The Drop by Michael Connelly
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"The Drop", the sixteenth and the most recent novel in the Harry Bosch series, is a very good read. Mercifully, Mr. Connelly understands the limitations of his writing and for most of the book, except for the last part, does not spend too much time on the tribulations of the detective's personal life. He focuses instead on what he does really well - writing a crisp, flowing, and convincing police procedural.

After the disastrous "Reversal", with its paper-thin characterizations, Harry Bosch is again his own brooding, noirish self. Kiz Rider is a way more convincing character than Agent Walling, and even Maddie, Bosch's daughter, seems slightly believable in this book. Hannah Stone's characterization, though, is paper-thin.

Bosch works on two cases - the Open-Unsolved old case of a sex-related murder and on the current case of the death of a councilman's son. The two cases harmoniously intertwine.

I tremendously enjoyed reading Mr. Connelly's vitriolic characterizations of some politicians, members of the scummiest profession on the face of the earth. Why no four stars then? The presentation of the denouement of the old case is formulaic (the usual horrors of the evidence), and provides a sort of an anticlimax to a really good work, otherwise.

Three and a half stars.


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