The Burning Room Reviews
““The Burning Room” is the best Bosch book in years”
– New York Times
“Connelly’s exceptional gift for crafting an intricate and fascinating procedural hasn’t faded a bit. Our protagonist remains, after 19 books, one of the most intriguing creations in crime fiction, even as he faces his impending retirement. A humdinger of an ending will have readers anxiously awaiting the next book.”
– Library Journal Starred Review
“Bosch is very much of the old school in this high-tech world, but his hands-on tenacity serves him and the case well—just as Connelly serves his readers well with his encyclopedic knowledge and gifts as a storyteller.”
– Publishers Weekly Starred Review
“By putting the emphasis on the training of a young detective, Connelly shows us a side of Bosch we tend to de-emphasize, stressing instead his maverick attitude and his battles against inner demons. Harry is also a damn good detective, eschewing databases and cell phones to do his investigating by following the old school motto of “Get off your ass, and go knock on doors.” Sadly, door-knocking doesn’t always win in the face of high jingo, or even garden-variety bureaucrats, and if the Bosch series teaches us anything, it’s that hard work is often its own—and only—reward. That’s the real lesson Bosch must teach Lucia, and he does it in grand style.”
– Booklist Starred Review
“With The Burning Room, Michael Connelly delivers another police procedural that makes us hope that Harry Bosch will never retire.”
– Barnes & Noble Editorial Review
“Connelly maintains a rapid pace, steadily increasing the tension even after the solution becomes obvious. Following Bosch’s trail is like watching Lew Archer in the glory days of Ross Macdonald, except Connelly’s focus is social, political and ultimately professional rather than psychological.”
– Kirkus Reviews
“As ever in Michael Connelly’s work, Los Angeles — a city in which “no matter how close something looked, it was still far away” — is a character in its own right. And the jazz soundtrack — “plaintive and sad but … with an undeniable wave of underlying hope” — makes The Burning Room a superb swansong.”
– London Evening Standard
“LAPD detective Harry Bosch has seen enough of politics interfering with his investigations through the years. Now, as he supposedly enters the last year of his career, Harry is even more tired of this intrusion that erupts constantly in “The Burning Room,” the excellent 19th novel in Michael Connelly’s superb series. “The Burning Room” excels as a look at how power, prestige and the media can override the best intentions. Connelly also weaves in a bit of the immigrant experience that continues to shape Los Angeles.”
– South Florida Sun Sentinel (Best Mystery Novels of 2014)
“If King of the Police Procedural were an actual position, Michael Connelly would be crowned tomorrow. His books starring LAPD detective Harry Bosch are impossible to beat for smart plotting, crisp dialogue, and realistic “shoe leather” investigative work. To solve the case, his hero is just as likely to pull a file from archives as pull a Glock, the sort of realism Connelly’s millions of fans appreciate. And in his new book The Burning Room, Connelly shows us once again what makes him king.”
– Barnes & Noble Holiday Gift Guide
“How do you investigate a murder when it has taken the victim 10 years to die? That’s just one of the knotty problems facing Los Angeles Police Department Detective Harry Bosch in The Burning Room, the compelling 19th novel in an internationally bestselling series….The Burning Room is a terrifically satisfying trip.”
– Tampa Bay Tribune
“The writing is simple and effective, and the story is interesting and original — impressive for the 19th in any series. Bosch may be up for retirement soon, but I doubt anyone would complain if he did his thing for another 20 years.”
– Los Angeles Times
“Michael Connelly has yet another winner in his long-running Bosch series with “The Burning Room”
– St. Louis Dispatch
“Bosch shows himself once again to be the master and if he follows through on the retirement, his absence would leave an irreplaceable gap in crime fiction.”
– Toronto Star
“As always, Connelly builds the tension at a page-turning pace to a rewarding climax.”
– The Florida Times Union
“This, the 19th Harry Bosch mystery, is cleverly plotted, suspenseful and entertaining, with a scorpion sting in the tail that leaves the reader dumbfounded.”
– Irish Independent
“Connelly has invented one of the genre’s greatest contemporary detectives. The author writes smart procedurals for breakfast. He writes astute plot in which the tension and suspense increase right up to the end that you don’t see coming. If you’re a Harry Bosch fan, The Burning Room will feel like you’re slipping on a pair of old, comfortable shoes…literally. You know Harry already. You know what to expect from the storyteller Michael Connelly. Both of them deliver superbly. And when Harry Bosch does eventually retire, and it could be any novel now, it’ll be a sad day for procedural mystery readers. Harry just knows so darn much…”
– USA Today
“A fine balancing act between thought and action on Bosch’s part, “The Burning Room” offers a nuanced, nicely-honed performance from Connelly as well.”
– Boston Globe
“This is the latest Harry Bosch novel, and it is another excellent addition to the series and frankly, I’m running out of superlatives to describe Connelly’s work. …Michael Connelly is the undisputed king of the police procedural, and The Burning Room is a superlative example.”
– BookBitch
“As if engineered by a Swiss watch craftsman, Connelly’s plots are precision built, every cog turning silkily, doing its job without fuss, driving the story onward. …Explosive surprises await Bosch and Soto in this totally absorbing thriller.”
– Peterborough Telegraph (UK)
“Connelly is one of the best crime writers in the business, and he continues to tell compelling character-driven tales. The authentic police work and slow burn of the narrative turns this potentially ordinary crime story into something much more. Connelly has the magic touch, and “The Burning Room” is sure to be another bestseller that fans and newcomers alike will enjoy.”
– Associated Press
” typically excellent”
– Wall Street Journal
“Bosch, teamed here with impressive new recruit Lucy Soto, goes about his work with the same quality of unobtrusive directness that Connelly brings to his prose, the deceptively understated approach disguising a pacy, powerful investigation that yields results when least expected.”
– Irish Times
“a doozy of a tale.”
– Washington Post
“If you’re looking for a cerebral, carefully plotted police procedural with well-developed characters and a complex plot, you’re in for a real treat.”
– Lansing State Journal
