Wandering though a Barnes & Noble on my way home the other night I saw to my delight that Michael Connelly has a new book out. It’s titled “The Wrong Side of Goodbye” and features Connelly’s hero detective, Heronimous “Harry” Bosch.
Maybe you’re familar with Bosch from the Amazon series of the same title. I’ve yet to watch a season of the show, but with the exception of his newest novel, I’ve read all of Michael Connelly’s novels. They were all worth my time and money.
One day, more than ten years ago I had been meandering though another Barnes & Noble when I first encountered Mr. Connelly. I was examining a paper back of his book “The Poet”. On the top of the front cover was a blurb stating that there was a new introduction from Stephen King.
However, the fact that the legendary Stephen King had provided an introduction for this book prodded my curiosity. What was this book? Who was this writer, Michael Connelly? And What was this book, The Poet?
As it turned out The Poet is the book that introduced me to the masterful storytelling of Michael Connelly. After devouring The Poet in a rapid four nights and staying up well past my bedtime to do so, I became addicted to Connelly.
I went and read his entire backlist and caught up with his current publication schedule. It was well worth both my time and money. If you’re a fan of a great mystery, I don’t think you can go wrong when you’re in the hands of a master storyteller like Michael Connelly.
Here are five of my favorite books from Michael Connelly that I am proud to recommend:
The Poet
Like the first girlfriend or first kiss or something like that, I’ll always remember when I discovered a writer that I am obsessively compelled to read. I have a special relationship with The Poet that will probably always be there. I’ve recommended it to everyone who’s looking for a good book or a good mystery. I’m even itching to read it again myself.
The Concrete BlondeThis was Connelly’s third novel and the third novel in the Harry Bosch series. It’s also the book where I feel Connelly really hit his stride with his writing and the character and never looked back. The Black Echo and The Black Ice are both good books. The Black Echo is a tremendous debut novel, but there was just something about The Concrete Blond that unleashed the obsessive compulsive reader within me, just like The Poet did.
The Last CoyoteThe fourth book for Connelly’s and in the Bosch series, the follow up to The Concrete Blonde is superb. In many ways this is the book that led to a deep emotional connection with Harry Bosch, as at the time it was the most emotional of the stories Connelly had written. In the Last Coyote, Harry Bosch is on administrative leave from the LAPD but he can’t stop the drive within him to solve crimes and catch killers. So he sets out to solve the unsolved murder of his own mother.
The Lincoln LawyerThe Lincoln Lawyer was Connelly’s new protagonist, defense attorney Mickey Haller. Given the expansive size of the County of Los Angeles where Haller practices law, he opts to work out of the back of a Lincoln Towncar while a driver takes him from court room appearances and meetings with clients.
I resisted reading this book for a long time. I’d worked closely with law enforcement and prosecutors for so long in my own life, that it shaded me to dislike and distrust defense attorneys. I had no interest in reading a book featuring a defense attorney, even if it was written by Connelly.One chapter into the Lincoln Lawyer and I realized I was an idiot. I again found myself in the hands of the master story teller and I enjoyed every bit of the ride.
The ReversalThis book is literally the best of both worlds. It was the teaming up of Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller. They wouldn’t team up again until last year’s The Crossing (which is incredible and evidence that Connelly still is at the top of his storytelling game), but that is definitely a Bosch book with Haller playing an important yet only supporting role.
The Reversal was a legitimate team up, the hardened LAPD detective with the disdained criminal defense attorney. But this time Haller was playing for Harry’s side, re-trying a high profile case as an independent prosecutor for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office that had screwed up the first case with Bosch serving as his investigator.
If you love mysteries, police procedural, and courtroom dramas, then these five books should more than satisfy your literary cravings. I wouldn’t be surprised if like me, you were to fall in love with Michael Connelly’s works. They are absolutely among the most consistently good stories being told by a great storyteller