Difficult to put down, 18. Januar 2008

I picked up The Overlook by Michael Connelly, I had not expected it to be much more than a semi-interesting read. However, with every page turn, I became more and more attached, and actually found it very difficult to put the book down. Since reading this book, I have highly recommended it to all my friends. It's a gripping tale about revenge, love and friendship filled with excitement, murd3r and struggles. I'd also recommend reading Tino Georgiou's bestselling novel--The Fates--if you haven't yet!!

      An Expanded Serial That Clearly Telegraphs Its End, 16. Januar 2008

Unless you are devoted to reading every word that Michael Connelly ever wrote, you can skip this book.

The story that The Overlook is based on was serialized in the New York Times. If you have read that serialization, I doubt if you will feel rewarded by reading this padded out version.

Harry Bosch is in a new unit and has a new partner. But catching a murder in a rich neighborhood in the middle of the night soon attracts the attention of the FBI and more alphabet agencies than you know the names of. Why are they interested? It seems like some terrorists could be about to make a nuclear bomb. Harry soon is spending more time fighting off the Feds than he is on investigating. As a result, he's soon missing obvious clues by not having checked out what's going on thoroughly enough.

The whole set-up is dropped on you in the first few pages as a serial will do to get you hooked into wanting to continue. Missing radioactive materials will grip anyone in New York. You may not find the threat to be so chilling if you live outside the Big Apple and the paranoia that grips the government in Washington.

The plot seems to develop much too fast throughout. I like authors to tease me along until much later in the book than The Outlook does.

I was also disappointed that the plot clearly points to what the ultimate conclusion is. Those clues when buried in a serial don't stick out so much because you forget them by the next day. Sit down and read them at one time (as I did on a plane flight), and they point irresistibly away from what the main investigation is presuming. As a result, the book's ending was totally predictable.

I found another problem with the book. The guilty parties make a ridiculously stupid mistake in how they handle the radioactive material. These aren't hop heads. Without that mistake, the mystery wouldn't have been resolved in the way it was. It looks like Michael Connelly took an illegal short-cut here that damaged his story. Too bad. Without that short-cut and the too-obvious clues, this plot had potential.

Speed kills (even for writers).

      An Expanded Serial That Clearly Telegraphs Its End, 16. Januar 2008

Unless you are devoted to reading every word that Michael Connelly ever wrote, you can skip this book.

The story that The Overlook is based on was serialized in the New York Times. If you have read that serialization, I doubt if you will feel rewarded by reading this padded out version.

Harry Bosch is in a new unit and has a new partner. But catching a murder in a rich neighborhood in the middle of the night soon attracts the attention of the FBI and more alphabet agencies than you know the names of. Why are they interested? It seems like some terrorists could be about to make a nuclear bomb. Harry soon is spending more time fighting off the Feds than he is on investigating. As a result, he's soon missing obvious clues by not having checked out what's going on thoroughly enough.

The whole set-up is dropped on you in the first few pages as a serial will do to get you hooked into wanting to continue. Missing radioactive materials will grip anyone in New York. You may not find the threat to be so chilling if you live outside the Big Apple and the paranoia that grips the government in Washington.

The plot seems to develop much too fast throughout. I like authors to tease me along until much later in the book than The Outlook does.

I was also disappointed that the plot clearly points to what the ultimate conclusion is. Those clues when buried in a serial don't stick out so much because you forget them by the next day. Sit down and read them at one time (as I did on a plane flight), and they point irresistibly away from what the main investigation is presuming. As a result, the book's ending was totally predictable.

I found another problem with the book. The guilty parties make a ridiculously stupid mistake in how they handle the radioactive material. These aren't hop heads. Without that mistake, the mystery wouldn't have been resolved in the way it was. It looks like Michael Connelly took an illegal short-cut here that damaged his story. Too bad. Without that short-cut and the too-obvious clues, this plot had potential.

Speed kills (even for writers).

      Harry Bosch ist wieder da!, 12. Januar 2008

Ein Mann wird erschossen, radioaktives Cäsium wird gestohlen. Das FBI und eine Heimatschutztruppe aus Los Angeles reissen den Fall an sich.
Ja, Harry Bosch ist wieder da. Zurück aus der Frühpensionierung, hartnäckig, unbequem und ohne Scheu, sich mit dem FBI anzulegen. Gegen alle Widerstände gräbt er so lange nach der Wahrheit, bis er sie gefunden hat. Und diese Wahrheit paßt nicht in die Wunschvorstellungen des FBI.
Das Buch ist spannend, keine Frage. Die Terrorismus-Paranoia ist ein neuer Aspekt. Allerdings fällt es mir schwer, hier mehr als 3 Sterne zu vergeben. Zu vorhersehbar ist die Story, zu bekannt sind mittlerweile die Versatzstücke: mysteriöser Mord, FBI mischt sich ein, Harry gerät mit einem FBI-Agenten aneinander, die alte Geschichte mit Rachel Walling wird wieder aufgekocht, ein schwieriger Partner, skeptische Vorgesetzte...hey, Michael Connelly, es wird Zeit, sich was Neues einfallen zu lassen. Mein Gefühl ist, dass es sich bei diesem Buch um eine Verlegenheitslösung handelt, zu der der Autor vertraglich verpflichtet war - das würde auch die Kürze erklären.
Wer Michael Connelly und Harry Bosch schätzt, kann sich auch diesen Band zulegen. Für eine erste Bekanntschaft mit dieser Figur gibt es bessere Titel.

       Harry Bosch wie wir ihn kennen und lieben!, 12. Januar 2008

Der Arzt, Stanley Kent wird an einem Aussichtspunkt am Mulholland Drive erschossen aufgefunden. Schnell wird klar, dass er eine Menge Caesium bei sich hatte, das gestohlen wurde. Während Harry Bosch, inzwischen beim "Homicide Special Squad" mit neuem, jungen Partner den Mord aufklären will, ist das FBI primär auf der Jagd nach den Terroristen, die das Caesium haben. Das resultiert in Konflikten, da Bosch den Fall nicht abgeben will - komliziert durch die Zusammenarbeit mit Rachel Walling, seiner ehemaligen Geliebten.

Spannende Story mit überraschenden Wendungen - erstmalig mit neuem, letzten Kapitel. Wie gewohnt, können wir uns auf Harrys Instinkte verlassen. Ein sehr gutes Buch in bekannter Connelly-Manier.