This latest in the Harry Bosch thriller series centres on a past case that comes back to haunt our hero.
As the 1992 Los Angeles riots threatened to destroy his home city, Detective Bosch and his colleagues are trying to carry on with the job of solving cases. This is no easy task, with the wave of violence sweeping the city, but they persevere.
While investigating the murder of young woman journalist – executed in an alley – Harry does his best but in the end is forced to concede defeat: he will never be able to bring her killer to justice.
Twenty years later, while working in a unit dedicated so open unsolved cases, Harry links a bullet from a recent crime to the 1992 murder.
Now, just like those who investigate the wreckage left after a plane crash, he must comb through the evidence to find the “black box”, that one piece of evidence that will pull the whole case together.
The Harry Bosch series has been pretty good and while this one isn’t the best of the lot, it’s still certainly readable.
The story itself is a little patchy at times, and predictable at others, but as always, the characters are believable and the whole thing is reasonably well written.
A good read if you’re looking for something that isn’t too challenging.