The Narrows (original 2004; edition 2004)

Another great Connelly book. Interesting build at the beginning, slow at times in the middle, but very exciting towards the end. The Poet strikes again, but Rachel and Bosch respond accordingly. Full of mystery, suspense, and adventure. If you like the Bosch series you won't be disappointed with this one. ( )

An otherwise excellent follow-up to "The Poet" was spoiled by the characterization of the FBI agent in charge, whose arrogant, abrasive, dim-witted personality may be Connelly trying to work out demons from his reporter past. He has Harry Bosch give a rather out of character critique of the Bureau as he's driving, which drives home the same point. Besides this distraction, a great page-turner. ( )

This is actually the first Michael Connelly book I've read, so I had no previous history with Rachel Walling, Harry Bosch, or the Poet. The book is an easy read and goes quickly, I was pleased that even though I did not know the history of the characters, this book gives the basic backstory of "The Poet," so I wasn't entirely lost; that is, this book stands on its own and reading previous books isn't a prerequisite for enjoying this. Additionally, I found the amount of procedural information to be just about right; when I have read John Grisham novels in the past, I have felt his explanation of the legal system to be redundant and felt as if he was talking down to me, assuming I had no idea what a grand jury was and such. Not so with this. While Connelly does explain the shorthand terms the FBI agents use, it is not presented in a way to suggest he thinks the reader is an idiot.

The story is well paced, the writing is not challenging but not insulting to my intelligence, an enjoyable read I could easily see translated into film. A nice quick detective thriller. ( )

This novel didn't really work for me. I just think it's like a dozen other novels that I've read. It brings nothing new to the table. Novels about serial killers have become a dime a dozen. You would think we have hundreds of serial killers based on the proliferation of them in crime novels. The other thing that strikes me as trite is that the serial killer is a former FBI agent. I have seen this done so many times that it makes me yawn, not to mention that it's horribly unrealistic. To my knowledge I am not familiar with any real like police officers who were also serial killers yet thriller novelists treat this as a normal occurence. The plot was trite and dull. I would advise to skip this one.
Carl Alves - author of Two For Eternity ( )

This novel didn't really work for me. I just think it's like a dozen other novels that I've read. It brings nothing new to the table. Novels about serial killers have become a dime a dozen. You would think we have hundreds of serial killers based on the proliferation of them in crime novels. The other thing that strikes me as trite is that the serial killer is a former FBI agent. I have seen this done so many times that it makes me yawn, not to mention that it's horribly unrealistic. To my knowledge I am not familiar with any real like police officers who were also serial killers yet thriller novelists treat this as a normal occurence. The plot was trite and dull. I would advise to skip this one.
Carl Alves - author of Two For Eternity ( )