Crime writers have a thing for the past. Some of them base nearly all their books on a character's pasts - Harlan Coben in particular does this with the themes of redemption running throughout his work. Eventually all authors who write about the same characters have a 'past' book that is written in the present, but denotes the past. Agatha Christie did it, so did Christopher Brookmyre. The problem is that not only did these books have the past in common; they also had not being very good in common. I find novels of reflection are slower than the usual books in a series and basing any investigation on flawed memories is never good. To my mind authors should avoid ...  Read the complete review

I've only recently been getting into crime novels, and decided to pick up a Michael Connelly book from the library after he was recommend to me. Connelly is a big name in crime writing, and I now I can see why. Echo Park is part of Connelly's Bosch series, clocking in at number 12. Having not read any of Connelly's work before, let alone any previous books in the Bosch series, I thought I would be a little lost by picking this up. This wasn't the case; you don't need to have read any of the Bosch books before, although I'm sure having done so will only help build up your image of the famous detective. The blurb on the back gives a rough of idea of ...  Read the complete review

Echo Park is award winning crime author Michael Connelly's 17th novel, and it features two of his characters from previous books, Harry Bosch and Rachel Walling. The Plot Since his return to the LAPD, Detective Harry Bosch has worked in the Open Unsolved Unit, working on past crimes that have not been solved. One such case was his to begin with, back in 1993, a missing persons case, the young Marie Gesto. The DA's office calls, announcing they have a suspect for multiple murders, and that he has confessed to kidnapping Marie Gesto and murdering her as well. Anxious for closure, and even more keen once the suspect offers to lead them to the body, ...  Read the complete review

I bought this book from my book club as it was on offer the author looked familiar and it was in the thriller section. To my relief it was part of the Harry Bosch series which I had read a couple of years ago and had really enjoyed. I knew from then on it was a winner. Harry Bosch is a LAPD cop who has just come out of retirement and is working on the Open Unsolved Unit. He just cant stop thinking about a case in 1993 that he never closed. Marie Gesto went missing in 1993 and was presumably murdered however no body or culprit was found just her clothes folded up neatly left in an abonded car in a garage. It is an obsession with Harry and he takes ...  Read the complete review