born in 1956 and educated at the University of Florida,
Michael Connelly is a true rare bird: a best selling author
who can actually write, his latter skillset honed as a crime
journalist during the cocaine wars in South Florida, where he
along with 2 other reporters were nominated for a Pulitzer
for a piece they did on the survivors of a major plane crash.
moving to the crime desk at the Los Angeles Times, Connelly
always knew he wanted to be a mystery novelist
making good use of his descriptive yet unadorned prose style,
he published his first novel in 1992. THE BLACK ECHO,
featuring L.A.P.D. homicide detective Hieronymus Bosch won
the Edgar for best first novel. the next three, THE BLACK
ICE, THE CONCRETE BLONDE and THE LAST COYOTE firmly
established the author as a master of plotting and subtle
characterization, and almost feel like one long story with
the evolving arcs of its recurring characters. The Last
Coyote culminates with Bosch solving the murder of his own
mother, a prostitute who had left him to grow up in foster
homes. Bosch's love for this woman, a social outcast, and his
premature loss of her informs his character: his sense that
"everyone counts, or no one counts", as well as his solitary
and melancholy nature. the reader can also easily draw a line
from Bosch's coming of age in the cold beauracracy of the
foster care system to the authority issues he experiences in
his adult career with the L.A.P.D.
perhaps feeling he had explored his creation to a logical end
point, Connelly took a break from the character and published
the first of his stand alone thrillers in 1996. THE POET was
a huge commercial breakthrough for the author, with good
reason. ambitious and epic, it is an absolute masterwork of
suspense and plotting. the success of this book made Michael
Connelly a household name. fans of The Poet, eager for more
of the exciting voice that created it discovered the earlier
Bosch novels. Connelly's investment in crime journalism, and
in crime fiction had paid off bigtime
Harry Bosch on the subject of love: "You can fall in love and
make love many times but there is only one bullet with your
name etched on the side. And if you are lucky enough to be
shot with that bullet then the wound never heals."
reinvigorated, Connelly brought Bosch back in 1997's TRUNK
MUSIC, a solid outing involving the murder of a Las Vegas
organized crime figure. but what's notable about this book is
the re-introduction of ...
--SPOILER ALERT--
-- Eleanor Wish, the FBI agent who Bosch fell in love with
but sent to prison at the end of THE BLACK ECHO. Wish is
Bosch's bullet, and his wound is still bleeding. now out of
prison but unable to get a job, Wish is eking out a living on
Las Vegas' high roller poker tables. mindful that in order
for his series to stay fresh, his character would have to
grow, Connelly rewards Bosch in the book's coda with a level
of hope uncommon in a series so deeply rooted in the
bleakness of noir
--END SPOILER--
to be continued tomorrow...
John Lau
************** Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on
AOL Living.
(
http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-duffy/2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598)
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