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Special Feature: Harry Bosch in Chronological Order!

March 18, 2008 in Blog, Crime, Uncategorized by admin | 8 comments

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Update (1/27/2012): I’ve updated this list to include several books I wasn’t aware of when I first published this post.

I noticed recently that I’ve been getting search engine referrals with the search terms “Harry Bosch chronological.” I assume that means people are looking for a chronological list of Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch novels so they can read them in order. I don’t think that’s necessary, but who am I to deny my readers the information they want? I did a little research and put together a list. I haven’t read all of these yet, but I’ve commented on the ones I’m familiar with.  This list can be verified at Michael Connelly’s website.

  1. The Black Echo (5 stars)
  2. The Black Ice (Click here for my review)
  3. The Concrete Blond (4 stars)
  4. The Last Coyote (5 stars)

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The Broker

February 20, 2008 in Suspense, Uncategorized by admin | No comments

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Author: John Grisham

Genre: Suspense

Subject: Espionage and Intrigue

Rating: **** (4 Stars)

Summary:


Joel Backman is a notorious former lobbyist, now in prison for crimes that are not fully revealed until much later in the book. Whatever he did has caused Russia, China, Israel, and Saudi Arabia to want him dead. Backman is unexpectedly pardoned after the CIA director visits an outgoing president and exerts tremendous pressure (and a few million dollars). The CIA’s plan is to hide Backman in another country, get him comfortable, then leak his location to the Russians, Chinese, Saudis, and Israelis. The idea is to find out which of the four will kill Backman, which will answer a host of questions Backman did not answer before going to prison.

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The Ambler Warning

February 10, 2008 in Thriller, Uncategorized by admin | No comments

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Author: Robert Ludlum

Genre: Thriller

Subject: Espionage

Rating: *****(5 Stars)

Summary:


Hal Ambler is a patient in a mental hospital for former spies run by the US government. He is not insane, but believes he has been put there as part of a conspiracy. With the help of Laurel Holland, a sympathetic nurse, he escapes and begins trying to find out who locked him up and why. He discovers that his friends do not remember him, and that any record of his government employment has been erased.

As Ambler visits places where he used to live and work, he finds himself dodging “recovery teams” sent to retrieve him. At the same time, he begins to remember long-forgotten bits of his past, including the assassinations he participated in.

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The Simple Truth

January 28, 2008 in Thriller, Uncategorized by admin | No comments

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Author: David Baldacci

Genre: Thriller

Subject: Politics, Law, Military Justice

Rating: **** (4 Stars)

Summary:


Like John Grisham, David Baldacci writes thrillers that prominently feature lawyers and legal proceedings. The Simple Truth is set in and around the U.S. Supreme Court, where Michael Fiske is a clerk. His brother, John is a former police officer turned defense attorney. Rufus Harms is an inmate at a military prison, sentenced to life for the brutal killing of a little girl years before. The story begins when Harms obtains new information that could lead to his exoneration. He writes an appeal and asks his lawyer, Sam Rider, to file it with the Supreme Court.

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Airframe

January 13, 2008 in Thriller, Uncategorized by admin | No comments

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Author: Michael Crichton

Genre: Thriller

Rating: **** (4 Stars)

Summary:


Airframe is about a fictional passenger jet accident, and the investigation and media frenzy that follow. It begins when Chinese operated Trans Pacific Airways Flight 545 suddenly and without warning goes from steady, level cruise flight to “porpoising,” making a series of steep climbs and dives. The passengers are hurled around the cabin like toys, sustaining serious injuries, some of which are fatal. Upon regaining control, the aircraft makes an emergency landing in Los Angeles, and the crew members are quietly spirited out of the country by the airline.

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Thinner

December 12, 2007 in Fiction, Horror, Uncategorized by admin | No comments

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Author: Stephen King (Writing as Richard Bachman)

Genre: Horror

Rating: *** (3 Stars)

Summary:


Billy Halleck is a successful lawyer, husband, and father. He is also dangerously overweight. One day, driving with and distracted by his wife, he runs over and kills a jaywalking gypsy woman. He is tried and acquitted of any wrongdoing, but as he leaves the courthouse, the woman’s father approaches, lightly strokes Billy’s cheek, and whispers, “Thinner.”

Although Billy’s eating habits don’t change, he begins to lose weight, passing his ideal weight and continuing downward. Concerned, he visits his doctor, who, after a series of tests, assures him that nothing is wrong. The weight loss continues, and Billy, who by this time has become desperate, sends a private investigator to find out where the band of gypsies has moved on to. At the same time, he learns that the police officer who responded to his accident, as well as the judge in the case, have each developed mysterious afflictions of their own.

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Deception Point

December 3, 2007 in Action/Adventure, Fiction, Uncategorized by admin | No comments

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Author: Dan Brown

Genre: Action/Adventure

Rating: ***** (5 Stars)

Summary:


Rachel Sexton works for the National Reconnaissance Office as a “gister.” Her job is to take complex information from multiple sources and reduce it to one-page briefings for the White House. One day, Rachel is called away from her job by the President, Zach Herney, who sends her to the Milne Ice Shelf in the Arctic Circle, where NASA has found a meteorite containing fossil evidence of extraterrestrial life. There, she meets Michael Tolland, an oceanographer and documentary host, who has been hired as part of a team of civilian scientists to verify the discovery.

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Lisey’s Story

November 26, 2007 in Fiction, Horror, Uncategorized by admin | No comments

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Author: Stephen King

Genre: Horror, Mystery

Rating: ***** (5 Stars)

Summary:


Lisey Landon is the widow of Scott Landon, a popular and prolific fiction writer. The story begins two years after Scott’s death, as Lisey begins the painful process of cleaning out Scott’s home office, and confronts memories that are both poignant and frightening. She also faces family challenges, including a sister who suffers from mental illness and is taking a turn for the worse, and harassment from memorabilia collectors who want access to Scott’s notes and personal effects.

Early on, we are introduced to Scott and Lisey’s “interior language of marriage,” which includes unique new words such as “bool.” A bool is a gift, a prize, or a prank. As boys, Scott and his older brother, Paul, had a game called “Hunting the Bool,” or simply “Bool Hunt.” Paul would hide a candy bar or soda, and place a series of clues which Scott was to follow to the bool.

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The Two Minute Rule

November 25, 2007 in Crime, Fiction, Mystery, Uncategorized by admin | No comments

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Author: Robert Crais

Genre: Mystery

Rating: ***** (5 Stars)

Summary:


Max Holman has just completed a ten year prison sentence for bank robbery. Upon being released, he learns that his son, Richie, a Los Angeles police officer, was one of four officers killed in a shooting. The police close the case as a revenge killing, but Holman, feeling that the facts don’t add up, starts looking for more information.

While seeking the truth about his son, Holman attempts to re-establish contact with Richie’s mother, Donna Banik, only to learn that she has died. His only remaining connection to Richie is Liz Holman, Richie’s widow. From Liz, he learns that Richie and the other three murdered officers were investigating a pair of serial bank robbers named Marchenko and Parsons, who were killed in a shootout with police. Curious as to why uniformed officers were conducting an investigation that was officially closed, and that would normally be assigned to detectives, Holman enlists the help of Katherine Pollard, a retired FBI agent. Together, they learn that over $16 million from the Marchenko and Parsons robberies was never recovered, and that the four murdered officers were looking for it.

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