audiobook cover art
The Overlook
by Michael Connelly read by Len Carriou 5 sound discs, 6 hours, unabridged published by Hachette Audio in 2007(this review contains massive spoilers)
Summary
The Overlook starts six months after the events in Echo Park. Detective Harry Bosch is now part of LA’s Homicide Special unit and trying to adjust to both a new captain and partner. His new partner is Ignatio Ferras, a young detective who everyone calls Iggy, except Bosch. The story unfolds with his new captain calling Bosch at midnight to instruct him to takeover the investigation of a body found shot to death, execution-style, at the overlook above Mulholland Dam.
The murder victim turns out to be a doctor that had access to cesium, a radioactive material used for the treatment of some cancers. But cesium, in the wrong hands, can be used to further terrorism. Because of the terrorism angle, LA’s Office of Homeland Security and the FBI gets involved; and Rachel Walling of Tactical gets assigned to the case. Rachel was Bosch former lover and they had a falling out due to the events chronicled in Echo Park.
So Rachel and her much senior partner, Brenner, teams up with Bosch to investigate the murder. The FBI agents suspected that the murder was connected to the doctor’s access to cesium and was pursuing the investigation as a possibly part of a terrorist ploy to make a dirty bomb out of the radioactive materials, or sow fear among the populace. This suspicion was confirmed when they found the wife of the murdered doctor in her home, naked and hogtied, but otherwise, alive in her bed. The wife relates to Bosch and the FBI agents how two men ordered her, under threat of death, to undress and then tied her up and took her picture with a digital camera. The picture was then emailed to her doctor-husband to force him to steal the radioactive materials in exchange for his wife’s life. The story gets further credence when a check later at the hospital shows the murdered doctor’s arrival and the theft of the radioactive materials.
With the confirmation of the terrorism angle, Bosch sensed that he is about to be shunted aside in the investigation as the Federal agents take full control and make the retrieval of the stolen cesium as the priority rather than solving the murder. Bosch did recognize the gravity of the situation, however, he can’t shake the feeling that there was something not quite right with the story and the evidence they have uncovered thus far. The discovery of another victim would confirm to Bosch that his instincts were correct and he only have to race against time and convince Rachel to trust him one more time to prove it.
Review
This is the 2nd audiobook by Michael Connelly that I have listened to, and both of them showcased Detective Harry Bosch. I have grown to like the fictional detective created by Connelly and I am actually looking forward to checking out other works of the author that featured him. I like how Harry Bosch is the quintessential police detective, a bit traditional, tends to break rules when it suited him, dogged in his determination to crack the case, stubborn and a bit gruff, and in possession of a fine investigative mind. Connelly’s description of Bosch, and Len Carriou’s excellent voice performance, have created an image of Bosch in my mind. When I imagine Bosch talking, I picture Clint Eastwood during his Dirty Harry days as the fictional detective, or the late William Conrad, the actor who played another fictional police detective, Cannon, this time on TV and during the seventies. On the other hand, I see Rene Russo (during her younger days) when I imagine Rachel Walling.
With regards to the story, I quite enjoy the element of misdirection in the plot and how seemingly inconsequential items described in the novel would later on turn out to be crucial in the resolution of the case. Although the last few chapters felt a bit rushed and the discovery of the 2nd victim looks more like a plot device. It also lessen the impact of how Harry Bosch was able to deduce the misdirection. I also find that even with the terrorism angle, the story did not have quite the same emotional impact as Echo Park. The Overlook is more like a stand-alone murder mystery that are the usual plots of cop shows on TV. It did not provide the listeners or readers any new perspective on Bosch’s character that they don’t already know from listening or reading Echo Park. Also I would have liked to see more of Bosch and Ferras rather than another Bosch and Walling crime-fighting tandem. I am hoping that Connelly involves Bosch’s new partner in any succeeding Harry Bosch novels as I think there is potential in the dynamics between old school Bosch and Iggy.
In closing, I enjoyed listening to The Overlook and I like the writing style of Michael Connelly. I have already lined up listening to another Connelly audiobook, The Narrows, after I finished with Joseph Finder’s Power Play.