Desert Star by Michael Connelly

LAPD detective Rene Ballard and Harry Bosch team up to hunt the brutal killer who is Bosch's white whale--a man responsible for the murder of an entire family. A year has passed since LAPD detective Rene Ballard quit the force in the face of misogyny, demoralization, and endless red tape. Yet, after the chief of police himself tells her she can write her ticket within the department, Ballard takes back her badge, leaving the Late Show to rebuild and lead the cold case unit at the elite Robbery-Homicide Division. For years, Harry Bosch has been working a case that haunts him--the murder of an entire family by a psychopath who still walks free. Ballard makes Bosch an offer: come work with her as a volunteer investigator in the new Open-Unsolved Unit, and he can pursue his white whale with the resources of the LAPD behind him. First priority for Ballard is to clear the unsolved rape and murder of a sixteen-year-old girl. The decades-old case is essential to the councilman who supported re-forming the unit, and who could shutter it again--the victim was his sister. When Ballard gets a cold hit connecting the killing to a similar crime, proving that a serial predator has been at work in the city for years, the political pressure has never been higher. To keep momentum going, she must pull Bosch off his all-consuming investigation, the case that is the consummation of his lifelong mission. The two must put aside old resentments and new tensions to run to ground not one but two dangerous killers who have operated with brash impunity. In what may be his most gripping and profoundly moving book yet, Michael Connelly shows once again why he has been dubbed one of the greatest crime writers of all time (Ryan Steck, Crimereads). Editorial Reviews *09/05/2022 In bestseller Connelly's thrilling fifth outing for Rene Ballard and Harry Bosch (after 2021's The Dark Hours), Ballard invites the retired Bosch to volunteer for the LAPD's newly revived Open-Unsolved Unit, which she's running, enticing him with the prospect of finding the man responsible for the 2013 slaying of an entire family. She also wants to reopen the 1994 murder of 16-year-old Sarah Pearlman, sister of the L.A. city councilman who helped resuscitate the cold case team. Ballard and Bosch work at the department's new homicide archive where the unsolved murder books are stored: hallowed ground to Bosch. The library of lost souls. Both cases require deep dives into the past; both lead to great action scenes; and, as always, Connelly displays his encyclopedic knowledge of the latest forensics, such as Investigative Genetic Genealogy. Bosch, however, takes a low-tech approach and follows leads in the field with his trademark intensity, driven by his desire to restore order in a violent world (The dark engine of murder would never run low on fuel. Not in his lifetime). This entry, the 24th Bosch novel, may not be as expansive as The Dark Hours, but it ranks up there with Connelly's best. Agent: Philip G. Spitzer, Philip G. Spitzer Literary. (Nov.) - Publishers Weekly Praise for The Dark Hours: One of this month's best thrillers... Ballard and Bosch are a great combination as they work in and around a police force that Ballard believes too often aims to 'protect and serve the image instead of the citizens.'-Richard Lipez, Washington Post A thoroughly engrossing procedural... The Dark Hours offers plenty of shocking scenes and clever surprises.-Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal Outstanding... Connelly is the most consistently superior living crime fiction author. The Dark Hours just reinforces that.-Oline H. Cogdill, South Florida Sun Sentinel Extraordinary... [Connelly] is one of the best in the business at writing about investigations and creating intense suspense, but the relationship between Ballard and Bosch--a professional friendship that grows out of two brilliant minds dedicated to the same difficult but important work--is the cherry on top.-Collette Bancroft, Tampa Bay Times Connelly is sharp as ever... his stories always manage to explore another piece of the city's soul.-Crimereads - From the Publisher *11/01/2022 Another home run for Connelly as he brings Rene Ballard and Harry Bosch together again. Ballard left the LAPD because of its good old boys practices, but after a promise from the new chief that she'd have carte blanche reopening and manning the Open-Unsolved-Unit, she returns. Her first pick for the team is Bosch, but they did not part on good terms. So she offers Bosch the chance to reopen the case that still haunts him. He takes the bait even though the catch is that first they must reopen the unsolved murder of an L.A. councilman's sister. Bosch is older and wiser but still a jazz-loving rebel with a cause, and Renee still (unsuccessfully) tries to rein him in to be the team player he'll never be. The plot is an exceptional piece of crime drama, and the short chapters help keep the expectations high and the flow smooth. The narrative is unapologetic hard-edged cop-speak, and Bosch and Ballard rock every page. VERDICT Fans of police procedurals, dark cat-and-mouse mysteries, and Connelly's iconic characters will find this soon-to-be-best-seller absolutely unputdownable.--Debbie Haupt - Library Journal 2022-09-28 A snap of the yo-yo string yanks Harry Bosch out of retirement yet again. Los Angeles Councilman Jake Pearlman has resurrected the LAPD's Open-Unsolved Unit in order to reopen the case of his kid sister, Sarah, whose 1994 murder was instantly eclipsed in the press by the O.J. Simpson case when it broke a day later. Since not even a councilor can reconstitute a police unit for a single favored case, Det. Rene Ballard and her mostly volunteer (read: unpaid) crew are expected to reopen some other cold cases as well, giving Bosch a fresh opportunity to gather evidence against Finbar McShane, the crooked manager he's convinced executed industrial contractor Stephen Gallagher, his wife, and their two children in 2013 and buried them in a single desert grave. The case has haunted Bosch more than any other he failed to close, and he's fine to work the Pearlman homicide if it'll give him another crack at McShane. As it turns out, the Pearlman case is considerably more interesting--partly because the break that leads the unit to a surprising new suspect turns out to be both fraught and misleading, partly because identifying the killer is only the beginning of Bosch's problems. The windup of the Gallagher murders, a testament to sweating every detail and following every lead wherever it goes, is more heartfelt but less wily and dramatic. Fans of the aging detective who fear that he might be mellowing will be happy to hear that putting him on a team did not make him a team player. Not the best of Connelly's procedurals, but nobody else does them better than his second-best. - Kirkus Reviews The latest in Connelly's Harry Bosch/Rene Ballard series is a gift to fans with its engrossing plot and intriguing characters delivered by exceptional narrators. Titus Welliver, portraying Bosch, and Christine Lakin, voicing Ballard, each take the lead in alternating chapters, coming together in the characters' dialogue. Together, they create a genuine world for listeners to slip into. Peter Giles, the voice of Connelly's Lincoln Lawyer series, provides a brief portrayal of defense attorney Mickey Haller in conversation with Ballard. Bosch is drawn out of retirement by Ballard, who now heads the newly re-formed Cold Case unit. Through pace, tone, and accent, the narrators differentiate the heroes and the villains and keep the plot moving. What will fans do when Bosch retires from detecting for good? E.Q. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine - OCTOBER 2022 - AudioFile