Michael Connelly

“The Reversal, Connelly’s new novel, might be his best: a crackling-good read, smart and emotionally satisfying. It manages to condense decades of time and reams of information into a compelling narrative that adeptly explores various elements of L.A.’s own version of what passes as a criminal justice system.”
— Jonathan Shapiro, Los Angeles Times

“Alternating between Haller’s first-person narration and the third-person narrative following Bosch, Connelly weaves a tale that solidifies his reputation as the master of the modern crime thriller. His latest constantly surprises and has keen character insight.”
— Jeff Ayers, Library Journal

“Reading this book is like watching a master craftsman, slowly and carefully, brick by brick, build something that holds together exquisitely, form and function in perfect alignment.”
— Bill Ott, Booklist, ** Starred Review

“Plot, nuance, characters, dialogue— as usual, Connelly delivers it all, and brilliantly.”
— BookPage

“The Pope is Catholic, a bear does in the woods, and the new Michael Connelly is a great read. The Reversal is a procedural thriller you want to savor slowly just to lengthen the time before you have to start waiting for the next Michael Connelly novel.”
— Richard Lanoie, TheMysterySite.com

“At Murder By The Book, the arrival of a new Michael Connelly is an event.  He’s that rare author whose quality never diminishes, whether he’s producing a book a year or two, regardless of the protagonist.  But having read all of his works, I have to say he excels most with the novels that combine police procedural and courtroom thriller: The Concrete Blonde, The Brass Verdict, and now The Reversal. My highest recommendation!”
— David Thompson, Murder By The Book

“I thought it was FANTASTIC and have already told my customers to look forward to it in October. I just couldn’t put it down. Michael just gets better and better. His plots and relationships between the main characters take a step up each book.”
— Barbara Horgan, Shearer’s Bookshop, NSW, Australia

“Both a police procedural and a legal thriller, this is a masterful mystery.  I was loathe to put the book down, but also hated to see it end.”
— Maggie Mason, Deadly Pleasures magazine

“Sparks inevitably fly when the equally stubborn Haller and Bosch must work toward a common goal.”
— Publishers Weekly

“It has a beautiful flow that really captures the moment….The story progression is fantastic and the pacing near flawless….My introduction to Michael Connelly was highly successful.  I enjoyed the plot, loved the characters, and found the style excellent.  For those that like Law and Order type entertainment, this is a great choice.  Connelly has officially been added to my list of authors to follow.”
— Melissa Willis, ChristianManifesto.com

“It’s this willingness to take chances within the framework of his series characters that has always let Connelly transcend genre stereotypes, and it is what makes this novel so compelling.”
— Michael Carlson, Irresistible Targets

“The Reversal, a searing novel that is easily one of the year’s best, works well as a legal thriller, a police procedural and an intimate tale about the vagaries of family. …Connelly has been writing about Bosch since his 1992 Edgar-winning The Black Echo, yet he still finds new depths to his constantly evolving character. With Mickey now in the mix, Connelly continues to show why he is one of the best – and most consistent – living crime writers.”
— Oline Cogdill, Sun Sentinel

“Connelly is one of the best contemporary writers of crime fiction, and in The Reversal he’s at the top of his form. …The Reversal is an irresistible read to the very end.”
— Colette Bancroft, St. Pete Times Book Editor

“The Reversal’s last forty pages run on pure adrenaline as the unthinkable happens. Family matters and old scars resurface to the smell of cordite. Connelly’s prose is pumped with premium with a high mileage performance from this master of modern LA noir. For great courtroom suspense, put your reading in reverse.”
— JC Patterson, Madison County Herald

‎“Mr. Connelly, a former journalist, is a master of mixing realistic details of police work and courtroom procedure with the private feelings and personal lives of his protagonists, and of building suspense even as he evokes the somber poetry inherent in battling the dark side.”
— Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal

“This is one of Connelly’s most suspenseful and engrossing legal thrillers in years.”
— Eleanor Bukowsky, MostlyFiction.com

“By using Haller and Bosch together again, Connelly continues to push the boundaries of crime fiction, redefining the narrative in ways that excite and entertain his growing legion of fans. The Reversal is a great read for long-time fans and a perfect starting point for those who are ready for an introduction to the world of Harry Bosch.”
— SpineTingler Magazine

“The conclusion is stunning, yet realistic. Connelly, a former award-winning journalist, deftly captures the courtroom atmosphere as well as life on the turbulent streets of Los Angeles.Connelly smoothly combines the best of two literary genres, adroitly mixing the intriguing elements of a legal thriller with the insights and step-by step methodology of the police procedural. It’s easily one of the year’s best crime novels.”
— Ray Walsh, Curious Book Shop

“But the serious strengths of “The Reversal” become apparent after the principals are in place. Mr. Connelly likes to explicate the workings of the judicial process, especially for the benefit of people “who venture naïvely into the justice system” and “leave the courthouse wondering what just happened.” He can illustrate the basics of criminal investigation better than most. And he makes suspenseful use of simple but diabolical complications for the prosecution. …Mr. Connelly doesn’t really write about winners and losers. He writes true-to-life fiction about true crime. What makes his crime stories ring most true is that they’re never really over.”
— Janet Maslin, New York Times

“A fast-paced courtroom drama with investigations on the side, it’s a daring tour-de-force in the way it plays the protagonists against their situation.”
— Beth Kanell, Kindgom Books

“What are the odds of an author, after publishing 20 novels, producing two stunning back-to-back books? In the world of contemporary noirish crime fiction, there’s only one writer who can pull that sort of darkness out of a hat: Michael Connelly.”
— Larry Orenstein, The Globe and Mail (Canada)

“Michael Connelly’s books about these guys, separately or together, are always rewarding, and this one — with its cast-iron plot and vivid figures — is among his best.”
— Adam Woog, Seattle Times

“The package is wrapped up in Connelly’s prose, which is so smooth that it looks easy. Only after the book has accelerated through its unexpected climax and the characters are winding down in preparation to fight another day does it become clear that the work’s success is no accident, but the product of a master fully in command of his craft.”
— Robin Vidimos, Denver Post

“In The Reversal parental guilt and the quest for good father daughter relationships are combined with the trial of a man for the murder of a child. Based on all of his past books we expect a first rate story from Connelly and this time, like all the others, the man delivers. He knows his way around a police investigation and he knows h is way around a courtroom. This knowledge makes his stories believable while his writing skills make them come alive. You can never expect Connelly to play by the rules of logic. Life is illogical and so are Connelly’s stories. Just when you think you know exactly where he is headed he flips on his blinker and makes a U turn. That is what makes him such an exciting writer and one we love to read.”
— Jackie Cooper, Huffington Post

“Connelly’s background as a police reporter gives his books the powerful verisimilitude that few possess and balancing police and legal shenanigans as in The Reversal makes for wonderfully involving reading, particularly with the doublewhammy of a killer who may be released and a political machine pulling strings. When so many crime novelists seem all too ready to repeat themselves it’s great news that Connelly rejects such easy options.”
— Barry Forshaw, Express.co.uk

“What makes Connelly the master of his craft is that he is constantly reinventing himself and his characters, expanding their worlds without sacrificing their humanity.”
— Jason Pinter, TheDailyBeast.com

“This is superior entertainment from a master of the genre. ”
— Irish Independent

“As always, Connelly’s dialogue is crisp, incisive and realistic. The plotting, as ever, is immaculate and the supporting characters are well-drawn. The Reversal proves that this author can consistently produce intelligent, readable and engrossing thrillers.”
— Martin Spice, Malyasia Star

“another of Connelly’s brilliant Los Angeles crime novels. It’s always good to see Bosch back in action—and even better reading Connelly’s new work.”
— Les Roberts, Cleveland Plain Dealer

“It is a work of genius with a shattering climax that shows Connelly is indeed The Man.”
— Alex Gordon, Peterborough Evening Telegraph (UK)

“It makes the novel more complex than genre fiction usually allows, and we end up destabilised. This, though, is quite an achievement for a piece of accessible popular fiction – and a salutary reminder of why we need to go on reading Michael Connelly.”
— Barry Forshaw, Independent (UK)

“The Reversal is arguably Connelly’s finest novel yet. It demonstrates the author’s smoothness of writing and his confidence in depicting both courtroom drama and police procedures.”
— Anthony Rainone, JanuaryMagazine.com

The Reversal made the following Best Of lists:
— Globe and Mail’s Favorite Crime Fiction of 2010
— January Magazine’s Best Books of 2010: Crime Fiction
— Sun Sentinel’s Best Mysteries of 2010

The Overlook audiobook by Hachette Audio is read by narrator Len Cariou. It is available in CD and in downloadable formats.

Listen to an excerpt:

Print these questions and use them to lead a discussion about The Overlook. Spoiler Warning!! This guide does address the entire book.

1. “Everybody counts or nobody counts.”
At the beginning of The Overlook, we discover that Detective Harry Bosch is now in Homicide Special, a part of the prestigious Robbery Homicide Division within the LAPD. Harry had been working open-unsolved cases in the last two books, The Closers and Echo Park. Given his motto, that everybody counts or nobody counts, does it really matter what division Harry is in?

2. “They were still feeling their way.”
In The Overlook, Harry is working with a new partner, Iggy Ferras. This was their first case together and it did not go smoothly. Do you think Harry is a good partner for a young detective to have? Do you believe that Iggy will stick it out with Harry?

3. “Harry, I told you. Call me Iggy. Everybody does.”
Harry didn’t want to call his new partner by his nickname because he didn’t think the name matched the weight of the assignment and mission. What do you make of Harry’s reasoning? Did you notice when he finally called him Iggy?

4. “I had you checked out.”
Before working with him, FBI Agent Jack Brenner made a few calls about Harry Bosch. What do you think Rachel Walling would say about Harry if asked? What would his former partner, Jerry Edgar, say? Or Kizmin Rider? Or the Chief of Police? Or Irvin Irving? Or Eleanor Wish?

5. “I’d rather be kicked to the curb right now than be a mushroom for the Feds.”
Harry kept some secrets from the FBI investigators in order to stay involved in the case. Did Harry’s attitude about working with the FBI help or hinder the solving of this case?

6. “It’s going to be Federal pandemonium.”
In The Overlook, the FBI believed that dangerous radioactive material was in the hands of terrorists who would use it against the city of Los Angeles—all based on the information and evidence provided by Alicia Kent. And Captain Hadley, of the Office of Homeland Security, stormed the home of a suspected terrorist sympathizer and killed him based on evidence that had been planted at the scene. Do you believe that the current climate of fear of terrorism in our country could be manipulated in this way by criminals?

7. “The cesium was just a red herring.”
The killers almost got away with the perfect crime. They assumed that the threat of a terrorist act would easily overwhelm the truth—that this murder was a classic case of a spouse killing a spouse over sex and money. Do you believe the killers would have successfully gotten away with the murder if the cesium had never been found in the Dumpster by Digoberto Gonzalves?

8. “I don’t understand why you are making the moves you are making.”
Harry Bosch’s relationship with FBI Agent Rachel Walling is strained at the beginning of The Overlook because of the incidents that occurred in Echo Park. She doesn’t seem to trust him to do the right thing. He had to work hard to earn her trust back. Where does their relationship stand at the end of this book?

9. “Are you okay?” she finally asked.
Bosch almost laughed. “I don’t know,” he said. “Ask me in about ten years.” Harry Bosch was exposed to radiation on this case and was having some physical problems at the end of the book. What are your predictions for Harry’s health in the future?

Four excerpts from The Overlook, have been brought to life in this 8 minute video. With excerpts read by Len Cariou, illustrations by Larry Moore, and original music written and performed by Frank Morgan. This video was produced and directed by Buster O’Connor.

February 2007

Question: The Overlook was originally serialized in the New York Times Sunday Magazine. For the publication of the novel you were able to re-write the story without the magazine’s space constraints. How was the experience of revisiting the story?

Michael Connelly: Well, it was good on two levels. The first one was that there were pretty strict guidelines on the NYT story. There were 16 chapters and each had to be as close to 3,000 words as possible. So I found myself cutting back in some chapters and padding others. It’s not that easy to do when you are used to—after 17 books—writing without looking at word count or chapter length, etc. So it was nice to revisit the story and pace it the way I wanted to. I think the original story in the Times had a lot of velocity but I think it has more in what I call the final version. The second level of enjoyment I got out of this is that I got a chance to revisit a story about eight months after it was supposedly finished. In the publishing world today it is rare that you get a chance to finish a story and then sort of mull it over and think about what you would add or change.

Question: How much is different in the novel versus the New York Times feature?

Michael Connelly: I think the story is more complex. I didn’t change the significant aspects of plot and character; the bad guy in the Times version is still the bad guy. But I made the bureaucratic and political obstacles that Harry Bosch faces more complicated. There is also a pretty significant story line added involving a character who was not in the Times version of the story. I also shifted the time that the story takes place. In the Times it took place right before Christmas. Now it takes place right now. This allowed me to make the story more current.

Question: The events in The Overlook are supposed to be taking place about five months after the events in Echo Park. Right away we discover that Harry Bosch has a new partner and is no longer in the Open-Unsolved Unit of the LAPD. What can you tell us about the time in-between the two books? What has Harry been doing between these two cases?

Michael Connelly: I try to make these books as realistic as possible without hindering the drama of each story. The events at the end of Echo Park I think would realistically require a major internal investigation to make sure that Harry acted appropriately. So I would say that Harry’s been waiting out an investigation and chomping at the bit to continue his mission. I don’t want to give away anything from Echo Park but it was pretty clear by the end that Harry would need to be assigned a new partner. In The Overlook he is teamed with a young detective he can mentor. I hope Ignacio Ferras is around for at least a few more books.

Question: Fifteen years ago Harry Bosch was introduced to the world in your first novel, The Black Echo. What do you think about when you look back over the years and examine the thirteen Bosch books?

Michael Connelly: I hope he has evolved as a character in a realistic fashion. I hope his changes are believable. I think they are. I look at the discovery that he has a daughter as the most important change or moment in the series so far because it is the thing that has changed him the most. In many ways Harry is still the same as he was in 1992 but in many other ways he has changed a lot because he has learned a lot.

An Excerpt From Chapter One

The call came at midnight. Harry Bosch was awake and sitting in the living room in the dark. He liked to think that he was doing this because it allowed him to hear the saxophone better. By masking one of the senses he accentuated another.

But deep down he knew the truth. He was waiting.

The call was from Larry Gandle, his supervisor in Homicide Special. It was Bosch’s first call out in the new job. And it was what he had been waiting for.

“Harry, you up?”

“I’m up.”

“Who’s that you got playing?”

“Frank Morgan, live at the Jazz Standard in New York. That’s George Cables you’re hearing now on piano.”

“Sounds like All Blues.”

“You nailed it.”

“Good stuff. I hate to take you away from it.”

Bosch used the remote to turn the music off.

“What’s the call, Lieutenant?”

“Hollywood wants you and Iggy to come out and take over a case. They’ve already caught three today and can’t handle a fourth. This one also looks like it might become a hobby. It looks like an execution.”

The Los Angeles Police Department had seventeen geographic divisions, each with its own station and detective bureau, including a homicide squad. But the divisional squads were the first line and couldn’t get bogged down on long-running cases. Whenever a murder came with any sort of political, celebrity or media attachment, it was usually shuttled down to Homicide Special, which operated out of the Robbery-Homicide Division in Parker Center. Any case that appeared to be particularly difficult and time consuming—that would invariably stay active like a hobby—would also be an immediate candidate for Homicide Special. This was one of those.

“Where is it?” Bosch asked.

“Up on that overlook above the Mulholland Dam. You know the place?”

“Yeah, I’ve been up there.”

Bosch got up and walked to the dining room table. He opened a drawer designed for silverware and took out a pen and a small notebook. On the first page of the notebook he wrote down the date and the location of the murder scene.

“Any other details I should know?” Bosch asked.

“Not a lot,” Gandle said. “Like I said, it was described to me as an execution. Two in the back of the head. Somebody took this guy up there and blew his brains out all over that pretty view.”

Bosch let this register a moment before asking the next question.

“Do they know who the dead guy is?”

“The divisionals are working on it. Maybe they’ll have something by the time you get over there. It’s practically in your neighborhood, right?”

“Not too far.”

Gandle gave Bosch more specifics on the location of the crime scene and asked if Harry would make the next call out to his partner. Bosch said he would take care of it.

“Okay, Harry, get out there and see what’s what, then call me and let me know. Just wake me up. Everybody else does.”

Bosch thought it was just like a supervisor to complain about getting woken up to a person he would routinely wake up over the course of their relationship.

“You got it,” Bosch said.

Bosch hung up and immediately called Ignacio Ferras, his new partner. They were still feeling their way. Ferras was more than twenty years younger and from another culture. The bonding would happen, Bosch was sure, but it would come slowly. It always did.

Ferras was awakened by Bosch’s call but became alert quickly and seemed eager to respond, which was good. The only problem was that he lived all the way out in Diamond Bar, which would put his ETA at the crime scene at least an hour off. Bosch had talked to him about it the first day they had been assigned as partners but Ferras wasn’t interested in moving. He had a family support system in Diamond Bar and wanted to keep it.

Bosch knew that he would get to the crime scene well ahead of Ferras and that would mean he would have to handle any divisional friction on his own. Taking a case away from the divisional squad was always a delicate thing. It was a decision usually made by supervisors, not the homicide detectives on the scene. Any homicide detective worth the gold trim on his badge would never want to give away a case.      That just wasn’t part of the mission.

“See you there, Ignacio,” Bosch said.

“Harry,” Ferras said, “I told you. Call me Iggy. Everybody does.”

Bosch said nothing. He didn’t want to call him Iggy. He didn’t think it was a name that matched the weight of the assignment and mission. He wished that his partner would come to that realization and then stop asking him.

Bosch thought of something and added an instruction, telling Ferras to swing by Parker Center on his way in and sign out a car for them to use. It would add minutes to his arrival time but Bosch planned to drive his own car to the scene and he knew he was low on gas.

“Okay, see you there,” Bosch said, leaving names out.

He hung up and grabbed his coat out of the closet by the front door. As he put his arms into it he glanced at himself in the mirror on the inside of the door. At 56 years old he was trim and fit and could even stand to add a few pounds while other detectives his age were getting round in the middle. In Homicide Special there was a pair of detectives known as Crate and Barrel because of their widening dimensions. Bosch didn’t have to worry about that.

The gray had not yet chased all of the brown out of his hair but it was getting close to victory. His dark eyes were clear and bright and ready for the challenge awaiting him at the overlook. In his own eyes Bosch saw a basic understanding of homicide work, that when he stepped out the front door he would be willing and able to go the distance—whatever that entailed—to get the job done. It made him feel as though he was bulletproof.

He reached across his body with his left hand to pull the gun out of the holster on his right hip. It was a Kimber Ultra Carry. He quickly checked the magazine and the action and then returned the weapon to its holster.

He was ready. He opened the door.

An Excerpt From Chapter Three

Following the walk-through he stood in the backyard looking up at the Hollywood sign and calling central communications again to ask that a second forensics team be dispatched to process the Kent house. He also checked on the ETA of the paramedics coming to examine Alicia Kent and was told that they were still five minutes away. This was ten minutes after he had been told that they were ten minutes away.

Next he called Lt. Gandle, waking him at his home. His supervisor listened quietly as Bosch updated him. The federal involvement and the rising possibility of a terrorism angle to the investigation gave Gandle pause.

“Well . . .,” he said when Bosch was finished. “It looks like I am going to have to wake some people up.”

He meant he was going to have to send word of the case and the larger dimensions it was taking on up the department ladder. The last thing an RHD lieutenant would want or need would be to get called into the OCP—the office of the chief of police—in the morning and asked why he hadn’t alerted command staff to the case and its growing implications earlier. Bosch knew that Gandle would now act to protect himself as well as to seek direction from above. This was fine with Bosch and expected. But it gave him pause as well. The LAPD had its own Office of Homeland Security. It was commanded by a man most people in the department viewed as a loose cannon who was unqualified and unsuited for the job.

“Is one of those wake ups going to Captain Hadley?” Bosch asked.

Captain Don Hadley was the twin brother of James Hadley, who happened to be a member of the Police Commission, the politically appointed panel with LAPD oversight and authority to appoint and retain the Chief of Police. Less than a year after James Hadley was placed on the commission by mayoral appointment and the approval of the city council his twin brother jumped from being second in command of the Valley Traffic Division to being commander of the newly formed Office of Homeland Security. This was seen at the time as a political move by the then chief of police who was desperately trying to keep his job. It didn’t work. He was fired and a new chief appointed. But in the transition Hadley kept his job commanding the OHS.

The mission of the OHS was to interface with federal agencies and maintain a flow of intelligence data. In the last six years Los Angeles had been targeted by terrorists at least two times that were known. In each incident the LAPD found out about the threat after it had been foiled by the feds. This was embarrassing to the department and the OHS had been formed so that the LAPD could make intelligence inroads and eventually know what the federal government knew about its own backyard.

The problem was that in practice it was largely suspected that the LAPD remained shut out by the feds. And in order to hide this failing and to justify his position and unit, Captain Hadley had taken to holding grandstanding press conferences and showing up with his black-clad OHS unit at any crime scene where there was a remote possibility of terrorist involvement. An overturned tanker truck on the Hollywood Freeway brought the OHS out in force, until it was determined that the tanker was carrying milk. A shooting of a rabbi at a temple in Westwood brought the same response until the incident was determined to have been the product of a love triangle.

And so it went. After about the fourth misfire, the commander of the OHS was baptized with a new name among the rank and file. Captain Don Hadley became known as Captain Done Badly. But he remained in his position, thanks to the thin veil of politics that hung over his appointment. The last Bosch had heard about Hadley on the department grapevine was that he had put his entire squad back into the academy for training in urban assault tactics.

“I don’t know about Hadley,” Gandle said in response to Bosch. “He’ll probably be looped in. I’ll start with my captain and he’ll make the call on who gets the word from there. But that’s not your concern, Harry. You do your job and don’t worry about Hadley. The people you have to watch your back with are the feds.”

“Got it.”

“Remember, with the feds it’s always time to worry when they start telling you just want you want to hear.”

Bosch nodded. The advice followed a time honored LAPD tradition of distrusting the FBI. And, of course, it was a tradition honored for just as long by the FBI in terms of distrusting the LAPD right back. It was the reason the OHS was born.

When Bosch came back into the house he found Walling on her cell phone and a man he had never seen before standing in the living room. He was tall, mid-40s and exuded that undeniable FBI confidence Bosch had seen many times before. The man put out his hand.

“You must be Detective Bosch,” he said. “Jack Brenner. Rachel’s my partner.”

Bosch shook his hand. It was a small thing but the way he said Rachel was his partner told Bosch a lot. There was something proprietary about it. Brenner was telling him that the senior partner was now on the job, whether that would be Rachel’s view of it or not.

“So, you two have met.”

Bosch turned. Walling was off the phone now.

“Sorry,” she said. “I was filling in the special agent in charge. He’s decided to devote all of Tactical to it. He’s running out three teams to start hitting the hospitals to see if Kent has been in any of the hot labs today.”

“The hot lab is where they keep the radioactive stuff?” Bosch asked.

“Yes. Kent had access through security to just about all of them in the county. We have to figure out if he was inside any of them today.”

Bosch knew that he could probably narrow the search down to one medical facility. Saint Agatha’s Clinic for Women. Kent was wearing an ID tag from the hospital when he was murdered. Walling and Brenner didn’t know that but Bosch decided not to tell them yet. He sensed the investigation was moving away from him and he wanted to hold on to what might be the one piece of inside information he still had.

“What about the LAPD?” he asked instead.

“The LAPD?” Brenner said, jumping on the question ahead of Walling. “You mean what about you, Bosch? Is that what you’re asking?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Where do I stand in this?”

Brenner spread his arms in a gesture of openness.

“Don’t worry, you’re in. You’re with us all the way.”

The federal agent nodded like it was a promise as good as gold.

“Good,” Bosch said. “That’s just want I wanted to hear.”

He looked at Walling for confirmation of her partner’s statement. But she looked away.