RARA-AVIS: deconstructing Hieronymus part 5

From: BaxDeal@aol.com
Date: 17 Mar 2008


Connelly has written 3 more Harry Bosch novels since restoring the character to the LAPD. now a member of the elite Open/Unsolved Unit, the detective pursues his mission of speaking for the dead, for making "everyone count, or no one counts" with the renewed zeal of the rested

if Bosch's philosophy of love "you only get one bullet" is true of authors, Harry Bosch is most certainly Michael Connelly's bullet. THE CLOSERS and ECHO PARK are representative of the Bosch tradition, as good as any written in the author's early period. notable for the fact that while thematically similar to the series as a whole, each turn never feels as if Connelly is simply retracing his steps

the most recent work, THE OVERLOOK is different in that it seems to unfold in real time. the urgent story involving terrorism and Homeland Security continues Connelly's practice of utilizing characters introduced in other works, reuniting Bosch with FBI agent Rachel Walling from The Poet, who he became involved with in The Narrows. The Overlook also differs from the earlier Bosch novels in that it was created as a serial for The New York Times Sunday Magazine. the author then added new material to the story in expanding it to novel form

even though reading The Overlook is akin to watching an episode of "24", it is still at its essence, a Harry Bosch mystery. two books earlier however, between publication of The Closers and Echo Park, Connelly broke new ground, stepping into the realm of the legal thriller with THE LINCOLN LAWYER

written in the first person from the point of view of mercenary defense attorney Mickey Haller, the title refers to the character's use of his rotating fleet of vehicles as his mobile office as he motors to the various courthouses scattered across Los Angeles county. Haller's motto: "don't do the crime if you can't pay for my time"

the story is populated with characters with colorful nicknames, as is the author's propensity. a biker client named Casey is known in his greasy circle as Hard Case. Haller's first ex-wife Maggie McPherson, a prosecuting attorney, is called Maggie McFierce over on Haller's side of the bench, and guilts him into spending more time with their 5 year old daughter. Haller also employs his second ex-wife Lorna Taylor as his case manager, has a former client chauffering him around to work off his legal bills and lives life at a mobile, plugged-in, 21st century pace

Connelly brings his well-honed plotting skills and emotional depth along for the ride, and writes about the subtle gamesman and powerplays of the criminal defense system with the veracity of an actual practitioner. in the morally compromised Mickey Haller, he has created a character every bit as vivid and compelling as the haunted Harry Bosch

after 13 installments spaced across 16 years. neither Bosch nor Connelly have demonstrated any signs of slowing down. the character however, ages in real time. and in The Black Ice, Harry Bosch's year of birth is pegged as 1950, making Harry Bosch either 57 or 58 years old today, so mission or no, time is running out on the character. in an interview back in 1999, the author expressed the hope that he had another half dozen Bosch novels in him. in the Georgie Lewis interview in 2002, he expressed a similar sentiment

that was five books ago. could the end possibly be in sight? six years younger than Harry Bosch, Michael Connelly exhibits no signs of slowing down

his next book, THE BRASS VERDICT, due in October, teams Harry Bosch with Mickey Haller. in addition to the case, the two men have something in common

Mickey's mother was the second wife of the late celebrity attorney, J. Michael Haller

in his second novel, The Black Ice, Connelly revealed that Bosch's prostitute mother Marjorie Lowe was J. Michael's client and lover

John Lau

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