Judith L. (jlautner) reviewed Dark Sacred Night (Renee Ballard, Bk 2) (Harry Bosch, Bk 21) on + 105 more book reviews
Harry Bosch teams up with Renee Ballard in solving a cold case - brutal death of a fifteen-year-old runaway named Daisy Clayton. Daisy's mom, newly clean, had found her way into Bosch's life and Bosch invited her to stay at his place until she found her feet and while Bosch investigated her daughter's death as a "hobby case".
Bosch is still working for the San Fernando police department as a temp and working those cases as well, including a gang-related cold case. Ballard is on LAPD night duty, having overstepped in a previous case, and is therefore available for callouts at any time.
The two of them go through several boxes of old "shake cards": 3X5 cards written up by police who stopped people in the area of the murder for whatever reason, and wrote up basics about the person: sex, age, type car (if driving), why stopped, comments. They hoped to find someone who might have been in the area who met some of their criteria as a possible killer. These types of cards had been challenged in court for obvious reasons but were still being written, especially at the time of the murder.
The "possibles" were set aside and investigated later by one or both detectives. As they had their regular jobs to do, they were unable to focus entirely on this case. The gang-related case blows up and pulls Bosch in, threatening more than Bosch's focus.
Connelly's straightforward style enhances the tension in this procedural, and his knowledge of the way the department works and the way detectives think make the action real and believable. The details matter.
I have become fond of Bosch over the years and hope he outlives me. I don't care for the television version, unfortunately, although Connelly does.
Bosch is still working for the San Fernando police department as a temp and working those cases as well, including a gang-related cold case. Ballard is on LAPD night duty, having overstepped in a previous case, and is therefore available for callouts at any time.
The two of them go through several boxes of old "shake cards": 3X5 cards written up by police who stopped people in the area of the murder for whatever reason, and wrote up basics about the person: sex, age, type car (if driving), why stopped, comments. They hoped to find someone who might have been in the area who met some of their criteria as a possible killer. These types of cards had been challenged in court for obvious reasons but were still being written, especially at the time of the murder.
The "possibles" were set aside and investigated later by one or both detectives. As they had their regular jobs to do, they were unable to focus entirely on this case. The gang-related case blows up and pulls Bosch in, threatening more than Bosch's focus.
Connelly's straightforward style enhances the tension in this procedural, and his knowledge of the way the department works and the way detectives think make the action real and believable. The details matter.
I have become fond of Bosch over the years and hope he outlives me. I don't care for the television version, unfortunately, although Connelly does.
Doug M. (damgto1) reviewed Dark Sacred Night (Renee Ballard, Bk 2) (Harry Bosch, Bk 21) on + 33 more book reviews
I loved the relationship between Bosch & Ballard. Nice job weaving that together Mr. Connelly!
g
Debbie B. (debs) -
Excellent story, teaming Harry Bosch with Renee Ballard. Grips you from the start, builds momentum, and comes to a satisfying conclusion. Can't wait for more stories of the two of them together.
June E. (junie) -
Just okay for me. I can't seem to relate nor like Renee Ballard yet.
Cathy C. (cathyskye) -
I loved Connelly's first Renée Ballard novel, The Late Show, and had no doubt that she and Harry Bosch would get along well after a bit of introductory posturing (mostly on Renée's part). After all, Ballard is a younger, female version of Bosch. All she needs is his experience, and if the two of them work together very much, she's going to get it.
It's fun watching these two get to know each other. Bosch takes one look at Ballard's deep tan and knows she's not the typical detective who works the late show. He even makes Ballard laugh-- and it's so unusual for her to do that that it startled me. When Ballard is around Harry, she pays attention and soaks up how he does things like a sponge. Once again, as I read Dark Sacred Night, I loved watching how Renée sees things, how she interacts with people. There's no such thing as a throwaway human being to Renée or to Harry, so I predict some interesting cases ahead for the two of them to work.
Connelly's pacing is swift and sure. He knows how to deliver fascinating cases and action sequences that have readers biting their fingernails. Moreover, Connelly doesn't believe in throwaway characters either. Readers never see a police officer named Tim Farmer during the course of Dark Sacred Night even though he plays an important role. We only get to read his descriptions of people on his field interview cards, but outside of Ballard and Bosch, Farmer is the most memorable character in the book to me.
There's little else for me to say other than I hope it's not long before these two detectives are working together again. Renée, send up that signal!
It's fun watching these two get to know each other. Bosch takes one look at Ballard's deep tan and knows she's not the typical detective who works the late show. He even makes Ballard laugh-- and it's so unusual for her to do that that it startled me. When Ballard is around Harry, she pays attention and soaks up how he does things like a sponge. Once again, as I read Dark Sacred Night, I loved watching how Renée sees things, how she interacts with people. There's no such thing as a throwaway human being to Renée or to Harry, so I predict some interesting cases ahead for the two of them to work.
Connelly's pacing is swift and sure. He knows how to deliver fascinating cases and action sequences that have readers biting their fingernails. Moreover, Connelly doesn't believe in throwaway characters either. Readers never see a police officer named Tim Farmer during the course of Dark Sacred Night even though he plays an important role. We only get to read his descriptions of people on his field interview cards, but outside of Ballard and Bosch, Farmer is the most memorable character in the book to me.
There's little else for me to say other than I hope it's not long before these two detectives are working together again. Renée, send up that signal!
