Sunday, April 2, 2017

The Crossing

Hoo boy, I am WAY behind in posting recently-read books. I have read a lot of books by Michael Connelly, both the Harry Bosch series and the Mickey Haller (Lincoln Lawyer) series. He never seems to make a false step with his writing--at least IMHO, he is a craftsman, and I like this genre. Bosch in this book decides to take on a case for his defence attorney half-brother, Mickey, thus crossing over to the dark side. After decades of putting the bad guys away as a LAPD detective,  Bosch knows that he is going to be seen as a traitor and take a lot of heat from his former colleagues. Nevertheless, he talks to the defendant and thinks he is innocent, but gets an agreement from Mickey that he will follow where the clues lead--whether it be to innocence or guilt.
Harry is still able to get a little help from his last partner, Lucy Soto, because Bosch always treated her fairly; as a female detective Lucy experienced a lot of harassment and discrimination in the job. Unfortunately, the clues Harry starts turning up suggest that it is dirty cops that have staged not only the murder for which Mickey's client has been jailed, but other deaths as well. When Bosch gets too close, the corrupt detectives make arrangements to have Haller arrested on a trumped-up charge, and they start stalking Bosch, even threatening his daughter Maddie.
As usual, things are not easy with Maddie as she is getting ready to go off to college, where she will be roommates with Mickey's daughter, Hayley. Harry will never win "father of the year" award, but it is obvious he is trying his best and just hanging in there.
Harry comes through in the end, but not without first making some high-stakes plays to lure in the killers. As always, an engrossing read with fully developed characters and credible dialog. If you are a fan of detective novels, don't miss this series.