The Burning Room (A Harry Bosch Novel Book 17)

My wife always asks why it takes me so long to read a Michael Connelly book. The author paints beautiful pictures of each scene and I like to pause, close my eyes, and become part of it. His ability to get this reader into one of his works is the about best I know. I read The Burning Room in record time. It was easy to put the book down and return when I had little else to do. In the past, Mr. Connelly, through his character Harry Bosch, has taken me to familiar and unfamiliar places with visual ease. Harry used to be exciting whether it was suspenseful police work, romance, or caring for his daughter. There was no suspense unless one counts whether Harry will ever be back as cliffhanging, No romance, except a few memories of times past and Harry's daughter seems more like a boarder and adds nothing to the story. Harry, as does the author, seem to just be going through the motions. I feel sad in writing this review. I really hope Mr. Connelly gets back into his characters and regains the ability to put me back into the story. I want to wait with excitement for his next book. Maybe he feels the scenes will be better painted in his upcoming TV series. I, for one, don't think so. Sorry Michael and Harry. You used to be a couple of my best friends.

So disappointed in this book. I love the Harry Bosch novels and have read them all. This one reads like story notes, a mix of shorthand exposition and awkwardly written description. Did Connelly get a new, bad editor, or did he just phone this one in? Gone are the finely nuanced portraits of the man and the city (my hometown, by the way), replaced with a kind of rushed and sloppy prose, as if Connelly just wants to get this over with. He "tells" rather than "shows" the story, a major blunder and the mark of a lazy writer. I hope this is a fluke and not a harbinger of things to come.

Michael Connelly made the decision some time back to allow LAPD Homicide Detective Harry Bosch to age along with the rest of us. Unlike other series detectives he is not immune to the travails of time, and we are often reminded of that in "The Burning Room," his nineteenth book. Now and then Harry thinks of his own diminishing future with the LAPD, or mentions to other characters that he has only a year remaining in his DROP (Deferred Retirement Option Plan) contract with Los Angeles' police department, after which he will have to leave for good. His daughter, whom we first met years ago as a child drawing crayon pictures of the absent father who "fought monsters" for a living, is now in her late teens, involved in the Police Explorer Program and thinking of a career in law enforcement herself. Also, Harry has now been teamed with a young girl less than half his age, who was fast-tracked into the detective program because of her race and the outcome of a courageous standoff against a group of armed robbers; because of her inexperience and age, Harry is motivated to look back over his long career with the Department and the often dire circumstances that overtook his many past partners.

Harry is still working in the Open/Unsolved Section, trying to solve old homicides cases. In a peculiar twist of fate a victim dies and he is given the case...even though the man just died, it stemmed from a shooting ten years earlier, so even though it is a recent death it is also a case that has long been cold. Connelly does a very good job here in showing how advances in technology can be used to look at old crimes with new eyes, and it is this new analysis that allows Harry and his young partner to begin making headway on a case other gave up on long ago. It's not all just forensics, techo-babble and desk-jockeying, however, as Harry applies some old school murder investigation techniques and lots of footwork to rout out old secrets and uncover hidden sins.

Running parallel to the new case is an even older case, a twenty-year-old fire set at an apartment house which resulted in the deaths of nine people, most of them children. Harry's new partner was one of the few children who survived the fire. That fire and her survival not only made her the person she is, but also consumed her thoughts, so that when she was first assigned to Open/Unsolved (at her request) after being made a detective she began a covert investigation on her own. Though she tries to keep Harry out of her private case, his old-fashioned ideas of loyalty bring him into her secret quest for justice, redemption, and the expiation of guilt.

Running two very different investigations concurrently does tend to stretch the narrative a little thin in places, relegating much of Harry's personal life and concerns to the distant background. Connelly does a great job maintaining a balance between the two cases. He is also successful in setting a good pace, not letting either investigation lag or rush to a hurried conclusion. Fans of the character and the series will certainly enjoy the book. At the same time, readers encountering Harry Bosch for the first time will find Harry's often reflective nature a motivation to go back and start at the beginning. Both new and veteran readers will find the book a satisfying read, a story that succeeds because of Harry Bosch, one of the great detective characters of the modern age.

For some strange reason I've never read Connelly's books in order, I started with The Poet and then my grandmother of all people turned me onto Harry Bosch. As much as I love reading these Bosch novels somehow I never read them in the order they were intended but the quality of writing is so superb that it doesn't matter. These books go so quickly that I find myself laying in bed at 4 in the morning after wanting to read a chapter before I went to sleep six or seven hours earlier. Harry is a cop's cop, he fights the good fight and makes sure everyone matters. He fights for the truth, as un-politically correct as that is now days and refuses to suffer fools kindly. This book grabbed me from the beginning, Harry gets not one but two cold cases, decades old, with no prospect of resolution but pushes on to find the justice that's been denied for so long. He sets out to mentor "Lucky Lucy" Soto, his newest partner (not the healthiest occupation in these books) as his time with the LAPD is coming to a close and from Connelly's other books I'm familiar with her but it's nice to see firsthand howtheirbond originated. The last chapter was the hardest for me, I got so caught up I forgot it was coming and the last paragraphs actually brought tears to my eyes. Everyone matters to Harry and dammit, Harry should be able to count on everyone to stand tall for him! One day I hope to retire and read all of Harry's stories in their proper order, I expect I may even discover that I will like them more the second time in chronological order but I'm not sure how that would be possible. I'm now hoping Harry continues to hunt for murderers another 50 years. But I'll settle for another 50 Bosch novels in no particular order.

This book has a lot of hype behind it, and it sounds like a pretty good book, but the kindle edition is priced higher than the hardcover. The kindle has been out for quite a few years, and I think it's been proven that there is a huge market of avid readers who buy and read more books than ever before thanks to the comfort and convenience of our Kindles. It's so frustrating that publishers still don't understand how to manage alternate business models, and this strategy is already failing this book as far as the Amazon charts go. To add to the insult, this book is priced much more fairly on iBooks for iOS, so maybe it's more evil than ignorance. Whatever the case may be, just forget it, I have plenty of other books on my list to read. Eventually they will drop the price on this book, and there might be a light surge of sales, but nothing like the volume they could sell right now if they priced the Kindle edition at $9.99 or so while the initial release hype is still fresh. Good luck with the bookstores.

The Harry Bosch series was one of my favorites until this book. It is incredibly boring, dialogue is ridiculous, Harry himself is a pathetic shadow of his former self, the new sidekick doesn't make any impression at all. I kept waiting for the book to get good and it never did, it just ended. Sorry I wasted my money. Huge disappointment.

As are all Michael Connelly books, this is a winner. However, why must one pay a premium price for the book that was selling for much less a few hours later? Am I to think that is the price one pays for getting the download on the release date. If that is the case I will definitely wait until much later or just buy the hardcover version

As are all Michael Connelly books, this is a winner. However, why must one pay a premium price for the book that was selling for much less a few hours later? Am I to think that is the price one pays for getting the download on the release date. If that is the case I will definitely wait until much later or just buy the hardcover version

In THE BURNING ROOM, Harry Bosch and his new partner Lucy Soto investigate a decade old crime with the potential to influence an upcoming gubernatorial election. Fans of the series know Harry’s mantra has always been "everybody counts or nobody counts" … but when his mantra becomes the new campaign slogan for a politician who might be complicit in murder, Harry is hell-bent to uncover the truth.

Not that he’s ever needed any motivation to seek out justice, of course – but asinine and hypocritical politicians give Harry extra incentive in this case.

We also see a different side of Harry. In the past, Harry has been abrasive at times and almost always unconcerned about how he’s perceived by others – but as he enters the final months before his forced retirement we see him take on the role of mentor to Lucy and make strides as a father to Maddie. We also see a more diplomatic side of Harry as he reaches out for help from colleagues and the press. It’s done very well by author Michael Connelly, and I think longtime Bosch readers will certainly notice and appreciate the character development because it’s true to life – anytime one phase in life nears its end it’s natural to reflect and show sentiment.

As for the plot, Harry and Lucy are working two cases simultaneously – one of which Lucy has personal ties with – and both cases are compelling. There isn’t a tremendous amount of action, but there is some terrific storytelling from Connelly.

As a longtime Bosch reader I thoroughly enjoyed it – but I’m not sure if a first-time reader would appreciate it the same way. For example, if you didn’t know that "everybody counts or nobody counts" appears in almost all of Connelly’s recent Bosch books, then you might find it a bit contrived or silly when a politician steals it for a slogan. But as a longtime reader, you actually understand Bosch’s angst when he tears down a campaign poster and says, “He stole my line. I’m just stealing it back.”

Overall, it’s a very good book and I highly recommend it.

I love Harry B. but not at inflated Kindle price. Connelly has always been a pub date purchase for me. Thanks to my Kindle, I have many books to read before I start this one. I'll just borrow from my library. Wake up publishers, play nice and understand this, many of us love our Kindles and Amazon. By the way, the Daniel Silva book (The Heist) at $15.99 is also on my "No Buy"list.