The Overlook (Harry Bosch)

I'm amazed and puzzled by the number of critical and tepid reviews this latest Harry Bosch novel has received here. Perhaps it isn't as good as the previous books in the series, but since I didn't know we were expected to keep score, I enjoyed it when I read it as it was serialized in the New Yawk Time Magazine and again when it appeared as a novelette. I suspect that the nay-sayers were merely not in the proper mood, because none of their critiques are very cogent.

Certainly there are many faults and weaknesses that one could cite in Michael Connelly's writing. He is occasionally prone to lapse into purple prose - "A Darkness More Than Night"? [i]Woah! Duuude! You talkin' dark, huh?[/i] And the first sentence of this novel is the modern equivalent of "'Twas a dark and stormy night!"

Furthermore, that whole maniac-serial-killer-plot vogue really peaked in the '80s, when every movie and every paperback was about a serial killer - as well as Serial Killer toothpaste and Serial Killer breakfast cereal. (It was a killer cereal!) So much so, that it must've seemed to those living in the civilized nations that every city in the USA had at least ten head of serial killers running around loose wreaking mayhem on Americans, and they were glad to be living in the relative safety of Bosnia. By the time Michael Connelly began writing about his serial killers, the whole device had become shopworn and hackneyed.

Harry Bosch is, of course, Michael Connelly's most popular character, but in retrospect, the entire series is just [b]Michael Connelly writing the same novel over and over again![/b] They're all basically the same book because
1.) Harry Bosch has always just returned to duty after having been (wounded/suspended/prematurely retired/ held in abeyance while Michael Connelly's agents negotiated the movie rights).
2.) Before he can get rolling on the case, however, he is always confronted by his nemesis, (Captain/Deputy Chief/ former Chief) Irving Irving, who menaces Bosch with the threat, "You are going down this time, Detective! We are the Higher-Ups, and we, the evil Higher-Ups, are intent only on making things impossible for detectives!" The concept of the dastardly and meddlesome superiors in the chain of command - as well as the maverick cop - has likewise been done to death and became threadbare with the Dirty Harry movies.
3.) Unlike your grandmother, Bosch is still too stupid to use a simple search engine.
4.) In each novel, Bosch unexpectedly meets his old flame, beautiful (former/active) FBI agent (Eleanor Wish/Rachel Walling), and they promptly end up in (her/his) bed. Alas, the romance never works out, and by the end of the novel they once again go their separate ways, leaving Bosch, the loner, alone again, naturally. (Sigh!)
5.) Confounded in his efforts to apprehend the suspect, Bosch consults a psychic profiler, who - as with real-life profilers - spouts so much psycho-babble and dime-store analysis (that the female was stabbed 143 times with genital mutilation is cited as evidence of "hostility toward women" - diagnosis: it's because the killer couldn't get a date to the prom), but this episode seldom offers any service in finding the real killer.
6.) On page (323 to 405) of each novel, the case takes an unexpected (90'/180') turn when it is revealed that the (pervert/slime-ball) Bosch has been chasing is in fact NOT the killer. Instead, it's always an inside job, and the culprit turns out to be a character who has been appearing on the periphery of the story all along. It always turns out that the (reporter/wife/dirty cop/dirty FBI agent) done it!
7.) The threat from the sinister Higher-Ups is realized, and Bosch is taken off the case. Disobedient as always, Bosch puts his career in jeopardy and strikes out on his own, and in doing so gets even (Edgar's/Rider's) disapproval.
8.) In his perilous chase after the (reporter/wife/dirty cop/dirty FBI agent) murderer, Bosch must crawl through a tunnel or hole (something Freudian going on there) while the insider-villain is shooting at him, and this brings back traumatic memories of his similar experience while serving in Vietnam.
9.) Bosch wins the gun battle, but now there's one more unexpected twist to be revealed - another peripheral character, the (reporter/wife/dirty cop/dirty FBI agent) is in on it too, and Bosch has to take (him/her) down as well, although this is done without gunplay.
10.) All the Higher-Ups are ungrateful that Bosch has stopped the serial killer, and they yet wish to persecute him, but by some lucky detail, he is allowed to keep his job.

I suppose others could add to this list of similarities in all the novels, but follow that recipe, and you could write your own Harry Bosch thriller! It'd help, though, if you had the marvelous talent of Michael Connelly. None of the above should be taken as a dismissal or disparagement of these books, because not only have I read this novel/novella twice, I have reread every one of Michael Connelly's novels (the record being four times for "Angels Flight") - always at one sitting, not because the books are "impossible to put down," but why would anyone want to put one down? What writer offers more reading pleasure than Michael Connelly? Perhaps finer novels have been written, but there is no other writer who has shown such consistent merit. More than anyone else, he's the Great American Novelist.

Ignore the clichés and formula! Michael Connelly has a superb ear for dialogue - equal to that of Elmore Leonard. Whatever their creative plots, other writers (e.g., Patricia Cornwell) produce stilted dialogue that you could never imagine having been spoken. There are also clever turns such as in this novel where Harry Bosch says, "That's exactly what I wanted to hear." (The set-up having been placed two pages earlier.)

And in Harry Bosch, Michael Connelly has sculpted the perfect American hero - the one man who fights for everyman, who fights for the forgotten man. Need I tell you that the whodunit facet of these books is of no significance? What's important here is the existential dilemma - one man versus an unjust and uncaring universe. What paladin can rescue us from the evil and woe of our poor circumstances? It is certainly not our masters and chiefs who have for centuries kept the spoils for themselves and worsened our helpless situation, and nowhere is this more evident than in the epitome of the pits, Los Angeles - where millions of primates are confined to struggle in a battle royale. We're all looking for someone to set things right - this idealist who can get things done, no matter what his risk.

Americans (who get less vacation time than anyone) all hate their bosses. They hate the culture of conformity and hierarchy they have built but are powerless or too timid to rebel against. Therefore, they must resist vicariously through Harry Bosch, who can withstand the pressure and who has the courage to defy the bosses. He's a liberal and a libertarian, a rogue and a knight. Harry Bosch is not America's Sherlock Holmes, he's America's saint, America's redeemer - born not of virgin, but of whore. (Michael Connelly has divulged that the character is an amalgam of three separate, but equal, detectives he has known.) Internal affairs has crucified Harry Bosch over and over, but he always rises up from the dead to resume the battle against the forces of darkness.

(Sorry for the exaggerated rave, but I just finished reading "Echo Park" for the third time, and I'm frenetic with enthusiasm.)

I became a fan of the "Harry Bosch" novels by Michael Connelly late in life. I think it was the movie, Blood Work, starring Clint Eastwood and based on one of Connelly's other books, that caused me to buy The Narrows when it came out in paperback. I read that and found myself immediately hooked on the Bosch character. I've since gone back and purchased the other novels in the series (thirteen in all) and have loved each one of them. The Overlook is the newest one out in paperback and please don't confuse it with the Overlook Hotel in Stephen King's greatest horror novel, The Shining. There's no relation between the two.

The story begins with a murder at night on a bluff off of Mulholland Drive, overlooking (hence the title of the book) the city of Los Angeles. The victim, Stanley Kent, was shot twice in the back of the head, and LAPD Homicide Detective Harry Bosch is called out to investigate. Several things then happen in a relatively short period of time. The first is that Harry's ex-lover, FBI agent Rachel Walling, shows up within a few minutes of him getting to the crime scene, and she makes it clear from the start that Kent's death is now a matter of national security and that the FBI is taking over the case. It appears that the victim was a doctor with access to radioactive materials such as cesium, which is used for the treatment of cancer. Kent and his wife, Alicia, had apparently been warned sometime back by Walling and her partner that they could be the focus of Middle Eastern terrorists because of the doctor's ability to get cesium at the local hospitals. The cesium could then be used to create a radioactive bomb. When Harry and Walling visit the Kent's home to break the news to Alicia of her husband's death, they discovered her naked and bound in the master bedroom. It seems that two men with Middle Eastern assents entered the home and tied her up, then called Stanley and told him to steal a supply of cesium, if he didn't want them to kill her. The victim did as required and was then murdered on the bluff. As the FBI pursues the investigation with the belief that terrorists could be planning to set up a bomb in Los Angeles, Bosch refuses to be kept out of the loop and diverts his attention to primarily solving the murder. It's his belief that either all count, or no one counts, and he won't allow the death of Stanley Kent to fade into the background of the bigger picture.

The Overlook was originally published as a serial in The New York Times Sunday Magazine, and then as a hardcover and now as a paperback. The book is shorter than the others in the series and that certainly makes for a faster pace. In fact, I read this in just two days. I quickly got caught up in the murder investigation, Bosch's newest partner, Ignacio "Iggy" Ferras, who seems to fight his mentor every step of the way with how he chooses to do things, the tension between Bosch and his former lover, Agent Wallings, the struggle between the LAPD and the FBI, and the question of whether or not the death of one person should be forgotten in order to stop the possible deaths of thousands. Connelly has definitely created one of the finest characters of police procedurals during the last half of this century. Harry Bosch is the kind of guy you want covering your back when you go through the front door of a dangerous situation. And, if you go down the hard way, Bosch will make sure that justice is delivered one way or another, no matter what the rules are. I have to also state that the author captures the beauty and desolation of Los Angeles in ways that stay with you long after the novel is finished. On one side of the coin, it's a place where dreams can come true, while on the other side it's a city filled with crime and death and people who will do whatever it takes to get what they want, no matter how many individuals are hurt in the process.

In terms of how good a novel The Overlook is, I would rate it in the top five of the "Harry Bosch" novels. I definitely enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to anyone interested in reading the series.

I enjoy all Harry Bosch novels, but some more so than others. For me this was a 3.5 star book, a story that didn't seem fully developed and seemed a bit different from the other novels, perhaps only because of its plot and/or its length. I wouldn't call this disappointing, though: just less than I expected. Bosch is such a fully developed character that I think he can't disappoint.

I think Blood Work remains Connely's weakest novel, but this is unarguably the weakest Harry Bosch novel. Do you blame it on the fact it started out as a magazine serial? Perhaps. Connelly begins the story promising enough kind of going all Jack Bauer on us, but switches gears. Bosch doesn't really care if terrorists are going to destroy LA. He's a detective. He wants to solve a homicide. I get it, I guess. Don't believe it though. But Connelly has a great knack for keeping his readers involved, and I was never bored. Don't want to give away too many spoilers or plot points. Let's just say the ending was telegraphed from a mile away, and I was left unsatisfied. Still I'm giving it four stars because I would recommend it for a quick read to almost everyone. I can't say that for books I give 3 stars to.

A relative recommended this author, specifically the Lincoln lawyer stories. But I prefer to use an early book by an author to judge his match to my taste.
This is a pretty good plot, and really tricky, though highly unlikely!.
But I was distracted by the feud for control of the case between Harry and everyone else (his police management, homeland security, FBI, and probably some others I didn't pay much attention to).
It does involve several good characters, so it was a decent read.
I don't think this author will make the cut, but I may weaken if I grow tired of some of the group of 40 authors I read regularly.
Norm

If it's a Harry Bosch novel I want to read it. Actually, I've probably already read it.

3.5 Stars?

For a new writer I'd give this a 4-star, or if I really liked the new writer, maybe even a 5. The writing and plotting is very clean. But for Connelly? I'm sorry, IMHO he was slacking-off in this one. I only read OVERLOOK once, and I'm not going back for a re-read. [And I hate when FBI agents are the Bad Guys; killers breaking the LAW.]

Plot-wise & Action-wise this puppy has everything going for it, but the only few gem-moments for me were when Harry was seeing more in crime scenes and the motivations of people than his superiors and the FBI.

If I was stuck on an airplane flight and this was the only thing decent I could find in the airport bookstore, I'd re-read this. Only then. @hg47

There are times when Harry Bosch just makes me squirm because he can be a real horse's patoot. In The Overlook, by Michael Connelly, a doctor who works in nuclear medicine is killed, and some cesium goes missing, the FBI gets involved because of the possibility of the cesium being used in a terrorist attack. Never one to work or play well with others, Harry is so focused on solving the homicide that he ignores the very real threat of the possibility of massive deaths due to the release of radioactive material. Bosch is even more prickly than usual when dealing with the FBI, perhaps because one of the agents involved is his former lover, Rachel Waller. Bosch violates chain of command, going straight to the Police Chief in his attempt to keep from being shut out of the case, and in a really hard to listen to scene, handcuffs an FBI agent and leaves him in the murder victim's house. On the one hand, there is this guilty bit of satisfaction in seeing Bosch act the way most people would only dream about, but on the other hand, I cringed while listening to it, knowing that Bosch is inappropriately taking out his frustrations against a guy who was just trying to do his job.

It's also difficult listening to the way Harry treats his partner, Ignacio Ferras--he is non-communicative, he expects Ferras to follow his orders without explanation, and he totally disregards Ferras's objections whenever Ferras questions Bosch's actions. I think that having Bosch as a partner would be a constant exercise in frustration, and I would probably smack him before the end of my first day.

Yet, this is precisely what makes Bosch so loveable--he stands for the victims. He doesn't care who the victim is or what the victim may have done--he is entirely focused on obtaining justice for that victim and nothing will stand in his way. Not the FBI, not protocol, not a young partner who cares too much about SOP's and not enough for justice. Bosch is a homicide detective, and that is his entire life. I have to admire his focus, and I have to admire his skill as a detective. He doesn't miss anything. When he is looking at a crime scene, he notices even the most insignificant details, and his mind is running and asking questions that nobody else thinks are important. Why was the clock in the doctor's bedroom unplugged? What was the picture that was removed from the wall of the victim's bedroom? Why was the trash can in the victim's garage filled with paper towels stained with grape juice?

Bosch jumps to no conclusions, he just files everything away in his brain until the pieces finally come together in the only way possible. While the FBI is throwing all the resources of the Department of Homeland Security at trying to track down the Cesium, and while the LAPD's on Homeland Security Division is shooting up the house of a person of interest, Bosch just keeps steadily trying to put things together.

And the thing is, if Harry doesn't play well with others, neither do others always play well with him. The FBI is notorious for coming in and shutting the local authorities out of investigations, and the police department is well known for letting politics and protocol take precedence over finding out the truth. If the FBI had not shut Harry out of the case, if they had kept him in as a local partner and given him access to the witnesses, he could have prevented what ultimately turned out to be a slew of unnecessary deaths and an embarrassment for the FBI.

WARNING! SPOILER ALERT! DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU DON'T LIKE SPOILERS!
A final bit of humor for me in the book was when Bosch finally convinces Rachel Walling that the terrorist threat is a red herring, Walling makes the remark that the terrorists could have denied their involvement till Osama bin Laden was found dead in a cave and no one would have believed them. The book, of course, was written before bin Laden was killed, but it was still funny.

I liked this book. It was frustrating, aggravating and hard to listen to at times, but in the end it was quite satisfying. My only problem is that it ended too soon--I always like to have things tied up with a nice bow and in this case, I wanted to know what happened with the various characters in the book. Was Harry exposed to radiation and suffering from radiation poisoning? Did the LAPD Captain of Homeland Security suffer any consequences for storming a house, killing an innocent man and terrorizing his wife? How did the FBI react to finding out that one of their own had committed the crime and staged the terrorist threat as a red herring. Was there any vindication for Bosch at all?

Just as a note, I listened to the audio version. The reader was okay. They added some saxophone for atmosphere and sometimes the music was too loud and drowned out the narrative. It was okay, but the music didn't add anything for me.

I am a huge fan of all of Connelly's books, but this one feels a bit rushed and is not one of the best in the Harry Bosch series.

Connelly is truly an overrated author who writes the kind of book that people buy at the airport to kill 5-15 hours of tedious flying time. He was a crime reporter before he became an author and his idol is Raymond Chandler. He may have the technical details down as far as police procedural goes and thankfully he doesn't all hardboiled-lady killer-Phil Marlowe on the reader, but his books ring hollow and Harry Bosch sadly never truly comes to life on the page.

I've listened to some of the audio book versions - the talented actors make Connelly's novels far more interesting than they really are. READING Connelly however is no fun - I'm only a few chapters into "The Overlook" and I'm often half chuckling, half gritting my teeth because of the bad writing. I don't think I'll finish it.

Harry Bosch is back in Homicide Central and finally gets the call he has been waiting for to go out on a case. A man has been murdered, but things don't seem right to Harry. He has been in the business for a while, and has developed a sense for seeing things that don't add up, or maybe add up a little too well. The case finds him working again with FBI agent Rachel Walling. Harry has a reputation that can be either good or bad depending on your viewpoint.

Harry gets lucky with a little "help" from an unexpected source, and things start connecting the dots. It's a quick case for Harry. He doesn't get any sleep, but he is used to that and drinks a lot of coffee to keep going. Along the way, he is breaking in his new partner, Iggy.

Another reviewer said that this reads like a serial. Well, yeah, it is supposed to be part of a serial. There are many books in the Harry Bosch series.