The Narrows by
Michael Connelly
pbk out December 04
(Orion)
at £6.99
This book charts the return of one of Connelly's most outstanding creations.
In 1996 he wrote The Poet, the story of a particularly clever serial killer, who was
only uncovered when reporter Jack McEvoy examined the apparent suicide of his own
brother. The man had been a homicide detective, and Jack looked into the suicides of
other detectives only to find a gruesome connection between them all. At the end of
that book, the killer was shot by his pursuers. Now, it appears he did not die, because
he's back. But this time, Connelly has set on the Poet's trail his most popular
creation, Harry Bosch.
At the beginning of the story, Rachel Walling, FBI agent, is found banished to
the remote outpost of Rapid City, South Dakota. A number of years earlier, she had
been too involved with the man who turned out to be the notorious serial killer, the
Poet. But now he's back, and has sent a GPS reader to Rachel care of Quantico. It
points to a site down the curiously named Zzyzx Road in Nevada. Now, the FBI
reluctantly get Rachel to return to the scene of the Poet's latest atrocities near Las
Vegas.
At the same time, Harry Bosch, retired LAPD detective, is called up by the
wife of his former friend Terry McCaleb. Terry, a heart transplant patient, has died
seemingly of natural causes while running a boat charter. The problem is, Graciela,
his wife, thinks his pills have been tampered with. In which case his death is murder.
Whilst Harry is checking through Terry's old files, he sees some recent notes on the
Poet case. Terry was a profiler for the FBI, and it seems he couldn't stop working,
even though he had retired. A set of photographs suggest the Poet, altered by plastic
surgery, has been on Terry's boat. And a GPS is missing. Harry's only lead is
another photograph of a sign that reads "Zzyzx Road".
Of course, Harry Bosch and Rachel Walling, the two outsiders on the
investigation into the whereabouts of the Poet, join forces. They must track him down
before he completes the murder of Ed Thomas, the homicide detective he was
prevented from killing by Rachel Walling years earlier.
Sequels can be difficult, but Connelly pulls it off. There is a real pleasure in
the resurrection of characters from other Connelly books. And Harry's own personal
life continues to develop through each of the novels. He now finds himself with a
young daughter from his former relationship with ex-FBI agent and gambler, Eleanor
Wish. She too has appeared before. But the blurring of edges does not stop there.
Connelly's novel that contained Terry McCaleb - Blood Works -was in reality filmed
with Clint Eastwood in the role of McCaleb. In the fictional weave of this novel,
Bosch mentions the film that was made from the best-selling book (written by Jack
McEvoy!) of Terry McCaleb's life. And he comments that every one of Terry's
friends thought Eastwood looked nothing like Terry. He was too old! Just another
example of Connelly's eye for detail, albeit in a rather tangential way. Everything
about the book is well-constructed and meticulous, reflecting Harry Bosch's own
approach to investigation of the facts. But then, Harry is also happy to play his
hunches. And in the same way, Connelly too is fuelled by his imagination. The story
switches rapidly between the actions of Rachel Walling, and the calculating mind of
the Poet. But the core is the first-person narrative of Harry Bosch (interesting that the
author only resorted to this style in his ninth Harry Bosch book), and his complex and
very human nature. There is a suggestion in this novel that the LAPD is looking to
take back recently retired detectives. Any bets that Harry will be in the thick of it
again in his beloved Los Angeles? I hope so.
(
Ian Morson
Author of Falconer books and short listed for 1999 Ellis Peters Historical Crime Dagger)
The Narrows by
Michael Connelly
