The closers : a novel /

Even cynicism has a way of going stale, as so many hard-boiled authors have discovered. But what can you do to refresh the screen when your hero, like Connelly's Harry Bosch, looks at the world through seen-it-all-twice eyes ? You can take a chance, and that's exactly what Connelly does here, transforming his world-weary hero into a rookie cop and forcing him (and us) to live one day at a time without the comfort of our own cynicism. Several books ago, Bosch walked away from the LAPD after 25 years; now he's back, having realized that I need the gun. I need the badge. Otherwise I'm out of balance. Working with his old partner, Kiz Rider, he is assigned to the newly formed Open Unsolved Unit, dedicated to closing unsolved murders. In their first case, the 1988 shooting of a 16-year-old girl, DNA testing has established a link from the murder weapon to a suspect, but there's a lot that doesn't add up. Why weren't various leads suggesting a hate crime explored properly? Soon Bosch remembers all too well why he quit in the first place: too many cases soiled by high jingo, that deadening, justice-defying mix of departmental politics, corruption, and cover-up. Connelly sets up a great premise here--the cop determined to reinvent himself in the face of a thoroughly recalcitrant world--and he makes the most of it. Hard-boiled fans don't like traditional commitment much (it makes us itchy), but Bosch turns us into believers. Give Connelly credit for having the courage to tinker with one of the richest characters in the genre. --Bill Ott Copyright 2005 Booklist

Connelly's bruised but unbeaten crime buster, Harry Bosch, is back in harness at the Los Angeles Police Department after a two-book retirement (Lost Light, The Narrows) during which he sought justice as a private eye. Luckily, reader Cariou has returned with him. Cariou's deep, dry and slightly mournful delivery proved a perfect match for Bosch's moody first-person PI narration. With Connelly reverting to the third-person format he prefers for his hero's police procedural cases, Cariou opts for a more objective, faster-paced, just-the-facts-ma'am approach to the descriptive passages, smoothly slipping back into Bosch-voice for the book's abundant dialogue sequences. Finding the right nuances for that voice is a tougher job this go-round, since Harry is in a state of constant emotional flux. He's happy to be back on the force, working with his former partner Kiz Rider and, for the first time, for men he respects, but he's not sure he can adjust to the new, streamlined LAPD. Cariou effectively enacts a large, carefully crafted cast of suspects, victims and cops, maneuvering easily past ethnic and sexist vocal land mines. Judiciously placed blues and jazz riffs add the finishing touches to this solid audio production. Bonus features include Connelly explaining Bosch's return to the LAPD, plus his reading of a chapter from his next novel, The Lincoln Lawyer, featuring Bosch's half-brother. Simultaneous release with Little, Brown hardcover (Reviews, Apr. 4). (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

The return of Detective Harry Bosch to the Los Angeles Police Department is nothing less than outstanding. The unique mix of eloquent, almost poetic dialog mixed with the smart banter of a murder investigation makes this novel seem like the welcome return of an old friend. After a three-year absence from the department, Connelly's hero is assigned to the open/unsolved (cold case) squad of the robbery/homicide division. The work has nobility in that these detectives "speak for the dead" and "no person ever is murdered and forgotten by the city." Harry's first case involves a DNA match on a 1988 murder of a 16-year-old high school girl. Insert the usual departmental politics and the clever plot twists and you have a top-notch detective story. Len Cariou's narration is solid, especially his use of accents. Highly recommended.-Scott R. DiMarco, Mansfield Univ. of Pennsylvania (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.