The Wrong Side of Goodbye, A Harry Bosch Novel by Michael Connelly

 

The Book

A retired Bosch who has picked up a gig working for the small PD in the San Fernando Valley. Though his work there is on a strictly volunteer basis, he finds it fulfilling and he is happy to help the financially strapped PD have more detectives on the beat. He's pursuing a serial rapist, whom one of his profiler contacts believes is going to escalate to serial murder. The nickname of the unsub in the PD is the Screen Cutter, for his usual mode of entry into a victim's house. The cases had not been linked together due to budget cuts, something the captain of the detective squad resents. 

But free doesn't pay the bills, so when one of the former pencil pushers from the LAPD offers him a case from a billionaire, Bosch meets the secretive and reclusive man. Tasked with secretly tracking down an heir that might never have existed, Bosch tackles the job with his usual lone wolf, rule breaking ways. With billions at stake, Bosch doesn't trust anyone, until he has no choice. Good thing he has a half-brother worth trusting, especially when said half-brother, is Mickey Haller. 

    With both cases churning into high gear, conflicts are going to arise. Bosch keeps fighting with his new co-workers over their handling of the case, and they keep thinking he's over-the-hill. Both of them get the lesson they so richly deserve when the bad guy exploits it. The question remains, can they put their differences aside before it's too late? 

My Thoughts

    I'm not certain what box Michael Connelly was trying to check with this book. More than any of these other books, though well written, and a compelling story, this books seems more formulaic than most. There are two mysteries in this book instead of one. I noted that change back in 9 Dragons, the first time Connelly in this series tried it out. It seemed to me he was tired of writing the normal subplot and advanced to an A-B plot structure, where having both cases culminate at the same time raises the tension.  

Bosch, as a character didn't grow, and he didn't face any kind of internal conflict. Characters seems randomly stuffed in, especially as the cases come to a conclusion. While I deeply respect Connelly's work, this is not one of his best books. If you're a fan, this is worth a read. If you are more like me, and just barely tolerate Bosch, there's not enough Mikey Haller, or any other of Connelly's characters to make it worth your time. 

How Much My Library Card Saved Me

    This is a first edition hard cover book of 392 pages. It entered my local library on Oct 25, 2016. It has been well read, the pages are easy to hold the spine is not too stiff. Although it is marked as having stains, I don't remember seeing ay. The book cost $29.00. 

This Book                           $29.00

This Summer                    $465.87