A Darkness More Than Night (2002) - Plot & Excerpts
Time saver tip: if you've read my review of any Harry Bosch book, you've read 'em all. Since I don't reveal plots and reserve my comments to the overall book/author, characterization, style, etc...I just don't feel the need to repeat myself as in most cases series books if any good at all do remain consistent. The star ratings might change, but not my opinion of the series as a whole.Michael Connelly is a well know and very popular author in the mystery/detective and police procedural genres. Exploding onto the scene in the early nineties with his first six novels, and topping it off just recently with his 18th Bosch novel (The Black Box), Connelly has garnered most awards worth getting. Let's face it, the awards are well deserved, especially for those first novels (more on that later). Having emerged onto the fictional world after a career as a journalist, culminating with his job as crime reporter for the LA times, and admitting to becoming interested in writing fiction as a result of reading Raymond Chandler early on in his journalistic career, Michael Connelly has since involved himself in several collaborations: notable the television series Level 9, and as co-writer with Val McDermid's Wire In the Blood series (and that spawned the wildly popular grim, noir BBC television series of the same name). If you're into Noir than this TV series is a must see.Connelly has a knack for writing suspenseful tales that take quite a few twists and turns before being resolved with a stellar Who-Done-It that has most readers guessing till the very end (at least in his earlier books).Heironymous (Harry) Bosch, the hero in this series, is named after a Renaissance painter who specialized in earthly sins, debauchery, fanciful and gruesome visions of hell, violent consequences from high above if not detailed looks at the tortures reserved for earthly residents. Score 1 for Connelly in choosing a very apropos name for our own tortured detective Harry Bosch.Bosch is a complicated and conflicted character, a character that slowly develops across this series but whose emotive origin lies in the Viet Cong tunnels where Harry got his education in fear: underground, claustrophic, dark, drenched with blood, gruesome deaths, peopled with a savage enemy crawling within the absence of all light, hunting for the American soldiers like bloodthirsty rats. From these dark tunnels emerges Harry Bosch, LAPD detective, bent on setting the world right. From this darkness where pacific military command has sent Bosch to discover the inevitable conflict between a military order and the reality of carrying out that order, we find a detective in perpetual defiance of LAPD authority.The Harry Bosch series, for me, are divided into two sets: the first 4 books, and the rest that follow. As mentioned earlier, the classic early 90's novels were better for me. Books starting with The Black Echo on through The Last Coyote all inherit the tortuous origins of Harry's artistic namesake. Reading these books I could actually feel my heart begin to race as I sped towards the inevitable ending, ones that actually kept you guessing to the very end. One reviewer (sorry, can't remember who it was) says the following of these earlier book titles:[...]Even the titles of the books used to be cleverer. Compare The Drop (a simple reference to Deferred Retirement Option Plan) to The Concrete Blonde (a reference to both lady justice statue on the courthouse and the body of a blonde entombed in concrete. [...]Compare that to the later books in the series where we find a Harry Bosch notably mellower in his older age, where we find endings easily guessed at, where procedure begins to trump a superb plot. Bosch no longer smokes, doesn't drink and drive, doesn't slap people around anymore, where his defiance of LAPD authority is tempered by retirement, and let's face it, where my heart just doesn't race as often anymore. Let's say that his later novels are beginning to show an author's haste (is it me, or are the novels shorter and shorter?)Don't get me wrong, I still love reading the latest Bosch novel. Where the earlier novels have a few things that can be improved on (dialogue could have been better) the later novels are polished, almost a little too much so. After 18 Bosch novels, is Connelly tiring? Maybe.Beginning with the last 90's novel (Angels Flight) in which we are introduced to Bosch's latest romantic interest, Eleanor Wish, with whom Bosch is to have a daughter this mellowing process takes root. Connelly is absolutely right to introduce this notable character shift in Bosch from this book forward because as I can attest to in my own personal life: when you see your child born, a fundamental shift takes place in a man. For me, I was reborn from a devilish bachelor into a man who now bore the responsibility of an innocent life. It completely turned around my life for the better. And so it is with Harry Bosch. It is the presence of his daughter that transforms him from Heironymous to Harry.Overall, I highly recommend this series.
3 ½ stars. I had a few complaints, but the series is so good that I’m glad I read it, and I’m on to the next.STORY BRIEF:Two stories are being told interspersed. Gunn was found murdered in his home in an elaborate method patterned after a scene from a painting. Detective Jaye Winston is in charge of the investigation which has stalled. She asks retired FBI profiler McCaleb to help her.The second story is a murder trial. A wealthy movie director Storey is charged with murdering an actress and making it appear as a suicide. Bosch is the arresting officer and star witness in the trial. Storey bragged to Bosch that he killed her and that he would get away with it. The confession was not on tape so it’s Storey’s word against Bosch’s.REVIEWER’S OPINION:As I’ve said before, I’m enjoying this series. This is book 7 in the Harry Bosch series. As I finish one, I go right on to the next one. I’m doing them all as audiobooks, which might mean something. This one is not typical Bosch because the main detective work is being done by McCaleb, not Bosch. We are in McCaleb’s mind through most of the story. It was good, but I prefer Bosch as the main investigator, not McCaleb. This book is also listed as book 2 in the Terry McCaleb series. This could be read as a stand-alone, but I recommend reading it after McCaleb’s first book “Blood Work.”Things I did not like:The murder trial story was mostly being done through trial testimony. This resulted in a “telling” feel rather than “showing.” So it wasn’t the best way to hear a story, but it was ok. I viewed this as a supporting story to the McCabe investigation.I wish the author had spelled out things more clearly at the end. McCaleb accuses Bosch of knowing something and doing things without telling McCaleb. Bosch subtly acknowledged this, but as the reader I wanted more specifics. I wanted to know exactly what Bosch knew, how he knew it, and what he did. The overall story and resolution were good, but I didn’t like having to make assumptions.To avoid a spoiler I’m going to be vague here. I didn’t see the logic of why McCaleb thought Gunn’s murderer was X. The murder scene was made to look like a painting that many people owned copies of or had seen. So why did he suspect one of these people as a murderer? My immediate reaction was this could be a set up or a frame, but McCaleb didn’t consider that. The reason I like this series is because McCaleb and Bosch are smarter than I am, but that wasn’t happening here. McCaleb’s conclusion as to X being a suspect should have been better justified.NARRATORS:I did not like the narrator Richard M. Davidson. His interpretation of some characters came out too arrogant and negative somehow. McCaleb and Bosch weren’t as enjoyable because of this interpretation. It made me realize how wonderful Dick Hill was who did the first six books. My biggest problem with Dick Hill was his effeminate gay guy voice for some of the female characters. He did that in the early books, but not in the later books. So he improved. In this book, Richard Davidson used a deep super-gravely bass voice for Bosch which didn’t feel right to me. In another scene Buddy was saying something in a “pleading whining voice” (author’s words), but the narrator used an almost arrogant tone for that phrase.DATA:Unabridged audiobook length: 12 hrs and 33 mins. Narrator: Richard M. Davidson. Swearing language: strong but not frequently used. Sexual content: none. Setting: 2000 mostly Los Angeles, California, plus nearby Catalina Island. Book Copyright: 2001. Genre: crime mystery. Ending: The bad guys lose.
What do You think about A Darkness More Than Night (2002)?
This struck me as one of the tautest and best-constructed of Connelly's novels that I've so far encountered. The story positively flows along, subplots weaving and interacting, revealing details in a gradual, methodical manner that's almost maddening. This one concerns ex-FBI agent Terry McCaleb and Connelly's mainstay Harry Bosch, each working on a separate murder investigation that -- you just know this-- will each inexorably connect with the other. My experience has been that when Bosch has been combined in a plotline with another of Connelly's recurring characters, he's tended to lose his edge and show less of his complicated psyche, but this time he comes through quite splendidly in all his dysfunctional but dedicated glory, even while a large part of his action takes place within a courtroom. Of course the crimes (and the perpetrators) themselves bear the Connelly trademark shocking seaminess-- in fact, as the plot thickens, the crimes become all the more heinous in their greater implications. The ending is suitably dramatic and upsetting, but does not strain the credibility as far as sometimes occurs in Harry's adventures.The one thing that made me scratch my head had to do with a major plot factor involving the work of painter Hieronymus Bosch-- Harry's namesake. Several intelligent and well-educated characters express total ignorance at the mention of the artist, and even admit they have no idea how to pronounce his first name ( are phonics totally dead?). This did not ring true to me, especially given that in several earlier books, when Harry has mentioned his full name to tangential characters of less cultured backgrounds, they have consistently made remarks along the line of: "You mean, like that guy who painted the weird pictures?" A small point, but something that jogged my capacity to believe.
—Tony Gleeson
Michael Connelly features two of his central characters from other books, Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch (a crass LA cop) and Terry McCaleb (a retired FBI agent and profiler). In this novel protagonist Bosch still irritates me because he seems self-destructive like a bull in a china shop. Connelly’s Harry Bosch novels like “Echo Park” and “The Drop” always seem to work out in the end, but the ride is consistently bumpy for the reader. The other protagonist, McCaleb (from Connelly’s novel “Bloodwork”) is much more likable than Bosch. He’s drawn back into this serial killer case, even though he’s retired and recovering from a heart condition. Because of an owl figurine, Bosch actually becomes a suspect in the latest murder and works frantically to clear himself. A number of mis-directions in the plot made me continually reassess what was going on and who did it. Obviously that’s what Connelly was trying to do, and he greatly succeeded. That’s why I guess I keep picking up these novels. All I’ll say is that in the end it takes them both to figure this one out … and to make it out alive.
—Nick Mann
Amazing...maybe I should bump it up a star to coincide with the first word of this review...ok, I am, giving it 4 1/2 stars and I always round up. Have no idea how I missed this one because I have made a concerted effort to read this series in order. I missed a good one, obviously. The first ever Connelly book I read was Mickey Haller and read them back to back if I recall. Loved Mickey. Makes me want to sing the song, "Mickey, Mickey, you're so fine, you blow my mind, hey Mickey, hey Mickey!" Wish I could sing it for you...nevermind, no, you don't.After falling for Mickey Haller so hard, it took me a few books to shift gears and 'get into' (figuratively speaking, of course) Harry Bosch. They were two such completely different personalities. Mickey, a piece of cake...he was easy to 'get into' (figuratively speaking, of course), easy going, witty with loads of personality. Not dark, not dark at all. Not quite so with Harry but after about the third book, well, he did grow on me and the more about him I read, the more MC unfolded Harry's personality and the better I understood him and why (sometimes) he did what he did. Harry is a complicated fellow, very difficult to read, to understand and yes, a bit dark. To read a Michael Connelly book after not reading one for a couple of months, is to me like seeing an old friend, where we pick up just where we left off last time we were together. MC just keeps on keeping on with dialog, storyline, and surprises here and there. Michael Connelly has it all and I'm so glad he decided to write. So very many pleasurable hours have been spent due to his hard labor and I surely appreciate that. A great series, Michael Connelly, with Harry Bosch still complicated, still dark and still with secrets. Can it get any better than this? Well, yeah, of course, with the next book.
—Cathy DuPont
