Desert Star (Harry Bosch, 24) Paperback – 8 Nov. 2022

Bosch and Ballard together, a fantastic combination. Michael Connelly is a gifted writer and never disappoints, I have enjoyed all his books.

A great read, especially if a Bosch/Ballard by Connelly fan. On finishing, one looks forward to the following book to keep on an engaging journey with the principals. So well and plausibly put together with convincing narrative.I highly recommend it. It will again keep you engrossed in their world.

Good plot and easy readingThe cold case dept.details were very realistic and felt right.Another victory for good.Good solid book

A great book, from a great author. More than one story line going on all through it with a constant threat to derail the reader! Brilliant.

I've read most if not all of the Bosch /Ballard/ Haller books. This is one of the best, matched only by the very early Bosch books IMHO. Enjoy

If this is a farewell to Harry Bosch it does him justice. I have read all the books, watched all the t.v series and if it is the last I shall miss him very much. Harry is my all time favourite fictional detective. Thank you Mr Connelly for so many hours of reading pleasure.

Hieronymus ‘Harry’ Bosch has spent most of his life investigating crime in Los Angeles, both as a detective for LAP and thereafter in a private capacity. Now nearing, or maybe slightly beyond, the age of seventy, he may be a bit slower physically, but his determination for justice remains undimmed. Towards the end of the Dark Hours, the previous novel in this sequence, Bosch had panned to go into partnership as private investigators with his considerably younger sometime colleague, Detective Renee Ballard, who had become so disaffected with the many failings of LAPD. At the end of that novel, however, she had been enticed to remain on the force, and had been installed as head of a new cold case unit, which has been established by the department at the behest of a prominent local politician.In this capacity, Ballard has recruited Bosch to help out as a volunteer, along with a handful of colleagues, most of whom are also retired from careers in different aspects of law enforcement. Ballard has identified one case as a priority as it involves the murder several years before of the sister of the politician who ad campaigned for the establishment of the Unit. Bosch is assigned various tasks, but is also keen to work on an other case that Ballard has drawn from the archives. This was the murder of a whole family which Bosch had investigated while still on the force. When he learns that new DNA evidence may have been uncovered he is keen to pursue the lead,Connelly lets the narrative unfold with his customary dexterity. Before becoming a novelist he worked as a journalist, covering the crime beat. The skills he acquired in that career are evident in his novels, where the story is offered with great clarity and directness. I try to encourage members of my own team, which among other things deals with ministerial correspondence to follow the drafter’s ABC; accuracy, brevity and clarity, and it is clear that Connelly abides by the same rule.Bosch is a well-crafted character. He has now featured in nearly thirty novels, during which he has aged in real time, which lends great verisimilitude to the stories. His motto is that, ‘Everyone counts, or nobody counts’, and this drives his keenness to investigate every crime that he can. Ballard is hewn from similar stock, and has clearly been influenced by Bosch during their few encounters in previous cases.This is another very sound, and very welcome, addition to the Bosch canon.

Another thrilling book from Michael his stories pull you in and you can’t stop reading enjoyed that justice prevails even if it is considered unorthodox