Wednesday, May 03, 2023

Two Kinds of Truth by Michael Connelly

 
First Line: Bosch was in cell 3 of the old San Fernando jail, looking through files from one of the Esme Tavares boxes, when a heads-up text came in from Bella Lourdes over in the detective bureau.
 
Harry Bosch works the cold case files at the San Fernando Police Department. The entire department is called out to investigate the shooting deaths of two pharmacists. It's a case that will take Bosch undercover and deep into the billion-dollar world of prescription drug abuse. But this isn't the only case that needs his attention.
 
A serial killer that Bosch put behind bars years ago while he was in the LAPD is telling everyone that Bosch framed him, and he seems to have the evidence to prove it. Bosch didn't leave the LAPD on good terms, so his former colleagues seem more intent on proving the serial killer is right. But if this one case is overturned, every case that Bosch has ever solved will be put under the microscope. It's up to Bosch to clear his name as these two cases wind around each other like barbed wire.

~

Of all the mysteries I've read in my lifetime, I have to say that Harry Bosch is my favorite detective. His intelligence, his persistence, and his humanity have made him an icon, and his "Everybody counts or nobody counts" is a mantra I use when I find myself eyeing the fast lane on the judgmental vigilante road.

Two Kinds of Truth highlights Bosch's humanity in the way he reacts when he learns that his assumption is wrong in the pharmacy murders and how he reaches out to one of the addicts he meets while undercover. When his daughter learns about the allegations made by the serial killer on Death Row and she actually thinks Harry might have planted evidence, the blow is visceral-- not just for Harry but for the reader as well. Connelly is a master at drawing his readers into the warp and weft of his stories. 

Connelly balances his two cases with the staggering scope of prescription drug abuse on one hand while dazzling readers with Mickey Haller's legal sleight of hand in proving his half-brother did not plant evidence to put a serial killer behind bars. This is another compelling addition to this long-running series, and-- the older Bosch gets-- the more I hope he will prove to be immortal.

[Note: As much as I love reading the books, I have to admit that I now prefer listening to the audiobooks narrated by Titus Welliver. I am a fan of the Bosch TV series, and Welliver has become Bosch in my mind.]

Two Kinds of Truth by Michael Connelly
Narrated by Titus Welliver
ASIN: B071FJF4S4
Hachette Audio © 2017
Audiobook. 9 hours, 55 minutes.
 
Police Procedural, #20 Harry Bosch
Rating: A
Source: Purchased from Chirp Audiobooks. 

8 comments:

  1. I would find it hard to believe that any Harry Bosch book was a disappointment, Cathy. It's one of the few series I've encountered that is consistently excellent. All the time. And it sounds as though this one keeps up that tradition.

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  2. I read this one a few years ago. Here's a link to my review: https://www.thenatureofthings.blog/2018/08/two-kinds-of-truth-by-michael-connelly.html

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    1. Thanks for the link to your review, Dorothy.

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  3. Another Connelly fan here (not surprising, I know), so I stay current with his books and read this one when it came out. Thanks for the reminder of how good it was.

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  4. This was a good one, I like Titus Welliver so much in the streamed seriesm I can imagine he would read the book so well that a listener would think of him as Bosch as I do when I watch him portray him.

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