Picture of author.

Michael Connelly (1) (1956–)

Author of The Lincoln Lawyer

For other authors named Michael Connelly, see the disambiguation page.

141+ Works 155,150 Members 4,099 Reviews 361 Favorited
There are 2 open discussions about this author. See now.

About the Author

Michael Connelly was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 21, 1956. He graduated from the University of Florida in 1980 where he majored in journalism and minored in creative writing. After graduation, he worked at newspapers in Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, specializing in the show more crime beat. In 1986, he interviewed survivors of a plane crash with two other reporters and the magazine story subsequently written on the crash was on the short list for the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing. This story led to a job as a crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times. After three years there, he began writing his first novel. His first novel, The Black Echo, was published in 1992 and won the Edgar Award for best first novel. He is the author of the Harry Bosch series, the Jack McEvoy series, and the Mickey Haller series. He has won numerous awards including the Anthony Award, Macavity Award, Shamus Award, Dilys Award, Nero Award, Barry Award, Ridley Award, Maltese Falcon Award (Japan), .38 Caliber Award (France), Grand Prix Award (France), Premio Bancarella Award (Italy), and the Pepe Carvalho Award (Spain). (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Series

Works by Michael Connelly

The Lincoln Lawyer (2005) 8,094 copies, 223 reviews
The Black Echo (1992) 6,259 copies, 177 reviews
The Poet (1996) 5,729 copies, 127 reviews
The Closers (2005) 5,299 copies, 100 reviews
Echo Park (2006) 5,270 copies, 108 reviews
The Brass Verdict (2008) 5,243 copies, 170 reviews
The Narrows (2004) 5,092 copies, 85 reviews
City of Bones (2002) 4,957 copies, 89 reviews
Lost Light (2003) 4,784 copies, 94 reviews
The Overlook (2007) 4,736 copies, 123 reviews
A Darkness More Than Night (2001) 4,693 copies, 87 reviews
The Black Ice (1994) 4,654 copies, 126 reviews
The Concrete Blonde (1994) 4,605 copies, 126 reviews
Angels Flight (1999) 4,605 copies, 98 reviews
Trunk Music (1997) 4,297 copies, 80 reviews
The Last Coyote (1995) 4,259 copies, 109 reviews
Nine Dragons (2009) 4,196 copies, 143 reviews
Blood Work (1997) 4,189 copies, 71 reviews
The Scarecrow (2009) 4,105 copies, 104 reviews
The Reversal (2010) 4,081 copies, 132 reviews
The Fifth Witness (2011) 3,666 copies, 114 reviews
The Drop (2011) 3,650 copies, 116 reviews
Chasing the Dime (2002) 3,606 copies, 61 reviews
Void Moon (1999) 3,351 copies, 64 reviews
The Black Box (2012) 3,266 copies, 114 reviews
The Burning Room (2014) 2,974 copies, 100 reviews
The Gods of Guilt (2013) 2,959 copies, 96 reviews
The Crossing (2015) 2,881 copies, 104 reviews
The Wrong Side of Goodbye (2016) 2,796 copies, 105 reviews
The Late Show (2017) 2,771 copies, 119 reviews
Two Kinds of Truth (2017) 2,593 copies, 76 reviews
Dark Sacred Night (2018) 2,566 copies, 89 reviews
The Night Fire (2019) 2,287 copies, 83 reviews
The Law of Innocence (2020) 1,969 copies, 64 reviews
The Dark Hours (2021) 1,812 copies, 70 reviews
Fair Warning (2020) 1,770 copies, 52 reviews
Desert Star (2022) 1,532 copies, 51 reviews
Resurrection Walk (2023) 1,288 copies, 34 reviews
Crime Beat: A Decade of Covering Cops and Killers (2006) — Author — 1,146 copies, 25 reviews
The Waiting (2024) 1,085 copies, 30 reviews
Nightshade (2025) 875 copies, 36 reviews
The Proving Ground (2025) 656 copies, 28 reviews
Switchblade [short story] (2013) 314 copies, 15 reviews
The Best American Mystery Stories : 2003 (2003) — Editor — 236 copies, 2 reviews
Ironwood (2026) 206 copies, 9 reviews
In the Shadow of the Master: Classic Tales by Edgar Allan Poe (2009) — Editor; Contributor — 204 copies, 3 reviews
The Safe Man: A Ghost Story (2024) 202 copies, 7 reviews
Blue on Black (2016) 184 copies, 8 reviews
The Blue Religion: New Stories about Cops, Criminals, and the Chase (2008) — Editor; Introduction & Contributor — 172 copies, 7 reviews
Murder in Vegas (2005) — Editor — 124 copies
The Black Echo [and] The Black Ice (2004) 81 copies, 2 reviews
Hieronymus Bosch: A Mysterious Profile (2022) 42 copies, 3 reviews
Blood Work [abridged audio] (1998) 31 copies, 2 reviews
The Drop [first 11 chapters] (2011) 28 copies, 1 review
Measures of Poison (2002) 22 copies
Red Eye (2014) — Author — 20 copies
Two Bagger [and] Chickasaw Charlie Hoke (2007) 19 copies, 1 review
The Poet / Blood Work [abridged] (2011) 10 copies, 1 review
Harry Bosch, Books 1-10 (2015) 8 copies
The Hollow (2026) 6 copies
Cielo Azul [short story] (2005) 6 copies
[Title missing] 5 copies
The Poet / The Narrows (2020) 3 copies
Murder Worthy (2017) 3 copies, 1 review
Void Moon [abridged] 3 copies, 1 review
Harry Bosch, Books 1-20 (2008) 3 copies
Harry Bosch, Books 1-14 (2011) 3 copies
The Reversal, Part 2 of 2 (2012) 2 copies
Mickey Haller, Books 1-4 (1971) 2 copies
A Fine Mist of Blood 1 copy, 1 review
Echo Park, Part 1 of 2 (2010) 1 copy

Associated Works

The Locked Room (1973) — Introduction, some editions — 1,262 copies, 35 reviews
Elevator Pitch (2019) 615 copies, 43 reviews
FaceOff (2014) — Contributor — 573 copies, 34 reviews
Half-Minute Horrors (2009) — Contributor — 315 copies, 21 reviews
In Sunlight or In Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper (2016) — Contributor — 287 copies, 16 reviews
In the Company of Sherlock Holmes (2011) — Contributor — 267 copies, 14 reviews
Vengeance (2012) — Contributor — 189 copies, 17 reviews
The Best American Mystery Stories : 2008 (2008) — Contributor — 187 copies, 2 reviews
The Best American Mystery Stories : 2002 (2002) — Contributor — 170 copies
Los Angeles Noir (2007) — Contributor — 159 copies, 5 reviews
Dangerous Women (2005) — Contributor — 151 copies, 3 reviews
The Best American Mystery Stories : 2015 (2015) — Contributor — 129 copies, 3 reviews
The Best American Mystery Stories : 2009 (2009) — Contributor — 126 copies, 3 reviews
The Best American Mystery Stories : 2018 (2018) — Contributor — 120 copies, 4 reviews
The Best American Mystery Stories : 2013 (2013) — Contributor — 103 copies, 2 reviews
Double Exposure (2009) — Contributor, some editions — 98 copies, 4 reviews
USA Noir: Best of the Akashic Noir Series (2013) — Contributor — 97 copies, 11 reviews
The Rich and the Dead (2011) — Contributor — 77 copies
When a Stranger Comes to Town (2021) — Contributor — 72 copies, 6 reviews
P. S. Ich töte dich: 13 Zehn-Minuten-Thriller (2010) — Contributor — 66 copies, 1 review
Dead Man's Hand: Crime Fiction at the Poker Table (2007) — Contributor — 63 copies, 3 reviews
The Best Mystery Stories of the Year : 2022 (2022) — Contributor — 62 copies, 2 reviews
The Highway Kind: Tales of Fast Cars, Desperate Drivers, and Dark Roads (2016) — Contributor — 57 copies, 3 reviews
The Secret Society of Demolition Writers (2005) — Contributor — 51 copies, 1 review
Murderers' Row (2001) — Contributor — 46 copies, 1 review
Six John Jordan Mysteries Volume 1 (2015) — Introduction, some editions — 44 copies, 1 review
Tampa Bay Noir (2020) — Contributor — 42 copies, 16 reviews
Earthquake Weather (2004) — Introduction — 41 copies, 1 review
Reader's Digest Select Editions 2007 v02 #290 (2007) — Contributor — 24 copies
The Interrogator and Other Criminally Good Fiction (2012) — Contributor — 21 copies, 2 reviews
The Penguin Book of Crime Stories (2007) — Contributor — 20 copies, 1 review
Florida Gothic Stories (2010) — Afterword — 8 copies, 1 review
Reader's Digest Select Editions 2018 v05 #359 (2018) — Author — 3 copies
Three Killer Thrillers (2014) — Introduction — 3 copies
Reader's Digest Select Editions 2017 v05 #353 (2017) — Contributor — 2 copies
Best of Thrillers (2022) 1 copy

Tagged

audio (491) audiobook (894) Bosch (685) California (780) Connelly (439) crime (4,341) crime fiction (1,722) detective (1,664) ebook (1,321) fiction (8,738) hardcover (429) Harry Bosch (3,849) Kindle (992) legal thriller (432) Los Angeles (2,267) Michael Connelly (951) Mickey Haller (614) murder (1,007) mystery (10,127) mystery-thriller (514) novel (728) police (620) police procedural (1,041) policier (441) read (1,726) series (1,032) suspense (965) thriller (3,356) to-read (3,894) USA (647)

Common Knowledge

Canonical name
Connelly, Michael
Birthdate
1956-07-21
Gender
male
Education
University of Florida (BA|1980 - Journalism)
Occupations
journalist
author
writer
novelist
Organizations
Mystery Writers of America (President|2003 - 2004)
Los Angeles Times
Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Awards and honors
Edgar Award for Best First Novel (1992)
Anthony Award (1997, 2003, 2009)
Macavity Award (1999, 2006)
Los Angeles Times Best Mystery/Thriller Award (2006)
Shamus Award (2006)
Dilys Award (1996, 1997) (show all 18)
Nero Award (1997)
Barry Award (1998, 2003)
Audie Award (2004, 2007, 2011, 2017, 2021)
Ridley Award
Maltese Falcon Award (1995)(Japan)
.38 Caliber Award (France)
Grand Prix de Littérature Policière (1999)
Premio Bancarella Award (2000)
Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award (2022)
Cartier Diamond Dagger (2018)
RBA Prize for Crime Writing (2012)
Premi Pepe Carvalho (2009)
Agent
Philip Spitzer (Philip G. Spitzer Literary Agency)
Short biography
Michael Connelly is the bestselling author of over thirty novels and one work of nonfiction. With over seventy-four million copies of his books sold worldwide and translated into forty foreign languages, he is one of the most successful writers working today. A former newspaper reporter who worked the crime beat at the Los Angeles Times and the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Connelly has won numerous awards for his journalism and his fiction. His very first novel, The Black Echo, won the prestigious Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1992. In 2002, Clint Eastwood directed and starred in the movie adaptation of Connelly's 1998 novel, Blood Work. In March 2011, the movie adaptation of his #1 bestselling novel, The Lincoln Lawyer, hit theaters worldwide starring Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Haller. His most recent #1 New York Times bestsellers include Dark Sacred Night, The Late Show, Two Kinds Of Truth, The Late Show, The Wrong Side Of Goodbye, The Crossing, The Burning Room, The Gods of Guilt, The Black Box, and The Drop. Michael is the executive producer of BOSCH, an Amazon Studios original drama series based on his bestselling character Harry Bosch, starring Titus Welliver and streaming on Amazon Prime. He is also the executive producer of the documentary films, SOUND OF REDEMPTION: The Frank Morgan Story and Tales Of the American. He spends his time in California and Florida.
Nationality
USA
Birthplace
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Places of residence
Gainesville, Florida, USA
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
Los Angeles, California, USA
Tampa Bay, Florida, USA
Map Location
Estats Units
Associated Place (for map)
Florida, USA

Members

Discussions

For fellow Michael Connelly Fans - Who should I turn to next? in Crime, Thriller & Mystery (April 23)
Chat in Book Discussion : Blood Work by Michael Connelly (September 2025)
Chat in Book Discussion : Trunk Music by Michael Connelly (November 2024)
Chat in Book Discussion : The Poet by Michael Connelly (January 2024)
Let’s Meet the Author in Book Discussion : The Last Coyote by Michael Connelly (March 2023)
Chat in Book Discussion : The Last Coyote by Michael Connelly (March 2023)
Chat in Book Discussion : The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly (July 2020)
Chat in Book Discussion : The Black Ice by Michael Connelly (May 2020)
Chat in Book Discussion : The Black Echo by Michael Connelly (August 2019)

Reviews

4,370 reviews
According to my records, I read this in December of 2019, but I left no review, and now that I've (technically) reread it, I can't imagine why. It's a barn-burner, full of Bosch's deep skepticism and suspicion of his own police force, full of seamy stories and liars and losses, Harry's included. There might have been a time I wasn't prepared to dive back into this series, but it sat well with me now.

Harry is called in to a murder of a prominent defense attorney and gadfly of the police, not show more the honorable kind but definitely an effective one from his own perspective. Suing the City of Los Angeles is a lucrative business. Of course, suspicion falls on the cops themselves, and the city tries to keep the lid on potential riots.

But there are a lot of moving parts here, a lot of people with agendas and secrets. By the end of the story, we know who they are, or were. I'm sure we will meet those still alive down the road.
show less
A decade or so ago, I read Michael Connelly's "Blood Work", the start of a series about an ex-FBI agent, didn't think much of it and never went back for more.

I now know that I should have started with Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch books. I decided to try them out because I keep hearing them referenced by other writers as something their own characters read, to set them in a particular milieu. I felt as if I was missing out on something.
I always have to start a series from the beginning. In show more this case, the beginning was twenty four years ago. When I saw that "The Black Echo" was published in 1992, I was doubtful about how well a story about an LAPD detective would stand up after all that time.

I found that "The Black Echo" stands up very well indeed, mainly because the plot is much more complex and much more original that it at first seems and the story is told with a momentum that never lets up.

It took me a while to go back to the nineties, when cops wore pagers and had to find pay-phones to make calls; when smoking was seen a normal or perhaps even inevitable and complaining about it was a character flaw; and when serving police officers were still likely to veterans of the Vietnam War. The way Connelly writes, building Bosch's world one detail at a time with no details wasted, the nineties paraphernalia came across as authentic period detail rather than sounding dated or tired.

Even after only one book, I can see Harry Bosch's potential as a strong, long-running character. His strengths: persistence, a need to know, a logical mind, a certain ruthlessness and his flaws: an inability to become part of the institutional family, a smart mouth when faced with incompetent authority, war-memory induced insomnia, and a chronic inability to have fun, provide a fascinating potential for success and self-destruction.

I listened to Dick Hill narrate "The Black Echo". Perhaps it's because I'm more used to hearing him read the Jack Reacher novels, but I found myself comparing Harry Bosch and Jack Reacher. At first the two seemed to be cut from the same cloth but by the end of "Black Echo" I realised that Connelly's plot was more complex and more realistic than most of Child's novels and that, unlike the increasingly psychopathic Reacher, Bosch is actually trying to solve things within the law. He's also capable of a great deal more introspection than Reacher.

So now I'm a Harry Bosch fan albeit more than twenty years after everyone else. Still, it's good to know that there's still new stuff to find out there,
show less
In book three of the Harry Bosch series, Connelly finally hits his stride. The preceding two books frequently referenced the lethal shooting of a serial killer, a career-changer that resulted in Harry being transferred out of the glamorous (?!) Robbery-Homicide Division and into the hinterlands in Hollywood. In The Concrete Blonde, the case is being tried in a civil court. Harry's refused to plead or settle, and is making do with a lawyer from the D.A.'s office against a top-notch civil show more rights attorney, Honey Chandler.

The tale opens with the very scene where it all began, Bosch and a streetwalker informant watching the apartment of a man who is possibly The Dollmaker, a serial killer who rapes and kills his victims, and then garishly applies makeup to their faces. Segue into the courtroom, where Harry's trial is about to begin. During recess, he gets a call from his lieutenant, asking him to come to a homicide scene. They were led there by a note echoing the handwriting and style of The Dollmaker, and the information in the rhyme has led detectives to a woman buried in concrete. Harry is sure in his gut that he shot the right man, so is this the work of a copycat or is Harry wrong?

It's an reasonably intriguing premise--aside from Harry's gut doing the detecting--made urgent by the trial. To add to the tension, it appears someone has leaked information to the prosecuting attorney, so it isn't long before Harry and his somewhat inept attorney are threatened with contempt of court. The back and forth from the courtroom to solving the mystery of the woman in concrete keep the pace moving. His relationship with Sylvia provides a counterpoint to the sordidness of the case and the trial.

One of the strange things about the series for me is the 80s setting. It's so odd to think of a time of pagers and public telephones. In-time information isn't quite as much of a lynch pin in this case, so it's easier to ignore. There's a couple of red herrings, the first quite obvious, the second less so, but the law of character conservation holds. I will note that it's a relief for a mystery-thriller to not feel the need to explore the serial-killer POV.

Although Connelly still has a rather flat, simplistic writing style, he seems to be improving stylistically, or at least allowing himself to drift away from the narrow confines of Harry's basic world-view. A couple of points was almost poetic, as Harry muses at various points about the nature of justice.

"The lack of hospitality exists because the federal government does not want its courthouse to give even the appearance that justice may be slow, or nonexistent... There is enough of that going on across Spring Street in the County Criminal Courts building. Every day the benches in the hallways of every floor are clogged with those who wait. Mostly they are women and children, their husbands or fathers or lovers held in lockup. Mostly they are black or brown. Mostly the benches look like crowded life rafts--women and children first--with people pressed together and cast adrift, waiting, always waiting, to be found."

A game changer for me as well. Fast-paced, I devoured it in one night. I'll definitely be moving on with the series.
show less
Michael Connelly is hands down one of my favorite authors. I've read all of his books and can't recommend them enough.
His latest is Desert Star. It's the fifth book that pairs up Harry Bosch and Renée Ballard. (And is the 36th to feature Harry!) Connelly has kept things moving forward in his series, with his protagonists aging and lives changing. Harry is now retired, but is the proverbial war-horse. With Renée heading up the the newly revived LAPD Open-Unsolved Unit, Harry has a chance to show more volunteer and clear the 'white whale' case of his career at last. "Everybody counts or nobody counts."

I was so eager to see where Harry's life was now. Long time readers, there's an opening chapter that will have you already cringing. Enough said.

There are literally thousands of unsolved cases to tackle. The one Harry wants cleared is the murder of an entire family of four. The one they need to solve to keep the unit open is the death of a politico's sister many years ago. The methodology of working on decades old cases is fascinating. New techniques can be used on old evidence. DNA is prominent in investigations. But it still needs someone who can put the pieces together, ask the right questions and follow the right clues. And that's Harry Bosch. But, he's not a rule follower and continues to work things in his own fashion, ruffling feathers along the way.

I devoured Desert Star, immediately caught up again in Connelly's writing and plotting. Both are outstanding. Connelly knows what he's writing. The dialogue, interactions, investigation and more have the ring of authenticity.

An easy five stars.

And I'll leave you to ponder this.... is it ever okay to do the wrong thing for the right reason?
show less

Lists

Awards

You May Also Like

Associated Authors

Robert Pépin Translator, Traduction
Otto Penzler Series Editor
Elmore Leonard Contributor
Titus Welliver Narrator, Reader
Dick Hill Narrator, Reader
Len Cariou Narrator
Laurie R. King Contributor
Lawrence Block Contributor
Buck Schirner Narrator
Jeffrey Deaver Contributor
Lisa Scottoline Contributor
Edward D. Hoch Contributor
Nelson DeMille Contributor
Sara Paretsky Contributor
S. J. Rozan Contributor
Doug Allyn Contributor
Walter Mosley Contributor
John Peyton Cooke Contributor
Joyce Carol Oates Contributor
Mike Doogan Contributor
Christopher Cook Contributor
Robert McKee Contributor
Hannah Tinti Contributor
Monica Wood Contributor
Scott Wolven Contributor
O'Neil De Noux Contributor
Scott Phillips Contributor
Tyler Dilts Contributor
Brendan DuBois Contributor
Daniel Stashower Contributor
Pete Dexter Contributor
James Crumley Contributor
Sue Grafton Contributor
Harry Clarke Illustrator
Stephen King Contributor
Joseph Wambaugh Contributor
Laura Lippman Contributor
Tess Gerritsen Cover artist
P. J. Parrish Contributor
Thomas H. Cook Contributor
Jan Burke Contributor
Bev Vincent Contributor
John Buentello Contributor
Polly Nelson Contributor
Leslie Glass Contributor
John Harvey Contributor
Paul Guyot Contributor
James O. Born Contributor
Jack Fredrickson Contributor
Persia Walker Contributor
Jon L. Breen Contributor
Diana Hansen-Young Contributor
Paula L. Woods Contributor
Peter Robinson Contributor
Greg Rucka Contributor
Alafair Burke Contributor
Gay Toltl Kinman Contributor
Linda Kerslake Contributor
Michael Collins Contributor
Ronnie Klaskin Contributor
James Swain Contributor
Ruth Cavin Contributor
A.B. Robbins Contributor
Micki Marz Contributor
K. J. A. Wishnia Contributor
Jeremiah Healy Contributor
Lise McClendon Contributor
Fischer Hellmann Contributor
John Wessel Contributor
Edward Wellen Contributor
Wendy Hornsby Contributor
Rick Mofina Contributor
Joan Richter Contributor
T.P. Keating Contributor
Tom Savage Contributor
J. Madison Davis Contributor
Sue Pike Contributor
Dan Cashman Narrator
Lee Horsley Narrator
Gianni Montanari Translator
Peter Giles Narrator, Reader
Jean Esch Translator
Eva Larsson Translator
Robert Pépin Traduction
Sepp Leeb Übersetzer
Adam Grupper Narrator
Nicholas Verhoeven Cover artist
Amedeo Romeo Translator
Javier Guerrero Translator
Hans Kooijman Translator
Anna Rusconi Translator
Marc Lobato Narrator
Gianna Lonza Translator
Lauren Harms Cover designer
Zach Villa Narrator
Mario J. Pulice Cover designer
Madison Lintz Narrator
Alfredo Colitto Translator
John Lee Reader
Alan Sklar Reader
Natalie Ross Narrator
Phil Gigante Narrator

Statistics

Works
141
Also by
102
Members
155,150
Popularity
#39
Rating
3.9
Reviews
4,099
ISBNs
3,509
Languages
29
Favorited
361

Charts & Graphs