Desert Star: The Brand New Blockbuster Ballard & Bosch Thriller

Product Information

Connelly poignantly shows the cold case unit’s new homicide archive where the murder books of the unsolved cases are stored. Bosch and Ballard often run their fingers over these murder books when they are passing, as if connecting with those deceased. This is “hallowed ground to Bosch. The library of lost souls.” We are seeing Ballard mature as she attempts to branch out in her career, learning to work with different team members, politicians, and more. We also get to see a bit more of Maddie, Bosch's daughter. As always, Bosch is my favorite, no matter how grumpy or stubborn he may appear, and I'll love him forever. I'll be so lost when his role in Connelly's books ends.

A massive thank you as always to the team at Allen and Unwin for sending an early copy to this Bosch fan - you made my day when this arrived. He’s still out there. Somewhere. You want to try to make a case with me, or do you want to just stand on your anger?” In “Desert Star”, Harry Bosch recruited in by his old partner, Renee Ballard, to help with her new unit, Open-Unsolved Unit, that is responsible for closing cold cases. She garners Harry’s interest with one of Harry’s cold cases that got under his skin. It involved a cold-blooded murder of a family including their 13-year old son and 9-year old daughter with a nail gun, buried in a single grave. It’s impossible for me to say if this would work as a stand alone. I’ve read every book in both the Bosch and Ballard series. Amid the precise plotting, in-depth character studies and meticulous police procedurals, Michael Connelly’s novels about Harry Bosch are a long arc about the personality, motivations and psychological makeup of this police detective, illustrating his life from his mid-40s to his now senior years. Connelly’s crime novels have shown Bosch as a product of institutions — from his days in foster care, the military to the Los Angeles Police Department.But then the second ring was accompanied by a voice calling his name. It was a voice he recognized. Bosch thought about that for a few moments. McShane had wiped out the whole Gallagher family in 2013 and buried them in the desert. But Bosch had never been able to prove it. And then he retired. He hadn’t solved every case he’d been assigned in almost 30 years working murders. No homicide detective ever did. But it was a whole family. It was the one case he hated most to leave on the table. The story moves at a fast pace. I was engaged from the start. I appreciate that both characters continue to grow with each book. Harry is dealing with the issues that come with age. Renee is trying to figure out how to be a manager. It will be very interesting to see where Connelly takes this series next. I'm glad I've been with Harry Bosch the whole way through this mystery thriller series, (I think there's been 24 in all) and he's my favourite investigator in crime fiction and it's always a pleasure to catch up with him. The ending in this is particularly moving, and I won't say more than that. Michael Connelly’s continues the partnership of Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch and Renee’ Ballard, two of our favorite law enforcement officers. It has been a year since their last outing, “The Dark Hours” which ended with detective Ballard quitting the police force in an act of rebellion against the old boy’s political network and blatant sexism.

LAPD detective Renée Ballard and Harry Bosch work together to hunt the killer who is Bosch’s “white whale”—a man responsible for the murder of an entire family.

Trending Nationally

Ben Coes, New York Times bestselling author of international espionage thrillers featuring Dewey Andreas Ehhh. Renee didn’t read like herself at all. She’s in essence a boss in this one, and honestly at times not a good one. She seems to need Harry involved with everything and I was like have you met him? One even wonders why she was so gung-ho on having him included. We get to know some of the other volunteers in the unit and I can’t say too much about any of them except for two of the characters because they were essential to the plot. One of them (Hatteras) got on my nerves. I wanted more personal detail from Renee, where was she living, how was this new unit seen by her former lieutenant, and partner from the last book. She was like persona non grata with the last book and the whole thing just got skipped over. Remember the New Guy?: One might think that the Gallagher Family case, Bosch's "white whale", would have mentioned a merit in The Burning Room, especially since Bosch's forcible retirement at the end of that book meant that he wasn't going to close it. She leads a cold case unit, and this gives Bosch the opportunity to try and solve a case he left behind prior to his retirement.