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Echo Park | 
 enlarge | Author: Michael Connelly
Publisher: Orion
Category: Book
List Price: £6.99
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Rating:  39 reviews
Sales Rank: 9992
Media: Paperback
Edition: New edition
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.4 x 1.3
ISBN: 0752877348
EAN: 9780752877341
ASIN: 0752877348
Publication Date: September 5, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 34 more reviews...
 Right up there with the best Bosch stories October 20, 2008
one-eyed Jack (England)
6 out of 9 found this review helpful
LAPD Detective Harry Bosch has been 'back with a badge' and working alongside partner Kiz Rider for a year or two, but not in the elite Robbery Homicide team where he used to be before he retired. Now he's working in the Open-Unsolved unit, in other words the cold cases, and this story begins thirteen years earlier in 1993 with Bosch's original involvement as a Hollywood Homicide detective in the case of a young woman named Marie Gesto who had gone missing and was presumed dead. At the time, Bosch had a strong feeling for the probable killer but he couldn't nail it on him as there was no hard evidence.
Jump forward thirteen years to 2006 and the case of Marie Gesto is blown wide open - but not in the way Bosch expected. A man is in custody, arrested for being found with the dismembered body parts of two women in his van, and soon he confesses not only to these murders and a string of others, but also to the murder of Marie Gesto all those years ago. Not for the first time, Bosch gets this feeling that something isn't right, despite the confession and the fact that the culprit knows where Gesto's body is buried. Bosch can't really argue with the bald facts but still he feels uncomfortable with what's going on, and as has often happened before, he sets out on a one-man mission for justice while he is supposed to be on home leave. Soon, as a result of meticulous detective work, he finds himself getting closer to the truth and the signs of some serious corruption within the LAPD. He is aided by lover and FBI Agent Rachel Waller who we first came across in a non-Bosch novel THE POET and again in its sequel THE NARROWS, when Bosch was working independently as a private investigator. There are numerous other familiar characters in Echo Park from novels past, including Jerry Edgar, Keisha Russell and Irvine Irving but Bosch's ex-wife Eleanor Wish and their daughter Madeleine, while briefly mentioned, don't actually feature in person.
While some have commented on the absence of that 'dark side' to Bosch that made him so appealing in the earliest episodes, personally I felt it right and reasonable that, after voluntarily returning to the force in his mid-fifties, Bosch should be entitled to some sense of balance and fulfilment in his life. I mean, he's actually described as being happy! The simple fact is that he feels born to seek justice for those who have been wronged - usually murdered, actually - and he has also found some comfort in his personal life for once, in the attractive shape of 40-something Rachel Walling. It's probably a good idea to read at least THE NARROWS before this so as to understand why they share the bond that they do, otherwise anyone new to the Bosch tales might find that in this novel the rapid progress of their relationship seems somewhat unlikely. But these two have an important history which isn't explained in these pages. In my case, I bought Echo Park as a hardback when it was first published two years ago, and I've only now gotten round to reading it because I decided to invest in the entire Connelly portfolio and read it in the right order. It's been a fantastic experience working my way through all these (mostly) brilliant stories but a frustrating one too because I knew all along that Echo Park was one of Connelly's best. Now that I have closed the final page, I can confirm that it is indeed one of the best - and it has some tough competition!
It's great because it demonstrates how Bosch has evolved into the man he is today, he still has those unique investigative instincts and he's still hardened by his experiences as a tunnel rat in Vietnam more then thirty years earlier, but there's just a hint of mellowness to him now that is a probable outcome of his retirement and return, and of his recently discovered fatherhood. We all change and mature throughout our lives and Harry Bosch is no different. But he still has that edge, that special something that is such a magnetic draw and continues to keep him right at the very top of crime fiction heroes. I am sure I'm not the only one to feel, at least when I'm buried deep in his latest novel, that he really does exist, that he's out there somewhere, and that I don't want any harm to come to him. That's what makes the difference; when you really care about the central character, then three-quarters of the job has been done. All it then needs is an exciting and well-written story wrapped around him and you end up with an engrossing and thoroughly satisfying read. And that's exactly what this is, even if, at the conclusion, Harry Bosch doesn't exactly end up smelling of roses and he finds that he's still learning some hard lessons from life on the beat as a sometimes maverick L.A. cop.
Listen to Len Cariou's Great Reading to Enjoy Echo Park at Its Best September 8, 2008
Donald Mitchell (Boston)
Harry Bosch never worked on solving a crime that he didn't want to successfully close. In Echo Park, Michael Connelly takes us into Harry's past to explore the disappearance of Marie Gesto who was on her way to work at a stable in exchange for rides. Thirteen years have passed. Harry has a suspect, but there's nothing to pin him down. In fact, Harry has been subject to a restraining order keeping him away from the suspect when the suspect's lawyer isn't present.
Suddenly, Harry gets a call that a serial killer has offered to lead the police to Gesto's body in exchange for a life sentence. In exchange for getting access to the file, Harry is invited into the interview and eventually into the body search. To help him figure out how to assess this proffer, Harry asks Rachel Walling to secretly help him. Their personal relationship resumes as well.
It's a sick-at-heart Harry, though, because the murder book on Gesto shows that Harry's former partner had missed an opportunity to get the serial killer 13 years earlier. Can he live with this guilt? How could he have missed this lead?
The story goes on from there to unveil a murder mystery of tantalizing difficulty. The red herrings are outstanding, and you'll have a hard time unraveling this one. The story is also filled with lots of action which makes the book more appealing than the typical police procedural. The story also delves deeply into Bosch's past to reveal important aspects of his character in clearer ways than in past stories.
I was captivated by Len Cariou's reading of the book. He made the emotions of the characters seem very real. I was deeply engaged in this book as I listened and couldn't wait to get to the end.
Great serial character August 28, 2008
Red (Liverpool)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I've read all of the Harry Bosch series with moderate to ecstatic enjoyment, so I figured I should check out the beginning of the series and read them through. The books all revolve around Detective Bosch on the Homicide Squad of the Hollywood division, having apparently been demoted from the elite LAPD Robbery Homicide division for his questionable action in a high-profile serial killer case a year previously. (The events of that "Dollmaker" case are detailed in the book The Concrete Blonde, and be warned that key information about that case is revealed in this book.) This backstory establishes Bosch as a highly capable high profile detective who's somewhat of a loose cannon and marked man for LAPD Internal Affairs.
Once it's clear that there's been a murder, Bosch latches onto the case like a pit bull, pushing it through the procedural red tape.
Connelly spent many years covering local crime for the LA Times, and as in the other books of his I've read, has a good eye and ear for bringing all the little bits and pieces of procedure to life. The investigations always seem to point at a series of obvious suspects, but as any good thriller writer will tell you, it isn't always the butler that done it!! Bosch always seems to find himself tangled up with the FBI agents tasked with the investigation into his investigations ! Meanwhile, Internal Affairs has targeted him big time, and he spends a lot of energy evading their slimy grasp. There's a good deal of internal police politics at work, and Connelly does a nice job of bringing the depressing realities of this into the story.
Somewhat less convincing is the character of Bosch himself. He's the ultimate embodiment of the maverick, anti-establishment, "lone wolf"cop, always rubbing superiors the wrong way for no good reason, and generally being obnoxious and provocative in a way that only gets him in hotter water. For someone as self-avowedly committed to justice as he is, you'd think he would be a little smarter about when to mouth off, since the trouble he gets himself into only diverts him from pursuing justice. And of course, he drinks a bunch, smokes a bunch, listens to jazz, and doesn't have a lot of luck with women. Conspiracy-thrillerish by the end. Readers of serial books, Lee Child`s, `Jack Reacher` books are always excellent, as are the `Rebus` books by Ian Rankin, much more violent are the `Soft Target` thrillers by Conrad Jones, but the common threads are the common characters that make us go back for more of the same. Bosch is addictive reading and this is an excellent novel.
It also doesn't help that Connelly gives away what should be a shocking twist toward the end by providing a very obvious clue halfway through the book. These flaws, combined with the coincidence the story is built on and the cliché nature of Bosch, result in a book that works in fits and starts, but isn't nearly as good as it could have been.
 Good outing for Bosch July 23, 2008
Clive
I quite enjoyed this outing for Bosch where he investigates a confession from a cold case that has played on his mind for years. The story really racheted up the thrills after Bosch takes the confessed murderer out on a field trip to locate the victims body. All hell breaks lose and the story becomes rivetting. The ending however seemed a little far fetched and it appears that Connelly really has it in for LAPD politics and corruption.
 An Average Entry in the Bosch Series May 7, 2008
A. Ross (Washington, DC)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
At this point I've probably read about 3/4 of the Harry Bosch books, albeit completely out of order. The series has always been somewhat borderline for me -- I really love the level of detail and authenticity Connelly brings from his years as a crime reporter for the LA Times. However, the storylines tend to be a little too over the top, and Harry Bosch has never been that interesting a protagonist to me. This twelfth entry in the series is a great example of these strengths and weaknesses.
At this point in his career, Bosch is working the Open/Unsolved Unit with his partner Kiz Ryder. One thing likes to do as part of his open-ended duties is revisit past failures, reviewing all the evidence, keeping tabs of key players, and looking for new leads (something he also did during his brief retirement). One of these cases is the 13-year-old disappearance and presumed murder of Marie Gesto (whose apartment is in the distinctive building seen in the Robert Altman film The Long Goodbye). The book rewinds in time so that we get to see Bosch and his then partner Jerry investigate her disappearance and get nowhere. Over the years, Bosch's infamous instinct has led him to suspect the son of a local oil tycoon as the killer. However, with no evidence, he has never come close to being able to make a case.
Returning to the present, a lucky traffic stop results in the capture of a serial killer who admits to killing a number of women, including Marie Gesto. The hitch is that he will only confirm this by revealing the locations of his victims' corpses if the city's prosecutor agrees to drop the death penalty. The prosecutor and an LAPD detective are soon in touch with Bosch, seeking his case notes and cooperation in trying to determine if the serial killer really knows where the bodies are. Thus Bosch gets entangled in this case, which has various political ramifications since the prosecutor is running for DA. The serial killer angle also causes Bosch to reconnect with his onetime flame, an FBI profiler who has appeared in previous books. References to previous cases and characters from the series also pop in and out, which may make readers new to Bosch feel somewhat adrift at times.
In any event, when the serial killer is introduced the book goes rather downhill for me. I'm not a fan of the serial killer subgenre, and watching Bosch and the killer play various head games with each other is boring -- we've seen/read it all before. It doesn't help that Connelly completely telegraphs a major incident in the book by suddenly shifting to an narrative mode in which every single step is detailed, tipping the reader off that Something Big Will Happen Any Minute. Fortunately, this is redeemed by the ensuing manhunt, which does a good job of showing how pursuing a paper trail can lead to a killer's lair. Unfortunately, Connelly then invokes the lame "we don't have time to call for backup" card, and allows Bosch to make a totally elementary (and implausible for him) mistake -- one most reader will spot coming.
As with most crime fiction, and the Bosch series in particular, the story is dominated by themes of moral corruption. At this point in the series, it's a well-trodden path, and it's somewhat tiresome to once again see all Bosch's instincts borne out, and arrive at the end to learn that those in high places are entirely disreputable. Once again, a decent ride-along with Bosch, but with enough flaws and thematic repetition to leave me feeling rather unenthusiastic about it.
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