That late into a series (this is the 11th Bosch novel), you either like (or at least tolerate) the author's style and the main detective's oddities (and/or the supporting cast) or you had bailed out a long time ago. Technically this one may be a good place to start into the series (old grievances coming into the open notwithstanding) but as with most modern crime series, it works better as part of the series.

Bosch is back into LAPD, partnered again with Kiz but this time not in the Homicide team proper but in the Open/Unsolved Unit - the LAPD name for the Cold Cases. Early in the book, a character notes that the biggest obstacle to working on these is not time but the department itself - things had been lost (intentionally or not; permanently or not) through the years and solving puzzles with missing pieces is never fun (solving puzzles when someone mixed in pieces from other puzzles is even worse and that is often the case with these as well). As is often the case, that's not there just to fill the pages - it tells you where this story is heading early on - see my note above about the author's style.

His return to the force seems to start very well - there had been a positive DNA match in the murder of Rebecca Verloren 17 years ago, back in 1988. Except that nothing in this case sounds right to Bosch. Cold cases novels can be a bit slow - usually noone is in a particular hurry after all those years. The murder may be a cold case or open/unsolved if you will) but the new investigation opens a lot of old secrets and wounds - in ways that a lot of people would rather not see them open.

As usual, Los Angeles, the city and its history, are an important element of the novel - Bosch cannot exist elsewhere and in a different time. That adds some depth to the story but it also is probably one of the weaker novels in the series - some of the topics it covered sounded like a rehash of the same topics in earlier stories. One thing the novel works for is showing Bosch changing even more - he was the lone wolf who did not care about anyone at the start of the series and now almost feels like a team player (until he does not of course). His professional relationship with Kiz is a lot more strained than the last few times we saw them together - and it is not just because Bosch is being himself.

Overall not a bad entry in the series and I like where Bosch is going (and I much prefer him inside the police than outside of it as in the last few novels). ( )

The books in this series are amazing!
You start reading them and the next thing you know you are 100 pages in. All of them are solid well gold stories.
This time Harry is back after a 3 year leave
He works in open unsolved cases, this case is 17 years old and is about a 16 year teenager who was murdered.
Fantastic book. ( )

I give it three and a half stars. I liked it, but felt it was a little slow. Good story and love Harry Bosch. ( )

I was told that the Bosch storylines slowed for a few novels. This must be the start. But Connelly held the story together building intensity wit Kiz Rider as his counter point. The ending was superb and bit of a surprise. And Bosch came through character wise with Connelly going over the top. ( )

I like the direction Connelly takes this one and how Bosch is evolving. I'm also glad the audiobook included a little note from the author at the end as I'd started to get suspicious that maybe Connelly was one of those authors who doesn't write his own books, but he seems legit, so I can feel comfortable continuing to read him. ( )