Echo Park (Harry Bosch Series #12) »

A former Los Angeles Times crime reporter, Michael Connelly s familiarity with the seamy side of L.A. adds a steamy kind of street cred to his hardboiled, gritty detective novels -- especially his bestselling series of mysteries featuring dark detective Hieronymous Harry Bosch.

In 1993 Marie Gesto disappeared after walking out of a supermarket. Harry Bosch worked the case but couldn't crack it, and the twenty-two-year-old was never found. Now, more than a decade later, with the Gesto file still on his desk, Bosch gets a call from the District Attorney.A man accused of two heinous murders is willing to come clean about several others, including the killing of Marie Gesto. Taking the confession of the man he has sought-and hated-for thirteen years is bad enough. Discovering that he missed a clue back in 1993 that could have stopped nine other murders may just be the straw that breaks Harry Bosch.

The New York Times Sunday Book Review - Marilyn Stasio

By fighting the rash impulses that always get him in trouble, which is some kind of breakthrough for this rogue hero, Bosch keeps his head clear enough to see how he s being manipulated. But Connelly gets everything else right too, layering his fast-moving narrative with problem-solving details; using sound principles of psychology to give life to his characters; setting scenes to convey the fabled aura of local landmarks like Beachwood Canyon and the High Tower Apartments; and, all in all, delivering terrific bang for the buck.