Joe King
asked:
I see a lot of reviewers upset that Connelly added, "propaganda" to the book because Renée uses a mask, and encourages Bosch to get the vaccine. While I don't love the Ballard character, I don't get the hate here. I am to the right on this stuff, but for a lot of people (like my ultra left wing sister) Renée's actions are realistic. So what do you think, propaganda, or accurate reflection?
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James
To quote Ken Herman of the Austin American-Statesman, "Those who go out of their way to be offended never waste the trip." This was a quality police procedural novel and didn't seem to me to be grinding any political ax. If a reader is so polarized in his/her political thinking that the content related to the pandemic and the public attitudes toward police is a distraction from a good story, then he/she is going to have to be extremely selective in choosing pleasure reading material.
Sharon Amundson
I felt like the masks and vaccine parts along with the so called defunding of the police was more a reflection of what is happening in our world right now. I've never got a "propaganda" vibe from Connelly.
Rex B
Connelly's handling of the pandemic took me back to December 2020 and January 2021, when everyone, especially first responders, was nervous about getting sick and inconvenienced by masking and other precautions. It felt grounded in the reality of the time without overdoing it.
Ellen M.
I thought that the constant "mask" "mask" "mask" took me out of the story at times and I know it will date the book. I would not have minded if Connelly had mentioned the pandemic, that Renee wears a mask and left it at that in the beginning of the book. It was the constant repetition that began to wear on me.
Moz
Connelly has always written his Bosch stories in real time. I think the mention of the pandemic, masks, etc reflects what was going on at the time the novel was written. Nothing wrong with that. People are pathetic sometimes, just wanting to find fault just for the sake of it. If that's all they have to worry about in life, they're lucky.
Sue
I don’t like politics in novels, and I felt that the comments about what was happening in the country and in the police department were rather general. The story of the investigations was so big that mention of masks, etc, was not much more than the mentioning the weather.
STEVEN KRITZLER
While Ballard is increasingly adamant about Bosch getting the vaccine to the point of it getting a bit annoying, Bosch's attitude is "whatever, I'll go along to get along". They both have strong personalities and if Bosch hadn't had that neutral feeling about this issue, they would have been butting heads with each other. Bosch is older, fought in Vietnam and is no doubt more suspicious of corporate and governmental duplicity which has been borne out over the past couple of years with more and more questioning things as time goes on and more becomes known. I think Bosch and ballard were accurately portrayed for that short period of time in Los Angeles near the beginning of Covid-19. To me, this was one of Connelly's best, holding my attention throughout.
Dale
Connally puts his story right in the present. This is a present nobody likes, I imagine. Could be that while we hope to escape a little reality in our fiction it becomes uncomfortable or even aggravating to encounter it yet again. These two characters reflect responses of many; Ballard is mask conscious while Bosch is indifferent but neither are militant. Like the vast majority of folks. The state of police departments at present I'm sure was pretty accurate and enlightening. Finally, James, I didn't realize the Statesman still had actual writers on staff. Who knew?
J.l. Mcgrath
It was normal life. I wear a little strip of cloth to get groceries, big deal.
How is it propaganda when we're in a Worldwide Pandemic w/almost 100,000 deaths in the US?
The issues were integrated into the plot. It was a good book, there were just a few odd moments toward the end but mostly he balanced it all well. She got annoying later on.
How is it propaganda when we're in a Worldwide Pandemic w/almost 100,000 deaths in the US?
The issues were integrated into the plot. It was a good book, there were just a few odd moments toward the end but mostly he balanced it all well. She got annoying later on.
Colin Ronald
I don’t see any “propaganda” in this story. Neither, probably is it an accurate reflection of what actually happens in real life in the pursuit of fellows. It is in the end just a good yarn with a predictable outcome ie, the heroine and her friend come out the winners as usual. The politics and the antics within the police department are more likely to be close to real life, the mention of defunding is just a reflection of current sentiment on a whole raft of matters and the apathy displayed by Bosch over the Covid jab reflects the reality of the attitudes of many people to it.
It was a gripping story which kept me reading and second guessing outcomes throughout.
It was a gripping story which kept me reading and second guessing outcomes throughout.
Kurt
What you call "propaganda" I would call "reality" and I agree with all the sentiments expressed by the author, why should it be ignored? Dealing with the pandemic has ruled life all over the world for the past few years, why pretend it did not happen? I am "copacetic" with all of the sentiments and for sure would label them as accurate.
Judy
Accurate reflection. Los Angeles is always a character in Connelly's Bosch books and to ignore the impact of politics on the city would be akin to not telling us Bosch is retired.
KEN POWER
Accurate reflection - and I am in New Zealand, not the USA. It seemed to me to be no more than a setting of life as it was at the time.
Sandra
It is not propaganda. It is her choice. Period. Why not protect others even if you don't feel you need protecting?
Maureen Magee
That's who we are anymore. Everyone is either 100% wrong or 100% right. We stop reading authors or listening to music we used to love, because the creator does not agree politically with us.
Bean
I think by the time this story took place most people were still wearing masks and the vaccine was recommended for older people and those with auto immune deficiencies as well as other diseases. Bosch, having leukemia, should get the vaccine so that didn't bother me. But did any of it matter to the plot? No, so why add it in there?
Yanwen
I think the novel tries to be realistic. You can't avoid the large background of events like pandemics, Capital Hill riot, black life matter, defunding police, plus the fights between two political parties. There are some internal turmoils that author should face.
Chris
Accurate reflection
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