Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Desert Star by Michael Connelly

 
First Line: Bosch had the pills lined up on the table ready to go.
 
When the chief of police tells Renée Ballard that she can write her own ticket if she comes back to the Los Angeles Police Department, she agrees. Now the head of the new Open-Unsolved Unit, she wants Harry Bosch on her hand-picked team.
 
Bosch agrees once Ballard tells him that he will be able to work the Gallagher Family cold case with the power of the LAPD behind him. The murder of an entire family and his inability to find their killer has haunted Bosch for years, but he finds himself unable to devote his time to a solution because the politician responsible for the formation of this new cold case unit is insisting that the team's focus be on finding the killer of his sister. 
 
When Ballard gets a DNA match between the politician's sister's case and another unsolved crime, the team is now working to find a serial killer who's operated undetected for decades. Although Bosch resents not being able to work his case, he knows he's going to have to help Ballard with the other case, the case where the political pressure is increasing by the day.
 
~
 
In Michael Connelly's latest Ballard & Bosch mystery, the new Open-Unsolved Unit is housed in the same building as the records of over 6,000 cold cases-- an area Bosch calls "the Library of Lost Souls", a poetic and sobering name. Desert Star shows us just what type of work it takes from each member of the team to work a cold case in order to bring closure to grieving families.
 
Naturally, the powers-that-be go back on their promises and insist on adding people to her team that Ballard doesn't want as well as deciding what her caseload focus should be. This adds tension to an already fraught situation since Ballard's right-hand man (Bosch) keeps going rogue and doing his own thing. 
 
As always, Connelly provides masterful twists and turns. When all evidence seemed to be pointing squarely at one character early on, I thought to myself, "It can't be that easy!"-- and it wasn't. I knew I could count on Connelly. 

By the end of Desert Star, I was left with one disturbing question: What does the future hold in store for Harry? He is one character whom I want to be immortal... even though I know that he can't be.

Desert Star by Michael Connelly
Narrated by Titus Welliver, Christine Lakin, and Peter Giles 
ASIN: B09X295Y68
Little, Brown & Company © 2022
Audiobook. 9 hours, 37 minutes.
 
Police Procedural, #5 Ballard & Bosch mystery
Rating: A-
Source: Purchased from Audible.
 
 
Desert Star wildflowers mentioned by Michael Connelly

 

12 comments:

  1. Googlled out here. This book sounds good to me. It's on library hold. Bosch is doing his own thing. Whatever that is, it will get results. But on his future, Michael Connelly said at PP that he will keep writing his story until he stops writing. That Bosch will be the center of his last book.

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    1. I know, but that doesn't enlighten us about what actually happens to him.

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    2. No. It doesn't and I remember that Bosch had an illness which was diagnosed in one of the books. I just hope he hangs on for more books.

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  2. That's the thing, isn't it, Cathy - you can always count on Connelly. He simply doesn't disappoint. For a man who's been as prolific as he has, that's really saying something, in my opinion.

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  3. I still have all of Connelly's Renee Ballard mysteries to read; I love that Harry is on them, too. He is such a great character. :D

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    1. He's one of the best characters ever, in my humble opinion.

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  4. Connelly's books are always on my radar well in advance of their actual release, and I'm looking forward to my turn for this one coming up at the library soon. I'm delighted that he found the character of Renee Ballard to enrich his version of Los Angeles police work.

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    1. I like the fact that she's based on a real woman-- and that she's really a younger version of Bosch. The torch is being passed.

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  5. And Connelly consults her constantly, which means accuracy.

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