After the delight that “Angels Flight” was, I was eager to delve into Michael Connelly's 'City of Bones', the eighth instalment in the Harry Bosch series. Although it did not quite live up to the intensely riveting and thrilling standards set by some of its predecessors, it still proved to be a very enjoyable read.

»The point is, this doctor says it was just a kid, Harry. So could you humor us and go check out this humerus?”«

From the onset, Connelly's writing style was as engaging as ever; as a result, the story was well-paced, providing a steady flow of intrigue and suspense that kept me turning the pages. However, I did find certain sections to be a bit lagging, lacking the heart-pounding intensity that I've come to expect from a Bosch novel.

»Bosch almost laughed.
“The department doesn’t care about it. The department cares about the image, not the truth. And when the truth endangers the image, then fuck the truth.”
“Well, I care, Harry. And so do you.”
Bosch looked down at the card and nodded and put it in his pocket.
“Okay, I’ll call you.”«

Harry remains a compelling character. Connelly continues to explore Bosch's complex personality, delving into his psychological makeup and personal life, which adds depth to the narrative. Bosch's unyielding determination and relentless pursuit of justice are admirable, making him a true master of his craft. However, I found his character development in this book to be somewhat stagnant compared to earlier instalments.

»Don’t go existential on me, Harry. The important thing is that it means something to you. And if it means something to you, then it is important to do what you can.«

The supporting characters were well-developed and added colour to the story. Connelly does a fantastic job of creating multi-dimensional characters that feel real and authentic. However, some of the secondary characters felt underutilised, and I would have liked to see them play a more significant role in the plot, e. g. Julia whose storyline felt unfinished…

»“By the way, I’m Julia Brasher. I’m new in the division.”
- “Harry Bosch.”
“I know. I’ve heard of you.”
- “I deny everything.”«

Ultimately, if you're a fan of the Harry Bosch series, this book is definitely worth a read. If you’re new to Bosch, consider “Angels Flight” instead.

Four stars out of five.

»“Somebody once told me that life was the pursuit of one thing. Redemption. The search for redemption.”
“For what?”
“For everything. Anything. We all want to be forgiven.”

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Ceterum censeo Putin esse delendam ( )

Print:3/1/2003 (Grand Central Publishing; pp. 448; ISBN 978-0446611619); Audio: 9/1/2009 ISBN 9781607880783 (Hachette Audio; 11 hours, 6 min.); Feature Film: Not that I’m aware of.
Series: Harry Bosch 8
Main characters:
Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch=D-3 LAPD Hollywood Detective
Jerry (Jed) Edgar = LAPD Hollywood Detective
Julia Brasher = Rookie LAPD Officer
SUMMARY:
Apparently it’s fairly common to get a call from a citizen that their dog has come upon a bone in the hills, that appears to be human, but it’s not very common for the bone(s) to actually BE human. This one is. Worse yet, it’s a child’s. It’s going to take a lot of detecting to discover who was murdered, when, and by whom, but Detective Bosch rarely fails.
AUTHOR:
Michael Connelly. According to Michael’s website, “Michael Connelly was born in Philadelphia, PA on July 21, 1956. He moved to Florida with his family when he was 12 years old. Michael decided to become a writer after discovering the books of Raymond Chandler while attending the University of Florida. Once he decided on this direction he chose a major in journalism and a minor in creative writing — a curriculum in which one of his teachers was novelist Harry Crews.”.
NARRATOR:
Peter Jay Fernandez. According to IMDb, “Peter Jay Fernandez was born on August 15, 1953 in Brockton, Massachusetts, USA. He is an actor, known for The Adjustment Bureau (2011), Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017) and Deception (2008).” I enjoyed Peter’s narration.

GENRE: Murder Mystery, Police Drama
ACTION: No
LGBT FRIENDLY: Neutral
VIOLENCE: Yes, but primarily we hear about it after the fact.
POLITICS: Neutral
LOCATIONS: Los Angeles
SUBJECTS: Murder, child abuse, foster children, film industry, police procedures and terminology, forensics.

FUN REFERENCES:
Investigations takes Bosch to a film set where an actor is reading for a film called “The Closers” about the detectives who close cases. This was before the 2005-2012 series featuring Kyra Sedgwick as “The Closer” came out.
DEMOGRAPHICS
The main characters are middle-aged adults from a variety of ethnicities. The victim is a 12 year old boy.
EVALUATION:
I generally do not read reviews of things before I read listen to, or watch them, but I accidentally read one of this first. The man said this was his least favorite of Connelly’s works. I don’t see it. I found this as captivating as the rest.
SAMPLE QUOTATION:
"Bosche's cell phone chirped and he welcomed the intrusion into his thoughts on small deaths. It was Mankiewicz, the watch sergeant at the Hollywood Division of the Los Angeles Police Department.
'You finished with that yet?'
'I'm about clear.'
'Anything?'
'A changed-my-mind-suicide. You got something else?'
'Yeah. And I didn't think I should go out on the radio with it. Must be a slow day for the media--getting more what's-happening calls from reporters than I am getting service calls from citizens. They all want to do something on the first one, the actress on Mullholland. You know, a death-of-a-Hollywood-dream story. And they'd probably jump all over this latest call, too.'
'Yeah, what is it?'
'A citizen up in Laurel Canyon. On Wonderland. He just called and said his dog came back from a run in the woods with a bone in its mouth. The guys says it's human--an arm bone from a kid.'"
RATING:
As usual with Connelly’s novels, I gave this book 4 stars because I felt it was well written and kept my interest. ( )

"A citizen up in Laurel Canyon. On Wonderland. He just called up and said his dog came back from a run in the woods with a bone in its mouth. The guy said it's human - an arm bone from a kid." Bosch almost groaned. There were four or five call outside like this a year. Hysteria always followed by simple explanation: animal bones.

Very good mystery/detective tale about finding bones of 12 year old boy 20 years after being murdered.

Sicuramente un'altra avvincente indagine di Harry Bosch e soci, con tutti i tratti caratteristici dei precedenti romanzi.
Condivido il parere di altri lettori sul finale un po' forzato ma per quanto riguarda altri interrogativi irrisolti (...che qui non spoilero) bisogna affidarsi ai libri successivi per avere una risposta.
Tutti i romanzi di Connelly hanno un trait d'union che li lega: consiglio di leggerli in rigoroso ordine cronologico! ( )