1A

What did you think to the opening chapter of the book? Was this a good way to set up the book? Did it hook you in?

Harry is always in trouble but the opening didn't give us any details. I was definitely hooked, if only to find out what happened this time.

Having not remembered what happened in the last one I felt the opening was lacking detail and didn’t make it easy if you read it as a standalone, which all good series books should allow. Obviously I wanted to know what happened so semi hooked but it lacked the pace from a beginning I like to see.

The only thing we really learned was that Sylvia had left him. But it was an interesting beginning - Bosch having to undergo psych-evaluation for some reason. Good hook to catch the reader’s attention.

Yes I was hooked from the beginning! I had read the synopsis of the book so knew what was happening.

I made it through the first part. As I said, I don't know how available I will be, but I'll check in. Harry's middle name is "Trouble". Syvia was a long time coming to leaving him. She should have done it long ago but I will admit that I was never a big fan of Sylvia either. She didn't have the "understanding" or the patience to live with or be married to a cop. Believe me...you don't plan your life...you just go with what's happening now, and Sylvia never could do that.

I was intrigued. Having just read the previous book I was expecting to hear something connected to the outcome of the civil suit which dominated that book. Instead it looks as if Harry is in a load of different trouble altogether.

Having not read any of the previous books only Carol's outline of them; thanks Carol, the opening chapter gave me a look at Harry, a deeply troubled man: raised by a prostitute mother, who was murdered, placed into foster care after being removed from her care, service in Vietnam as a tunnel rat and a homicide detective in Lost Angeles in a time after the Rodney King Riots.It was a good opening for me to get into the story.

>8 JohnDBurke: You're welcome, John. Michael Connelly does such a great job with the characters in this series.

>8 JohnDBurke: Can see how it was a good introduction to Harry as a character.

>10 Andrew-theQM: yes Andrew really got the juices flowing

It got my interest - Harry is always in some sort of trouble and I wanted to find out how he ended up on leave. I didn’t remember what he’d done to Pounds, etal in the last book as it had been so long since we read it.

It got me interested too. I thought starting with Bosch in the Chinatown session was a good hook. I’d forgotten most everything from the prior books. Sylvia who? Lol.

It got me hooked, and gave me an insight into this character: he's on leave, resents being in the patient's chair for the police psychiatrist, and is watching his life fall apart. I also thought it did a good job with setting up Connelly's writing style: short, terse, pulling no punches.