The Late Show

By: Michael Connelly

Narrated by: Katherine Moennig

Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

A compelling thriller introducing a driven young detective trying to prove herself in the LAPD.

Renée Ballard works the night shift in Hollywood, beginning many investigations but finishing none as each morning she turns her cases over to day shift detectives. A once up-and-coming detective, she's been given this beat as punishment after filing a sexual harassment complaint against a supervisor. But one night she catches two cases she doesn't want to part with: the brutal beating of a prostitute left for dead in a parking lot and the killing of a young woman in a nightclub shooting.

Ballard is determined not to give up at dawn. Against orders and her own partner's wishes, she works both cases by day while maintaining her shift by night. As the cases entwine, they pull her closer to her own demons and the reason she won't give up her job - no matter what the department throws at her.

©2017 Hieronymous, Inc (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Angry auntie reading

I love Michael Connelly but Moennig’s characters all sound the same-competent, brisk and boring.

Fantastisc, good story and preformens from the readers. could not stopp before the end, need more of this.

A nice Connelly

The pace of this novel is clearly gentler than the average Connelly, but it's quite nice nevertheless. Connelly as always develops his characters well and ensures that the plot is easy to understand. Harry Bosch readers should enjoy this book, and I personally will look forward to the next Ballard book. (I'll wait even more eagerly for the next Bosch.)
The reader is clear and easy to follow. She seems to be a little new at the game: the text following a conversation takes on the emotion of the conversation itself. For example, if Connelly writes: "Do you really want to do this?" she said, Moennig will read the last two words as part of the question itself. Not that it distracts from the performance.

Katherine Moennig is a fantastic reader

Absolutely gripping story with loads of twists and turns, highly recommended. 'Excellent series launch ... What follows is classic Connelly: a master class of LAPD internal politics and culture, good old-fashioned detective work, and state-of-the-art forensic science - plus a protagonist who's smart, relentless, and reflective ... once again, he delivers.'

A very warm welcome to Renee Ballard!

A great read that matches any Erika Foster line by line. I miss Harry Bosch and just can't say goodbye, but knowing Renee Ballard is there proudly holding the badge for the same determined, incisive but oblique talent as the retired detective, gives me great joy. Knowing she is going to be around for many good reads, with the familiar names and histories putting readers front and centre of the best of the Connelly milieu, is encouraging. Bring on the next Renee Ballard soon , please Mr Connelly. I'm already addicted- again!

Love it

Loved the book. Big fan of Michael Connolly. Love the new character Rene. Can't wait to listen to the next book

Wonderful

For Micheal Connelly fans this is a no- brainer. Just use your credit for it. This book is as good as any in the Harry Bouch series.

This is gripping thriller though it can get classified as a police procedural. It has all the twist and turns which keep surprising you. The sub plots ensure that there is not one single minute when you are not gripped by the narrative. Wow. it was an awesome ride!

Good story, bad narration

I've listened to close to a dozen Connelly novels so far. He has quickly become my favorite thriller novelist. My favorites so far are probably "The Black Echo" (masterpiece!) and "The Poet".

I liked his introduction of a new female detective working the late shift, the story is decent and engaging throughout. But as an audio book it is made EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to get through because of reader Katherine Moennig.

I always shy away from blaming the person reading a novel, as I always find that even the lesser ones slowly pull me in as I get into their rhythm and style. However in this case it was made impossible because Moennig (despite her voice sounding pleasant and inviting) keeps reading everything mostly in the same tone. No matter whether it's speedy action or slow parts she rarely makes a change in her tone, and the worst part - what makes it near impossible to get through - is that she never does anything to make different characters sound different!

Now I'm not saying she should go into full blown parody and talk with a deep voice for one character, high pitch for another and so on, but as a performer - when reading dialogue between two or more people - you MUST do something, tiny audible traits that makes it possible to understand who is saying what.

Her constant lack of doing so created so many moments of confusion for me as listener, making focusing on the plot a difficult task when instead I'm stuck wondering which character is talking. It also made it difficult for me to ever get truly emgulfed in the story. The only exceptions are a few long sequences where the main character is alone with her thoughts.

It's a dang shame. I do not understand how the producer/director of this audiobook didn't stop and tell the narrator to do a better job. Hopefully it was a learning experience as the feedback comes in from disappointed listeners, but as things stand now, I will never again listen to anything performed by this reader, but more than anything it's the fault of whoever produced the recording. They should really know better!

Ok book with good story and terrible performance.

Love Michael Connely books but the performance of this book is so bad couldn't finish.

Rene Ballard The Late Show

great book. but then Connelly never fails to be brilliant. I will never tire of him.