The Dark Hours

 The Dark Hours

Reviewed By  Ian Banks       November 20, 2021

 

Author  Michael Connelly

Distributor:      Allen & Unwin
ISBN:                 9781761065484
Publisher:         Allen & Unwin
Release Date:   November 2021  

   Website:   https://www.allenandunwin.com

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Bosch is back as the sidekick to Renee Ballard in this latest release from Michael Connelly based in the current times of the pandemic and the riots in Hollywood.

Dark Hours sees Renee Ballard finishing her shift and heading out into the revelry of New Year’s Eve, just in time to witness the traditional pistol shooting into the sky, that marks the end of one year and the beginning of the new, except that for one shop owner, the new year will never arrive.

Murder has been done and as she looks at the case fully she realizes it has similarities to one Bosch was working on some time ago. She is also involved with a case of serial rape with offenders who will not hesitate to kill.

Undermining her love of her work is the serious challenge of being on the night shift, a place she should not be, facing the direct chauvinistic behavior of the other members of the force, who she realizes cannot be trusted as they have their own agenda.

She calls once again on the help of Harry Bosch a man she would trust with her life and the only one she feels she can talk with and get an honest option on these two cases. Bosch, now retired is bored to bits with this thing called retirement and no matter how he tries to move on, his first and last love is policing, being a detective. When Ballard arrives asking for his input he jumps at the chance.

But as Ballard gets closer to the case she finds she is suspended from duty, but refuses to give upon the case of the rapists. After much introspection she makes the decision to retire, hang up her badge as the soul destroying workplace and other force members is making her life far too hard.

As the case she is working clandestinely begins to come together she and Bosch have to once again back each other to the very limit, as the suspects in the rape cases are becoming more brutal as they realize their chances of being caught are negligible.

As with all Connelly books he sets the scene in real time adding to the reality of the storyline that pushes the limits time and time again as Bosch and Ballard have to pit their formidable wits and skill to solve the crime.

Brilliant, engaging and another terrific thriller from Michael Connelly.

Crime, Fiction