The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly

Good morning, everyone! Today I am super excited to be part of the Compulsive Readers tour for Michael Connelly's latest, The Dark Hours. 

It's New Year's Eve 2020 and Renée Ballard is working her usual night shift when a call comes in about a possible shooting. 

Ballard was actually already working a case, that of the Midnight Men, a pair of rapists who'd already established an MO of attacking on holidays. But as the night detective, it's Ballard's job to respond to any calls where a detective is needed. 

And that's why she finds herself at a car lot where a neighborhood celebration has apparently ended in a death. And while it's commonplace for the midnight shooting in LA to cause damage, Ballard immediately suspects this is something much worse. 

Her suspicions are soon confirmed and the case is labeled a homicide. And when Ballard learns that it's tied to an old case worked by Harry Bosch, she's determined to keep it. Except the Midnight Men did indeed claim a victim that night as well. And Ballard is on thin ice working both cases, especially when she brings the retired Bosch into the fold. 

But at a time when the department is under so much pressure and scrutiny, Ballard doesn't have the faith that her colleagues can, or will, actually do either job justice. 

I love this series so much! 

To be very clear, this is book 4 in the Renée Ballard series and technically book 23 in the Harry Bosh series—and (deep breath) book 35 in the Harry Bosch UNIVERSE. It's a lot, I know! (Mickey Haller is Bosch's half brother, so those books are tied into the official series, but all of the characters live in the Bosch universe, which means there's a lot of cross over.)

And I was actually super intimidated to dive into the Bosch series itself given the massive backlist. But I was, admittedly, already a HUGE fan and supporter of the show.  So when Connelly debuted a new, at the time, standalone featuring a detective relegated to the night shift, I was all in. And when it expanded into a series that also included Bosch...well, that was all I needed to dive wholeheartedly into Bosch's world!

If you fall into that same conundrum, I would highly recommend starting with Renée to bring you into the world. And I do suggest reading the books in order. They are:

The Late Show

Dark Sacred Night (I read this one with a newborn in tow and didn't actually get around to doing a post)

The Night Fire

The Dark Hours

Ballard is fantastic! She's dogged and determined. And she really does not take any shit. Which is kind of why she's on the night shift already. Except that she actually likes it. 

But it means she usually has to hand over any cases to the actual investigating departments once day comes. Understandably frustrating for a cop who likes to see things through to the end. 

The book is set mid pandemic and Connelly acknowledges, in more than one way, the current happenings. The department is seeing the effects of the protests and Covid, and Ballard both understands and bucks the fatigue many of her colleagues are feeling. But it's frustrating for her, too. 

She's supposed to have a partner in the Midnight Men investigation, something odd for the detective who usually works solo. And she's stuck handling it alone when said partner decides too soon that their perps took a break for New Years. 

Which is another reason she ends up leaning on Bosch. And while Ballard fully recognizes that Harry is the kind of mentor she both wants and needs, his own history with the department and the fact that he's retired means it could land her in a lot of trouble. 

But Ballard and Bosch make a truly excellent team. And it's a great way for the retired detective to remain in the game. Especially considering he has so many cases that still gnaw at him!

Be sue to check out the remaining stops on Connelly's virtual tour here. 

Backlist Bump: The Black Echo by Michael Connelly

In 1992, Michael Connelly debuted with The Black Echo, his first novel as well as the opening novel to the Heironymous Bosch series (now 20+ novels in). I was 11. At the time, I got most of my mysteries and thrillers from my grandmother and while she did have a few Connelly titles, she didn't have any Bosch books. So my starting this series has been a long time coming! But I did start, at the end. And now I'm working my way back.

Harry Bosch hasn't made many friends inside the LAPD. In fact, after being demoted and transferred, he's made plenty of enemies. So when he's called to the scene of a death everyone is ready to write off as a simple overdose and insists on a full workup, no one is happy about it. What Harry doesn't reveal is the fact that the victim is someone he knows. Someone he served with in Vietnam. Someone who used, but should have been in recovery. And the scene has just enough questionable evidence for Harry to suspect murder. 

Some of you have likely already read this one. It's been out for over 20 years now, after all. But since I've only just really gotten into the Bosch series (by way of the show and now Connelly's new Renee Ballard series), it was time for me to go back to the beginning.

And if you haven't read these but love mysteries, well we've got a pandemic to read through and this backlist is sure to keep you busy! (Also, if you happen to be doing the Popsugar Reading Challenge this year, the advanced section has a Book From a Series With More than 20 Books item.)

If you're a fan of the show, like I am, then this book will ring a little familiar to you. But the producers of the show did change quite a few things. Gone was the connection to Harry's Vietnam days, for one. Also gone is the bank heist subplot I didn't mention in my blurb above.

I love Bosch. He's crusty and grumpy. Even at the start of the series, he's already in his 40s and jaded by the job and by the things he's seen and experienced in his life. Things that are revealed in this book, in terms of his military history, and things I know from having read later books.

His military background in particular is something that I really loved. He's a Vietnam vet and since this book involves a fellow soldier, Connelly delves quite a bit into Harry's Vietnam history. It's something that I think makes him stand out for me (and something you don't see much now—but you definitely did see more of when the book originally released). This part of Harry's past—and the backstory with his mom, which is only briefly touched on in this installment—are such a huge part of what makes the character who he is!

But, as someone reading the series lopsided, he's relatively young here! He doesn't have a daughter yet, for one. He's still actively part of the LAPD, for another (the current books have him retired but still investigating).

I had so much fun doing a deep dive into Harry's history that I've already got The Black Ice and Concrete Blonde lined up and ready to go in my TBR! And again, there's a ton of backlist to dive into, so I'm sure to be busy for a while!

One side: I did find it curious, since I've read some of the books now but am only just reading the start of the series, that Connelly starts Bosch's series midstream in Bosch's career. This installment has references to previous cases that made me wonder if Connelly had ever considered any sort of Bosch prequels. I kind of hope it's something he's thought about because it'd be really cool, especially in this day and age, to get some time capsule Bosch mysteries!

Connelly has a new book hitting shelves in May and the next season of Bosch airs in April.

Order The Black Echo from BookBar!

The Night Fire by Michael Connelly

When Harry Bosch's old mentor dies, leaving behind the murder book for a twenty-year-old unsolved case, the mystery seems to be why the old cop held onto the book for so long. And the answer isn't easy to come by. Bosch asks Renee Ballard to help unravel the mystery and she becomes determined to solve the the murder itself. But two decades on, this presents some obvious challenges. 

Meanwhile, Bosch's help on one of Mickey Haller's cases leads to the acquittal of a suspect in the murder of a California judge. But that also means the real criminal is still out there, something Bosch can't let go. But his digging catches the attention of officers none to pleased to see the retired cop lending a hand as well. And with Ballard's position in the force somewhat precarious as well, it seems neither of them is going to clear their respective investigations without making a few new enemies in the process. 

I'm not sure if I've mentioned, but I've been a bit intimidated by the Bosch series. I love the show—I think Titus Welliver is wonderful and I anxiously await each new season. But breaking into the books has been a bit harder for me to manage. I mean, this is technically number 22 in the series! That's a lot of backlist if you aren't sure starting from the middle will make sense.

But when Connelly started the Renee Ballard series a couple years back, I dove in headfirst. And when Ballard's and Bosch's paths crossed, blending the two series together, I was not deterred in the least! In fact, I even started working my way back through the Bosch books, starting with the audios narrated by Welliver himself! My tally so far this year is 6 Connelly titles, most of them on audio. And the year's not done yet.

Readers, you can safely say I am a fan!

The Night Fire continues a track started in the previous Ballard/Bosch outing, Dark Sacred Night, in which the two decide they'll work cases together. Which is why Bosch is comfortable handing the file left to him by his old mentor over to the Late Show cop. Ballard has the connections to more convincingly nose into the case and Bosch has a couple of fires burning on his end already that require attention.

The two work well together and I love the interplay between them. Bosch tends to take a fatherly role that Ballard bucks every chance she can get. I also love that this book brings Haller in as well, much the way the last handful of Bosch titles have. He's not a main player here, but a vehicle for a couple of the subplots running through the story, including the case Bosch takes on for closure.

If you're interested in diving into Connelly's work, I'd recommend starting with The Late Show at the very least. This is the first in Ballard's series and, while it doesn't involve Bosch, it does give you a chance to get to know Ballard as a character, which makes it easier to understand her motivations moving forward into Dark Sacred Night and The Night Fire.

Connelly is a master of crime fiction and an absolute (new) favorite of mine!

The Late Show by Michael Connelly

Renee is part of the Late Show, the overnight shift no one wants. Sent in to kick things off and hand things over, it means never having her name connected to a big case. And that's mostly ok, especially with her partner. But when two cases in one night catch Renee's attention, she has a hard time letting them go. First, she and her partner are called to the hospital where a trans woman has been admitted after being found brutally beaten and abandoned. The woman is unconscious, but Renee can tell she's been bound and likely kept imprisoned for multiple days. The case isn't high priority for multiple reasons, especially when it's discovered the victim has a record, but Renee manages to get permission to dig deeper.

The second case, a night club shooting, is all hands on deck and Renee's own former team is lead in the investigation. Then her old partner is found dead in his garage, an apparent suicide. Bad blood between the former partners means they haven't talked in quite some time. In spite of that, Renee can't believe her old partner would ever kill himself. And so she starts poking around. And the more she looks, the more she becomes convinced it's tied to the shooting.

Michael Connelly kicks off a brand spanking new series with The Late Show, introducing readers to Renee Ballard, a cop exiled to the late shift. The why is explained as the story progresses, but aside from being forced to hand off every case without seeing them through to the finish, Renee is pretty ok with it. Her partner even more so - his wife is sick and the lat shift allows him to be with her during her waking hours, plus he's more seasoned and jaded and really not concerned with the accolades of solving a big case.

Which is not to say that Renee is concerned with accolades either. In fact, her interest in the cases in this book stem from exactly that - interest. Interest in seeing the bad guys brought to justice and interest in getting closure for the victims.

And I thought it was fantastic!

I've been a piecemeal Connelly reader - a couple of standalone here and there and a fan of the adaptations (The Lincoln Lawyer and Bosch are both excellent, though I've not really read their respective series). That's due in part to the fact that I'm a bit stubborn about reading books in order! So here was a chance to start fresh, from the beginning, with a new character, and I definitely took advantage!

Renee exists in the same universe as Bosch. There's a tiny nod to him in a passing mention that confirms this is the same LA, which I definitely appreciated. And Renee definitely has some of the same characteristics Bosch displays - most notably her tendency to stick to her guns even if it means ignoring orders coming down from those in charge. But she does it a bit more on the sly, maybe. Time will tell in that regard.

Like Bosch, Renee also has a bit of a broken childhood, details of which play out as the story progresses. And there's definitely more there than we learned in this first outing.

Again, I really thought this was fantastic all around. I loved Renee (and Lola). The pacing was dead on and the plot was pretty perfectly built!

I did actually listen to this one on audio, narrated by Katherine Moennig. When the story kicked off I wasn't quite sure the audio was going to completely click for me - narrator is definitely key in this regard - but I quickly found that I quite liked Moennig as the voice of Renee. And rather than listening in stops and starts, whenever the opportunity arose, I found myself playing the audio practically straight through!

The Late Show is perfect as an intro to Connelly and will absolutely please longtime fans as well. I look forward to big things from Renee Ballard!