The Black Echo

by Michael Connelly (Goodreads author!)

The Black Echo

published

December 1st 2002 by Warner Books

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binding

Mass Market Paperback, 496 pages

literary awards

Edgar Award for Best First Novel (1993)

isbn

0446612731 (isbn13: 9780446612739)

description

For LAPD homicide cop Harry Bosch -- hero, maverick, nighthawk -- the body in the drainpipe at Mulholland Dam is more than another anonymous statistic...more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1348)

All ratings | 5 stars (267) | 4 stars (491) | 3 stars (302) | 2 stars (35) | 1 star (3) | avg 3.92

all | this edition

Alexa

Alexa rated it:

08/19/07

Read in August, 2001

I read an article in the L.A. Times about Michael Connelly, and his background as a crime reporter intrigued me, so I decided to read his books. I started with The Black Echo, the first book in the Hieronymous Bosch series, and I am very glad that I read these books in order. Connelly is a masterful writer in that he is constantly referencing past cases and old details in his Bosch series. Some of the characters from his other novels also tend to make guest appearances.

This book suck...more

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Anne

Anne rated it:

11/15/08

Read in November, 2008

Several months ago, I enjoyed Connelly's novel The Lincoln Lawyer, featuring attorney Mickey Haller. I read that Connelly published a new book starring Haller and his other famous character, detective Harry Bosch. So, I decided to go back to the beginning, and read the first Bosch novel published back in 1992. In this first installment, we meet Bosch, a renegade homicide detective who is called out to an apparent overdose in the sewers off Mulholland Drive. Bosch recognizes the victim as a fe...more

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Cormac

Cormac rated it:

08/30/08

Read in December, 2003

Michael Connelly won the "Edgar Award" for Best First Novel with "The Black Echo", which introduces us to LAPD Detective Hieronymous "Harry" Bosch. Bosch had formerly been a member of the LAPD's elite RHD (Robbery Homicide Division), but roughly a year before this book begins he killed a suspect in the 'Dollmaker Case'. As a result, Bosch was investigated by IAD (the Internal Affairs Department), suspended for a month and demoted to robbery-homicide team of the Holl...more Michael Connelly won the "Edgar Award" for Best First Novel with "The Black Echo", which introduces us to LAPD Detective Hieronymous "Harry" Bosch. Bosch had formerly been a member of the LAPD's elite RHD (Robbery Homicide Division), but roughly a year before this book begins he killed a suspect in the 'Dollmaker Case'. As a result, Bosch was investigated by IAD (the Internal Affairs Department), suspended for a month and demoted to robbery-homicide team of the Hollywood Division. As it happens, IAD weren't entirely happy with this outcome, and are waiting for their chance to get Bosch out of the police force altogether. Malicious ? They make the 'real' villains look good.

Bosch proves to be an interesting character. With a reputation as being something of a loner, he's a jazz fan with a taste for coffee, beer and cigarettes. He served in Vietnam as a Tunnel Rat, before returning home and joining the Police Force.

It's Harry's time as a Tunnel Rat that comes back to haunt him in The Black Echo. The book begins with Harry being called out to Mulholland Dam, where a body's been found in drainage pipe. Dismissed by other officers at the scene as simply another drug user who'd accidentally overdosed - and therefore, not needing any further investigation - Bosch isn't quite so and decides to run with it. Things take a more personal twist when he recognises the corpse as a fellow Tunnel Rat, Billy Meadows. Things start looking more and more like Meadows was murdered - an autopsy seems to indicate he'd been tortured before he died, while a pawn ticket found in Meadows' apartment links him to a major bank heist carried out the previous year. This bank job is officially being investigated by the FBI and, as Bosch believes the men behind the bank job are also behind Meadows' death, he arranges a meeting with Special Agent Eleanor Wish. Harry's intention was to request a sharing of information but he doesn't exactly get what he wants out of the meeting - and things haven't finished going downhill for him.

Connolly's style of writing is excellent - a former Crime Reporter with the LA Times, I would assume there is a great deal of accuracy in his portrayal of a homicide investigation. He has created a very likeable character in Harry Bosch, while his descriptions of the city have left me feeling like I know LA. Definitely worth reading !...less

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Jake

Jake rated it:

07/09/08

bookshelves: mystery

This book was one of four that was put into my hands by a former co-worker of mine from Wbooks; a very nice woman with a tremendous passion for books in general, and mysteries in particular. As part of my continuing re-exploration of the mystery genre, I gave it a shot while heading back from the wedding of Murpheyslaw and Adopted Kiwi.

The Basics:
The central character of Black Echo is Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch, a former Vietnam soldier turned LA Cop. In fact, he's turned Beverly Hills cop, aft...more This book was one of four that was put into my hands by a former co-worker of mine from Wbooks; a very nice woman with a tremendous passion for books in general, and mysteries in particular. As part of my continuing re-exploration of the mystery genre, I gave it a shot while heading back from the wedding of Murpheyslaw and Adopted Kiwi.

The Basics:
The central character of Black Echo is Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch, a former Vietnam soldier turned LA Cop. In fact, he's turned Beverly Hills cop, after departmental politics exiled him from his beat in LA proper. A routine murder investigation takes a turn for the personal when the body discovered in a drainage ditch turns out to be a fellow "Tunnel Rat" from the war; after that, Harry is drawn into a strange mystery that takes him back to the tunnels of Vietnam, while trying to negotiate with the FBI, police department politics, and, of course, the bad guys.

The Good:
The mystery itself is pretty well-done. It's not the sort that you can figure out at the beginning (the reader doesn't have the information needed), but it makes sense as it's revealed, and I never ran into a "but that doesn't make any sense!" sort of moment.

Connelly's characterizations are solid—not particularly original, mind you, but solid. Harry is a pretty stereotypical hard-boiled, maverick detective. His eventual side-kick/love interest, Agent Eleanor Wish, is likewise well-rendered, if a bit of a stock character (the tough lady cop, this one). While many of the characters are a bit stereotyped, they are rendered well.

Connelly has an excellent knowledge of his subjects, and the information is presented well. Police procedure and acronyms flow throughout the text, but in a way that doesn't make it seem forced or misplaced. Likewise, his knowledge of the Vietnamese war, so far as it pertains to this story, seems fairly complete and accurate. It usually only shows up in background discussions, but it is well done.

The Bad:
This is one of Connelly's first books, and it shows. The writing is gorgeous in some parts, but at other points, it's horrifically choppy. Connelly occasionally suffers from strange need to explain things that are perfectly obvious to the alert reader, which I find baffling. I would assume that anyone who reads mysteries is likely to pick up on subtle, or, more to the point, not so subtle, clues. Black Echo has the occasional X-Men III-like moment where the writer turns to the audience and says "in case you were so dumb that you missed that, let me make it REALLY CLEAR for you." Blah.

The Ugly:
As I said, the book is populated by...well, clichés, I guess. They aren't really stereotypes, but they are definitely standard issue cop drama molds (the Maverick Cop, the Tough Lady, the Bumbling/Obnoxious Internal Affairs Guys, the Loud Chief, etc.). None of these are bad enough to be offensive, and they are rendered well, but man...original, they are not.

Overall, it was decent. I had a hard time getting into the book, but once I got going, I found that I rather enjoyed it. It's not high literature, but if you like this sort of hard-boiled cop drama/mystery, it's probably worth checking out....less

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Brooke

Brooke rated it:

06/09/08

bookshelves: 2008

Read in June, 2008

I always enjoy a solid detective caper, and Michael Connelly's first novel delivered, with a few downsides. My complaints mostly revolve around the dialogue - it's painfully unnatural. It's like he listened to his teachers who told him not to use contractions in formal writing and decided to apply that to his fiction. Everyone was also a little melodramatic and over-the-top - over and over again, I kept thinking, "Give me a break, people don't talk like that!"

Editing problems also ...more

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Nikki

Nikki rated it:

07/22/08

bookshelves: a-mystery-for-every-state-project, mysteries

Read in July, 2008

I continue with my little project of reading a mystery, by an author new to me, set in every state of the Union. California, as befits one of our larger and most populous states, has a huge number of mysteries set within its borders, and I've already read a lot of them, from nearly every region of the state. But, I'd never read any of Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch stories. Partly this may have been because I had the mistaken impression that they were the basis for Clint Eastwood's "Dirty ...more I continue with my little project of reading a mystery, by an author new to me, set in every state of the Union. California, as befits one of our larger and most populous states, has a huge number of mysteries set within its borders, and I've already read a lot of them, from nearly every region of the state. But, I'd never read any of Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch stories. Partly this may have been because I had the mistaken impression that they were the basis for Clint Eastwood's "Dirty Harry." (A misconception that ranks right up there with my daughter's one-time confusion of Dr. Zhivago with Dr. Doolittle.) Well, all I can say is, What took me so long? I raced through THE BLACK ECHO (1992) and couldn't keep from picking up the next in the series when I went back to the library.

Harry Bosch is almost a cliche cop and knows it. Lives alone, unhealthy lifestyle, listens to jazz -- all the signifiers are there. THE BLACK ECHO starts out well into Harry's career with the LAPD. He's had two very important cases, both dealing with serial killers. One was the basis for a TV series, with his royalties allowing him to buy a cantilevered house on a hillside overlooking Universal Studios. The other almost got him fired, after he shot and killed the presumptive perpetrator. In the end he was investigated by Internal Affairs, suspended for a month, demoted and transferred from Robbery-Homicide to the homicide desk (or "table") at the Hollywood precinct, where his partner sells real estate on the side.

On call one May weekend, Harry is called to a site near the Hollywood reservoir where a junkie has apparently died of an overdose inside a large clay pipe. Everyone else wants to clear the case quickly, checking it off as "just another dead hype," but something doesn't seem right to Harry. Then he realizes that he knows the victim -- or did know him, twenty years before, in Vietnam. For both reasons, he insists on a quick autopsy and starts investigating. When he learns that his old army buddy -- they were both "tunnel rats" in Vietnam -- had been a person of interest in a daring bank robbery the previous fall, he steps into FBI territory. Joining forces with an attractive FBI agent, he continues investigating, hampered at every turn by two Internal Affairs officers who continue to tail him (their incompetence occasionally provides some comic relief). The plot twists and turns, with Harry not knowing whom to trust, until a shocking and thrilling conclusion.

Although it's certainly a police procedural, this book has aspects of the Robert Ludlum-style thriller (just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you), and also a definite noir sensibilitiy. For some reason I associate both styles with Southern California. As far as setting goes, (one of the main reasons I started this project)Connelly certainly makes us feel the truth of Hal David's lyric, "LA is a great big freeway." There's a huge amount of driving in THE BLACK ECHO, and most of it is on freeways. The real estate boom and the Santa Ana winds anchor the book in time as well as place. Although I've visited Los Angeles, I wasn't really aware of the cantilevered houses such as Bosch lives in, so I did learn a little something new about the area.

Characterization was good, with several characters who I expect to recur (such as Bosch's supervisors) showing unexpected nuances late in the story. I look forward to the many Harry Bosch books I haven't read yet. ...less

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Ray

Ray rated it:

05/09/08

Read in May, 2008

Joel's mom set me up with Michael Connelly and I have been obsessed ever since. I have been an on again off again mystery reader my whole life, and Connelly got me hooked again--I like reading him as much as I liked Patricia Cornwell in the early days and how I like Lee Child now.

Connelly is playing with some new characters now, but this was his first boook, written when he was still employed full time at the LA Times as a writer. It introduces his biggest character, LAPD detective Harry B...more

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Gina

Gina rated it:

03/15/08

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in March, 2007

I found it sagging a little in the middle, only a little, like being stuck at a crossroads and not knowing which way to go or if you should continue altogether. I never guessed that she's be a part of the 'big picture', but when Harry was reading every single name on that monument, I knew what he was thinking. I thought the plot was pretty neat, the way it related to his past, how he figured it out. If you ask me, that was pretty original, the whole tunnel-robbery thing. I don't think I've read ...more

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Jen

Jen rated it:

12/11/07

bookshelves: favorites, male-author, police-fiction

Read in December, 2007

In Connelly first Harry Bosch novel, the once great celebrity Robbery-Homicide detective has been demoted down to Hollywood Homicide where he catches a case involving an old colleague from his days in Vietnam, Billy Meadows. While being hounded by the IAD, Harry teams with Eleanor Wish from the FBI to try to unravel the mystery of a major bank heist that resulted in Meadows murder.

I try, whenever possible, to begin a series at the beginning. So, this is my first experience reading Michael ...more

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Kellie

Kellie rated it:

08/17/08

bookshelves: 2004-reads, bosch-series, mystery-thrillers, series

First of the Harry Bosch series. Excellent. Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch--former hero cop bumped from the L.A. homicide desk to the lowly Beverly Hills squad--gets the call on a drug death at Mulholland Dam. Harry recognizes the corpse as that of a fellow soldier in Vietnam; both were "tunnel rats" who searched for Viet Cong in the network of burrows beneath Vietnamese villages. Investigation connects his old pal to an unsolved bank job--the vault was tunneled into from the storm drains ...more

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Mark

Mark rated it:

01/20/08

bookshelves: mystery-spy

Read in January, 2008

This book is an attempt to make a cross between a realistic police procedural and a Dirty Harry cop. (In fact the cop is even named Harry to help make the connection obvious.) The book evolves through three parts. At the beginning it focuses on police practice, and I enjoyed this part quite a bit. Apparently the author was a crime reporter and really knows what he is talking about. The middle part is composed of the cops making guesses to advance the investigation and having meaningless sex...more

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LJ rated it:

(review of isbn 0759505446)

10/02/08

bookshelves: california, contemporary_post_1945, male_author, mystery, police_procedural, so_cal_la

Read in November, 1996

THE BLACK ECHO - Ex
Connelly, Michael - 1st in Harry Bosch series

LAPD detective Hieronymous (aka Harry) Bosch is a loner and a nighthawk. Called out on a routine drug overdose case, Bosch soon realises that the victim found lying in the Mullholland Dam drainpipe is no accident case. Billy Meadows was a fellow 'tunnel rat' in Vietnam and Harry swears to bring the killer to justice.

What an excellent police procedural. Very well written. I shall definitely watch for his books as they com...more

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Theweebarrell

Theweebarrell rated it:

11/17/08

Read in January, 2008

Was recommended this book by a member of my bookswap club and so glad i was.Its the very first time i have read michael connelly books but i enjoyed it and he is now on the list of my favourite authors. A very good thriller and looked forward to reading the next one

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Jennifer

Jennifer rated it:

07/01/08

bookshelves: mystery-thriller

When a man is found dead of an apparent OD in a tunnel near a resevoir in Hollywood, Detective Harry (Hieronymous) Bosch is shocked to discover he knew the man. They were both tunnel rats in Vietnam--soldiers who would enter the vast network of underground tunnels used by the Vietnamese and detonate explosives in the tunnels, sealing them. Harry is sure all is not as it seems. And he's right. Seems Meadows (the dead guy) was part of a big bank heist about 6 months earlier and really pissed off t...more

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Ryan Mishap

Ryan rated it:

09/07/08

bookshelves: mystery-crime

The first Harry Bosch novel...I don't know why I like Copnnelly's work so much, but I do. Good crime fiction writing with some interesting mysteries to solve. I love how he weaves characters from different books into the books of other characters. For instance, The Poet is a non-bosch book, but its sequel involves Bosch. Or Void Moon character's actions are mentioned in another book. Not integral to the plot or anything, but just there.
If you like crime fiction and don't mind the lone wol...more

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Thebigemdash

Thebigemdash rated it:

09/24/08

A friend loaned me one of Connelly’s books and I was hooked. Very much formula crime/detective drama, the stories tell of a Vietnam veteran who is now an aging police detective. But in these stories the detective is very human and flawed and is “just getting by”. He has no special powers, isn’t famous and doesn’t have world powers seeking his advice. Rather he’s a bulldog who cares about a decent society and tackles the tough cases and through dogged hard work gets them solved a...more

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William

William rated it:

04/09/08

Connelly writes a great crime novel/thriller full of insight and intelligence that is uncommon in the genre. His main character, (Harry) Bosch, is one of my favorite fictional characters--full of controlled aggression, complex psychological wounds, and conflicted interpersonal emotions. I've read the first few novels and am moving slowly through the series on purpose in order to prolong the enjoyment. (I learned my lesson with Sandford's 'Prey' series and Davenport character).

If Hemingway w...more

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Kimmay

Kimmay rated it:

03/21/08

bookshelves: connnelly-michael, mystery---thriller

Read in March, 2008

I really liked the authors style of writing. I think i am hooked on Michael Connelly's character Harry Bosch. I plan on reading the next book in the series very soon. I liked that the book was complex, but not difficult to follow the storyline, It had depth to it, and kept my interest all the way to the end. The end is not what i expected although i did pick up on some clues a few chapters from the end, it wasn't enough to spoil it, or make it predictable, it was just enough for you to quest...more

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Evelyn

Evelyn rated it:

(review of isbn 0316153613)

10/08/08

bookshelves: thriller

Read in January, 1992

Detective Harry Bosch sets out to find whoever killed a fellow Vietnam War veteran and discovers an unfolding crime involving heroin, diamonds, and FBI corruption.

Suspenseful with unexpected twists and turns. Excellent reading. Rich in detail. Realistic scenes. Raymond Chandler meets Dragnet.

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Madame Charlotte

Madame Charlotte rated it:

(review of isbn 2020235250)

03/18/08

bookshelves: _romans

Read in January, 2007

Premier roman de Connelly que je lis. Excellent premier contact. Les personnages sont intéressants et l’intrigue nous réserve pas mal de surprises. Le personnage de Harry Bosch traîne derrière lui un passé de vétéran du Viet-Nam et se retrouve rattrapé par ses fantômes. L’histoire accroche dès le départ et les descriptions de L.A et de la police sont réalistes. Le style est aussi au rendez-vous, on ne s’ennuie pas une seconde, on suit l’enquête avec un intérêt grandissant ...more

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book data (includes all editions)

avg rating (all editions): 3.92 (1093 ratings)
avg rating (this edition): 3.92 (1045 ratings)
number of reviews: 75

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