Monday, October 17, 2011

Book Review: Suicide Run by Michael Connelly


I’d dare say that this October could be named Michael Connelly, or rather Harry Bosch month, since during it no less than three books starring the legendary comp will see the light of day. Never mind that two of them, Suicide Run and Angle of Investigation are just short story collections (both out already in England and Ireland) and can only be acquired as eBooks. (There are three short stories in each of them.) The third one, The Drop, is of course a novel, and it will come out on the 27th of October in Europe and a month later in the US.
     But let’s now take a look at the eBook at hand. Suicide Run is the title of the first story in this collection, in which we find Bosch and his partner Jerry Edgar working the night shift at the Hollywood Division. During it they are being called at the scene of a suicide. The suicide victim is a young wannabe actress and at the beginning things look clear as day. However Harry thinks there’s more to this case than that which at first meets the eye, so with the precious help of one of his favorite colleagues, Kismin Rider, he decides to take a better look at the facts surrounding it.
     In Cielo Azul, we meet the good detective while he’s on his way to the San Quentin prison. He’s going there to meet a psychotic killer, a few days before he’s executed for the brutal murder of a fifteen year old girl ten years before. Bosch, who arrested the perp, only wants to meet him in order to find out what’s the real name of the victim; the girl he came to call and remember as Cielo Azul.
     One-Dollar Jackpot is the title of the final story in which Bosch is called upon to investigate the murder of, a minor celebrity and fulltime poker player, Tracey Blitzstein. The woman was shot dead while in her car outside her house. Being in the kind of business that she was, and having earned a big sum of money at the casino, not long before, it’s obvious that more than one people would want to harm her. The perp could be one of her competitors, or a thief, or even that mysterious man that followed her out of the casino. But, as it’s often the case, things are much simpler than they seem.
     In this short collection we have three well-written stories which will undoubtedly bring enough joy to the fans of the good author and his most likeable hero.

No comments: