Void Moon, Michael Connelly

The Book

Cassidy Black went to jail for the death of her lover and partner in crime Max. Now Cassidy is a free woman, well, sort of. She's out on parole and transfered from Vegas to LA. Her buddy, and ex con, gives her a job selling high end cars to newly rich movie producers. And Cassidy is good at her job and at keeping her nose clean. But then, her daughter's adoptive parents get a transfer to France, and Cassidy can't legally follow the girl she gave up in jail. 

She decides the straight and narrow isn't the life for her. She calls her buddy Leo, who helps her score a job robbing a high roller in one of the Vegas casinos. Not just any robbery, a robbery on the same floor, in the same casino, during the same time of day as the one that got Max killed. And to make matters worse, the only day she can do it, falls on a void moon. Leo firmly believes the job will go to shit if she does the job during a specific time. Cassidy doesn't pay him any attention. 

When she gets there, she manages to pull off the job. But it's way more money than she anticpating. And now, she and Leo and her child are being hunted by the same private detective who ruined Max's job. 

Jack Karch is the son of a magician. Vegas did his father wrong, so Jack joined the cops. But he didn't like it. He quit, got his P.I.'s license, and became security at a casino. The mobster, well, he doesn't mind them. He's called the Jack of Spades because he's the fixer who gets the job done. Jack has no compunction about the methods he will use to solve the case and take care of the problem. 

But when he kidnaps Cassidy's kid, only one can make it out alive. 

My Thoughts

Oh boy, I thought I hated Hieronymus Bosch. But wow, Jack Karch is a villain worth hating. Amoral, ruthless and violent. There was very little in Karch I found likeable. The book has a good twist ending, although a competent reader will see it coming. 

And I liked Cassidy, but here was a story where she couldn't come back. And the passages without her were harder for me to read. Less compelling. Written in 2000, this is Connelly's second stand alone book and ninth novel. 

I don't know what compelled him to write about Vegas, but he did. It's clear that he doesn't like Vegas as much as he loves LA. 

I think I'm down to just 5 more Connelly books. Don't quote me. But I am nearly caught up on his cannon. That makes one mystery novelist down. 

How Much My Library Card Saved Me

This book is from my library's collection. I think this is an ARC (Advance Reader Copy). It is definitely a first edition. The copyright date in 2000, but the book is dates 12.13.1999. Interesting. It predates the library going digital, and still has the library book card holder in the front. For a 25 year old book, the 391 pages are still in pretty good condition. According to the inside cover, this book originally costs $24.95. That's the number we are going with. 

This Book                                                     $24.95

Items Reviewed this Year                           $210.91

Still Here? 

 I am now a published author. You can pick up a *FREE COPY* of my novella The Big Intersection here.