A Darkness More Than Night (Harry Bosch)

Terry McCaleb, the retired FBI agent who starred in the bestseller "Blood Work," is asked by the LAPD to help them investigate aseries of murders that have them baffled. They are the kind of ritualized killings McCaleb specialized in solving with the FBI, and he is reluctantly drawn from his peaceful new life back into the horror and excitement of tracking down a terrifying homicidal maniac. More horrifying still, the suspect who seems to fit the profile that McCaleb develops is someone he has known and worked with in the past: LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch.

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Although Bosch and McCaleb had worked together before, offscreen so to speak, "Darkness" brings them together in the same novel. McCaleb is happily retired from the serial killer profiling business, making a living from chartering fishing trips around Catalina Island in Southern California, when an LA Sheriff's Dept. deputy friend of his comes to him for his help on a strange murder. (In case you are wondering, the Sheriff's Department is a county agency; it polices the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Crimes within L.A. city limits fall within the jurisdiction of the LAPD.) Against his wife's wishes, McCaleb agrees to take a look. He comes across a clue that the sheriff's deputies missed the first time, and that clue leads him into a whole new area of investigation that eventually points at . . . Harry Bosch.

Some of Connelly's mysteries contain what for me were stunning twists -- "The Concrete Blonde" and "Trunk Music" come to mind. "Darkness," on the other hand, proved to be relatively easy to figure out about 100 pages before the end of the novel. Nevertheless, it's still a gripping read. Most of Connelly's books are dark and edgy, but the darkness and edginess are even more palpable in this book. McCaleb's investigation takes him (and the reader) into a very grim Renaissance age painter, the owl as a symbol of evil, and an unnervingly cocky defendant in a media circus trial.

One of the most interesting things about "Darkness" for readers who've read the Bosch novels is the glimpse of what Bosch comes across like to someone else. The encounters between McCaleb and Bosch -- not the first one, but the ones after that -- are fascinating and point to the difference between the two men: especially Bosch's "avenging angel" nature.

Another interesting thing about this book (and many of Connelly's others) is the way that he weaves in facts and characters from earlier books. Readers of "Void Moon" who wonder what happened to Cassie Black's parole officer (Thelma) find out here. It's just a throwaway paragraph, but it's a nice touch.

In summary, Connelly is a consistently good writer, and "Darkness" doesn't disappoint, even if it telegraphs the solution to the mystery a little too early. It's still satisfying to the end.

54 of 62 found the following review helpful:

Another great Connelly thriller, but . . .May 28, 2001
By Douglas A. Greenberg
Michael Connelly is the BEST mystery-thriller writer working today, so it almost goes without saying that this book stands head and shoulders above most others within this overcrowded genre. In *A Darkness More Than Night*, he demonstrates once again his extraordinary skills in terms of weaving intricate plots filled with twists, turns, and early-innocuous-clues-that-become-pivotal-later-on. He also has developed not just one but two extraordinary protagonists, Harry Bosch and Terrance McCaleb, and their "face-off" in this book adds a fascinating dimension to an already fine work. Connelly also does a wonderful job of creating the *noir*, "there is evil afoot in this world" mood/philosophy that pervades his books. The discussions of Hieronymus Bosch's paintings, the symbolic meanings of owls, etc., are absolutely riveting.

Given that I've bestowed such effusive praise upon this novel, why four stars instead of five? First, it's apparent that the novel will be appreciated far more by readers who have already read not just one or two but ALL of Connelly's previous works. Yes, it's common for mystery writers to write their successive books with an element of "ongoing story" to the work, including occasional references to events and cases described previously. But Connelly employs this practice so heavily in this book that it almost seems futile for any reader to pick up *A Darkness More Than Night* without having gone through at least a few previous Connelly mysteries.

The second reservation I had is one that other reviewers have mentioned, i.e., that although the McCaleb vs. Bosch angle is certainly exciting for all of us who are Connelly devotees, there is a certain implausibility about some aspects of the plot line, particularly in light of McCaleb's own travails in *Blood Work*. Since one gets a clear inkling of where the story is headed, this removes some of the tension associated with how the Gunn case will ultimately be resolved.

Am I being nitpickingly negative here? Perhaps. For a writer as skilled as Michael Connelly, we readers develop extremely high expectations--perhaps excessively high. Overall, this is a wonderful novel that leaves me waiting impatiently for Connelly's next work.

72 of 86 found the following review helpful:

WHAT A SEDUCTIVE READ! WHAT A BRAVURA PERFORMANCE!Jan 16, 2001
By Gail Cooke
It's double trouble and a double treat for fans of mystery master Michael Connelly when he pairs two of his compelling protagonists - LAPD Detective Hieronymus Bosch ( "The Black Ice," "The Concrete Blonde," etc) and Terry McCaleb ("Bloodwork"). The duo serve up surprises and shocks in this tale of murder and mayhem Hollywood-style.

Michael Beck, who has read several of John Grisham's classics, delivers a blockbuster performance in this riveting encounter with a movie director accused of murdering an actress. LA is, of course, agog, clamoring for details.

The trial transfixes as Bosch, who was the arresting officer, is also a star witness. He goes mano a mano with McCaleb who has a different take on the crime.

As the complexly plotted drama unfolds it seems that what may be the conclusion is too outre, too incredible to consider. What a pair of crime busters! What a seductive read! What a bravura performance!

13 of 13 found the following review helpful:

Darkness? Maybe...but mostly just murky.Apr 19, 2002
By Mo Addams "Mo Addams"
I've read all but two of Michael Connelly's books. I think he's a good writer, and through most of his work, I thought he was a good storyteller. Which is why I was unpleasantly surprised with A Darkness More Than Night.

I think this book is a cheat. Connelly presents a flawed premise, pads the middle of the book with a couple hundred pages of filler, and then creates an ending that is no surprise and doesn't even qualify for the term mystery. Connelly is a good writer, but even he couldn't pull this one off.

A recurring theme in Connelly's books is the "good" versus "evil" situation. He also likes his good guy characters to struggle with philosophical questions about the evil that men/women do and what it takes to bring these people to justice. Harry Bosch seems to fluctuate between good and evil to the extent that the guy is more schizophrenic in this book than he's been in any of the others. I would buy that if there were a good reason to make him such an undefinable character. But in this case, there wasn't a reason like that. For no reason other than Connelly apparently wanted to give Terry McCaleb something to do, Bosch becomes a suspect in a murder. And while lip service was given to the thought that an investigation of Bosch had better produce hard evidence that he did what McCaleb suspects he may have done, it seems to me that everyone had no problem believing that Bosch just suddenly decided to become a cold blooded murderer. Given everything readers of Connelly's books have been led to believe about Bosch up to this point, that just doesn't make any sense. 400 pages of fill doesn't make it any more credible a premise.

I held out until the very last page of this book hoping that Connelly could redeem himself with an ending that would salvage something from all the stuff following the beginning. In my opinion, that didn't happen. What's worse, one of the two main characters comes off as a crybaby.

The bottom line is that in an effort to maintain his strong sense of good versus evil, Connelly sacrifices realism. He presents two seasoned veterans of crime fighting, and he tells us that these two men have seen it all. So, if that's the case, how does one of them miss learning that life just isn't planted on that naive high moral ground that shows up at the end of the book? When I finished the last page and closed the book, I just wanted to tell Connelly to Grow Up.

24 of 27 found the following review helpful:

The Best Of All WorldsJun 08, 2001
By Untouchable
This is a celebration of Connelly's work so far. He has managed to tie in characters from all his other books. Terry McCaleb from Blood Work, Harry Bosch, the protagonist of 6 other books and Jack McEvoy from The Poet. He makes mention of the incident from which he was serving a suspension in The Last Coyote. Not only that, the assistant prosecuting attorney in the ongoing court case makes a reappearance after being introduced in Angel's Flight. Just for fun, see if you can spot the passing reference to a character in Connelly's other stand alone book, Void Moon.

On top of everything else, Michael Connelly delivers yet another powerful thriller, combining McCaleb's profiling skills with the dark figure of Harry Bosch. Two stories are intertwined as Bosch is involved with a high profile court case, and McCaleb investigates a murder. I feel we're treated to the best of all worlds through the combination of all of Connelly's main protagonists.

If you're a dyed-in-the-wool Michael Connelly fan, this book will bring back fond memories of his previous works. If it's the first Michael Connelly book you've read, I think you'll find your curiosity sufficiently aroused to go back and read the earlier stuff.

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