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After three years as a crfime beat writer at the Los Angeles Times, Connelly wrote his first published novel, The Black Echo (1992), after previously writing two unfinished novels that he did not attempt to get published. The book is partly based on a true crime and is the first one featuring Connelly's primary recurring character, Los Angeles Police Department Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch, a man who, according to Connelly, shares few similarities with the author himself. Connelly named Bosch after the Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch, known for his paintings full of sin and redemption, such as the painting Hell, a copy of which hangs on the office wall behind Connelly's computer. Connelly describes his own work as a big canvas with all the characters of his books floating across it as currents on a painting. Sometimes they are bound to collide, creating cross currents. This is something that Connelly creates by bringing back characters from previous books and letting them play a part in books written five or six years after first being introduced.
Connelly went on to write three more novels about Detective Bosch — The Black Ice (1993), The Concrete Blonde (1994), and The Last Coyote (1995) — before quitting his job as a reporter to write full-time.Michael Connelly received a good deal of publicity in 1994, when President Bill Clinton came out of a bookstore carrying a copy of The Concrete Blonde in front of the waiting cameras. A meeting was set up between the two at Los Angeles International Airport.
In 1996, Connelly wrote The Poet, his first book not to feature Bosch, instead the protagonist was reporter Jack McEvoy. The book was a success. In 1997, Connelly returned to Bosch in Trunk Music before writing another book, Blood Work (1997), about a different character, FBI agent Terry McCaleb. Blood Work was made into a film in 2002, directed by Clint Eastwood, who also played McCaleb, an agent with a transplanted heart, in pursuit of his donor's murderer. The book came together after one of Connelly's friends had a heart transplant and he saw what his friend was going through with survivor's guilt after the surgery. When asked if he had anything against the changes made to fit the big screen, Connelly simply replied: "If you take their money, it's their turn to tell the story".
Connelly wrote another book featuring Bosch, Angels Flight (1999), before writing Void Moon (2000), a free-standing book about Las Vegas thief Cassie Black. In 2001, A Darkness More Than Night was published, in which Connelly united Bosch and McCaleb to solve a crime together, before releasing two books in 2002. The first, City of Bones, was the eighth Bosch novel, and the other, Chasing the Dime, was a non-series novel. In 2001, Connelly left California for Tampa Bay, Florida, together with his wife and daughter, so that both he and his wife could be closer to their families. His novels still took place in Los Angeles.
In 2003, another Bosch novel, Lost Light, was published. With this book, a CD was released, Dark Sacred Night, the Music of Harry Bosch, featuring some of the jazz music that both Connelly and the fictional character Bosch listen to. While writing Connelly listens exclusively to instrumental jazz, though, because it does not have intrusive vocals, and because the improvisational playing inspires his writing. The Narrows, published in 2004, was a sequel to The Poet but featured Bosch instead of McEvoy. Together with this book, a DVD was released called Blue Neon Night: Michael Connelly's Los Angeles, in which film Connelly presents some of the places in Los Angeles that are frequently featured in his books.
The Closers, published in May 2005, was the 11th Bosch novel. It was followed by The Lincoln Lawyer
in October, Connelly's first legal novel; it features defense attorney
Mickey Haller, Bosch's half-brother. The book was made into a film in
2011, starring Matthew McConaughey as Haller.
After releasing Crime Beat (2004), a non-fiction book about Connelly's experiences as a crime reporter, Connelly went back to Bosch with Echo Park
(2006). This book sets its opening scene in the High Tower Apartment
that Connelly rented and wrote from. His next Bosch story, The Overlook, was originally published as a multi-part series in the New York Times Magazine. After some editing, it was published as a novel in 2007. In October 2008, Connelly wrote The Brass Verdict, which brought together Bosch and Haller for the first time.
He followed that with The Scarecrow (May 2009), which brought back McEvoy as the lead character. 9 Dragons, a novel taking Bosch to Hong Kong, was published in October 2009. The Reversal
(October 2010), reunites Bosch & Haller as they work together under
the banner of the state on the retrial of a child murderer. The Haller
novel The Fifth Witness was published in 2011.
The Drop, which refers in part to the "Deferred Retirement Option Plan" that was described in the novel The Brass Verdict (2008), was published in November 2011. The next Bosch novel was The Black Box (2012). Connelly's subsequent novel, a legal thriller, was a return to Haller: The Gods of Guilt (2013). His next book returned to Bosch in The Burning Room (2014), and then Connelly used Haller as a main supporting character in the Bosch novels The Crossing (2015) and The Wrong Side of Goodbye (2016).
In 2022, Netflix adapted Connelly's second novel in The Lincoln Lawyer series, The Brass Verdict, into a 10-episode series simply titled The Lincoln Lawyer (TV series) (with certain plot points changed to update the story as the original novel was written in 2008). Due to the series reaching #2 on the most viewed series on Netflix in its first three days as well as incredibly favorable audience reviews and a strong critical response, a second season was ordered in 2022 which will reportedly be based upon Connelly's fourth novel in The Lincoln Lawyer series, The Fifth Witness. The second season is expected to be available to stream on Netflix sometime in 2023.The Dollmaker was the name of the serial killer who had stalked Los Angeles ruthlessly, leaving grisly calling cards on the faces of his female victims. Now with a single faultless shot, Detective Harry Bosch thinks he has ended the city's nightmare.
But the dead man's widow is suing Harry and the LAPD for killing the wrong man - an accusation that rings terrifyingly true when a new victim is discovered with the Dollmaker's macabre signature.
So for the second time, Harry must hunt down a death-dealer who is very much alive, before he strikes again.
It's
a blood-tracked quest that will take Harry from the hard edges of the
L.A. night to the last place he ever wanted to go - the darkness of his
own heart.
With The Concrete Blonde, Edgar Award-winning author Michael Connelly has hit a whole new level in his career, creating a breathtaking thriller that thrusts you into a blistering courtroom battle - and a desperate search for a sadistic killer.
"The
Concrete Blonde is my current favorite Bosch book, topping my previous
favorite: Echo Park. It's an outstanding mix of courtroom thriller and
serial killer hunt/police procedural. It moves along quickly, even the
courtroom scenes are fast paced. Characters are very well developed, not
just Bosch, but all the supporting characters, and I like the plot:
Bosch is sued for unlawful killing of a serial killer suspect, while at
the same time a copycat killer is out there and more bodies begin to
show up. Just when you think you have it all figured out, there will be a
couple twists at the end to keep you guessing. An excellent whodunnit. I
highly recommend this book, even if it is your first Harry Bosch
mystery." - Amazon.com review
"I don't know how I missed
this book until now. I like the Harry Bosch series and this certainly
did not dissapoint me. I loved it. Dick Hill's narration was terrific.
This has everything one could want in a murder mystery. " - Amazon.com.au review
"I've
started reading the Bosch series in chronological order and was much
happier with this offering than I was with The Black Ice. Both the
courtroom scenes (don't know why a previous reviewer was tortured by
them) and the "whodonit" trail made it difficult to shut off my iPod.
Bosch even starts to get likable in this book. Dick Hill's narration was
excellent and I had to chuckle at the hint of Jack Nicholson that
worked its way into his portrayal of the reporter, Bremer. The book had
lots of twists, turns and misdirection. An enjoyable listen." - Kirkus reviews
"This
is one of the first Bosch novels and one I'd read many years ago. It's a
great one. If this was a new release I'd give the review more time. One
key aspect is the excellent performance of Dick Hill. More than one of
the narrators of this series read like its a documentary. Hill brings
the best out in Bosch! " - Audible review
"One of Connelly's Best Harry Bosch novels. And that is saying something!" - Audible review
Audiobook on mp3 CD-ROM, complete with art on CD. Supplied in windowed CD sleeve, no case provided.
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