level of immersion and entertainment as humanly possible and it is given to all of them together.

Congratulations and thank you for the entertainment!

Intriguing story, fair performance

This a great story, but it’s frustrating sometimes to listen to the conversations between Bosch and Ballard. It’s clear that they were recorded at different times, and maybe even in different rooms, and then spliced together by the editor. On the plus side, it was great to hear Madison Lintz reading Maddie’s lines—the same Maddie on the Bosch Netflix series.

Standard Connelly Fare- Force Feeding his Politics

Really good book. Great job by performers. Good story. But of course the domestic terrorists were the same people from the January 6th camp. Michael Jordan never mentioned politics, except to say, "both Democrats and Republicans buy tennis shoes".
A lot of wisdom in that. Please MC, leave the immature political barbs from your good stories. It is almost embarrassing to recommend these last couple of books. Please stop being so preachy. Many of your customers will feel much better about buying your stories.

Would have been perfect without the political bias

Except for vicious innuendoes and standard inflammatory accusations related to January 6 it was a great read.

Get your fix of Ballard and Bosch²!!!

Another great Ballard story with our favorite father and daughter sprinkled in, you can't go wrong with this threesome.

Great story - Not enough Bosch

This is, true to Connelly, super well written, wonderfully narrated and certainly a gripping story. I just didn’t get enough Bosch. He was too small an aside. We got no hit on what was happening with him personally - no “catching up” with his life like we did with Ballard. For me, a die hard Bosch fan, I was disappointed with this. If I disconnected with my personal wishes to catch up with Bosch, I must say the story was, as is always true of Connelly, unique, fascinating and over too soon. The development of the relationship of Renee Ballard and Maddie Bosch is, of course interesting. The narration was top notch and I look forward to the next book. I have read (and also listened to) every Connelly novel and think he is the best mystery writer around. He never throws in what I call “gratuitous filler.” That makes his books so far above so many of today’s authors. Thank you Michael Connelly for the quality I look forward to. Please stay healthy and keep producing the books that we all wait anxiously for.

Not the best ever but enjoyable

Too much Ballard. I’m getting to be a grumpy old man but miss the days of Len and Dick narrating. Please know your audience, a couple books back it was so very much about vaccines and masks. Now there’s just frequent mentions of January 6. Get over it.

Best Connelly in along time begin

The flow from beginning to end was riveting. I am a fan but this kicked butt

Excellent

Great as always. A compelling story with all the usual characters. A few twists and turns that kept it interesting throughout the book.

Outstanding and extremely captivating

It would have been great if the meeting with mom was included. So it lives up to the title “waiting”