by Michael Connelly (Compact Disc Connelly)
Desert Star is the fifth novel by Michael Connelly
to feature his newest protagonist, Renee Ballard. At the same time, it is the
24th novel to feature his longest-running series character, Harry Bosch. And
Harry’s half-brother, roguish attorney Mickey Haller even pops up in a cameo
late in the novel.
Ballard first appeared as a solo
character in 2017’s The Late Show, but from her second novel onwards, she’s
been teamed up with retired detective Harry Bosch in one capacity or another.
Following crucial events in 2021’s The Dark Hours, Renee was given the plumb job of heading up
a newly revived Open Unsolved Unit, focusing on cold cases, and when she’s
given free reign to pick the volunteer researchers she wants to work with…Harry
is #1 on her list. Though he’s dealing with some heavy personal baggage in his
own life, the opportunity to have access to police resources again to try to
close the one big case that has eluded him in his career is enough to pull the
aging Bosch onto Renee’s team of volunteer specialists. But before he can focus
on the Gallagher Family case, Bosch has to join forces with the other
researchers to try to find new leads on the murder of a city councilman’s
sister (from two decades ago) — the continued backing of the councilman, for
the Open Unsolved Unit may hinge on them making some progress.
During the course of this novel,
both of these cases reach conclusions, with some shocking developments along
the way. The relationship between Renee and Bosch, who’s become a father-like
mentor to the young detective, is tested. The dialog, plot and pacing are
absolutely top notch — Connelly novels always feel like they’re captures of a
bit of the lives of real people doing real jobs. Personally, I’ve listened to
all of the Ballard titles as audiobooks-on-cd, and these are some of the
absolute best audiobook out there. In the case of the Ballard & Bosch
titles, Christine Lakin voices the chapters told from Ballards p-o-v, and Titus
Welliver, who has portrayed Harry Bosch in the Amazon streaming series Bosch,
voices the chapters told from Bosch’s p-o-v (and in scenes where the two
converse, both voices are heard), and in the brief moments where Mickey Haller
shows up, he is voiced by Peter Giles — who narrates the audiobooks of
Connelly’s Haller novels).
I absolutely love these Ballard and
Bosch collaborations, and will rue the day when Connelly brings Harry’s long
and convoluted literary journey to a conclusion…which, rumor has it, may be
coming sooner than his fans may wish.
(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try all of the Renee Ballard novels, of which this is the fifth, and the
later entries in the Harry Bosch series (which has been going since 1992),
particularly those since Harry retired from active police work.)
( official Michael Connelly
web site )
Recommended
by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service
Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?
New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!
If you're a mystery fan, you're invited to join us for this month's Just Desserts meeting next week, April 27th, at 6:30 p.m. in the 4th floor auditorium of the Bennett Martin Public Library downtown at 14th & "N" St. -- this mystery-themed discussion group meets on the last Thursday of each month, January through October. This month's book assigned topic of discussion is also the title selected for annual statewide One Book One Nebraska reading program, Mignon G. Eberhart's 1930 novel, The Mystery of Hunting's End.
Even if you haven't read anything for this specific discussion, you can still participate, and learn about great new mysteries to try! For more information, check out the Just Desserts schedule at https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/book-groups/#justdesserts
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