Friday, June 16, 2017

THE BURNING ROOM A Harry Bosch Novel by Michael Connelly

Finished We 6/14/17

This is a trade paperback that I bought at this year's library book sale.
This might be Harry Bosch's last time with the LA police. The novel ends with his suspension and it might be more trouble than it's worth to continue. I ordered the next in the series from Amazon and it looks like Bosch will team up with his half brother, Micky Haller, a Los Angeles lawyer, and his new, young, Hispanic partner, Lucia Soto will assist them.

Harry has been assigned a rookie, Lucy Soto. She is a new detective and was recently involved in a gunfight where she held off the bad guys until a SWAT Team arrived. He's going to accept a Lump Sum Pension within the year (DROP- Deferred Retirement Option Plan)  and it's department policy that 'the oldest' get partnered with 'the youngest'. He is working in the Open/Unsolved Cases Unit.

Two Cases-
1) A Mariachi band member was shot and paralyzed ten years before and he has finally died. The coroner rules that his death was due to the bullet, so the DA will look for a murder conviction, but it's up to Harry and Lucy to find the culprit.

They learn that the man who died was not the intended victim. The trumpet player was the actual target because he was having an affair with a very rich and politically connected 'Concret King'.


2) Lucy was almost killed in a day care fire when she was five. Harry and Lucy learn that this fire was set as a diversionary tactic to draw police away from a bank robbery. 'Mother's Day'- When the bank must have the most money on hand because the welfare checks have been received by 'the mothers'.

The perps are the two gunmen that killed many law enforcement personnel in the real 1997 shooting. These men essentially were more well equipped than the police and outgunned law enforcement. Harry was actually involved in this incident. He guarded the gunmen's abandoned car. He notices the accelerant that was used in the daycare fire.

Link at wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Hollywood_shootout

In the novel a woman was involved in setting up the robbery and coverup fire. This woman was so deeply affected that she disappears and becomes a nun. She donates her part of the robbery money to pay off the loan on an obscure order where she lives and takes the name of one of the children who died in the fire. Before she can be questioned by Harry and Lucy, she is killed by drug cartel members in Mexico where the nun was on a mission of mercy.

The reason that Harry has been suspended is that he picked the lock on a captain's office to get into files to obtain information. This man had security cameras set up to protect his collection of valuable pens.

Anything by Connelly is always worth a look and the fact that I ordered the next in the series shows how I feel about the books. Although, it seems to me that the earlier books about Bosch seemed to be a little more involved and better written. Has Connelly 'dumbed down' his writing style or is it just me?

The book at amazon-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Hollywood_shootout

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