The Closers Reviews
“Connelly comes as close as anyone to being today’s Dostoyevsky of crime literature, and this is one of his finest works to date, a likely candidate not only for book award nominations but for major bestsellerdom.”
— Publishers Weekly *Starred Review
“what can you do to refresh the screen when your hero, like Connelly’s Harry Bosch, looks at the world through “seen-it-all-twice eyes”? You can take a chance, and that’s exactly what Connelly does here, transforming his world-weary hero into a rookie cop and forcing him (and us) to live one day at a time without the comfort of our own cynicism. …Connelly sets up a great premise here—the cop determined to reinvent himself in the face of a thoroughly recalcitrant world—and he makes the most of it.”
— Booklist * Starred Review
“compelling style makes even the most mundane details fascinating. Fans and newcomers alike will love seeing Bosch back in uniform, stirring up trouble. For all crime fiction collections.”
— Library Journal * Starred Review
“Connelly is one of the most consistently excellent authors in current-day crime fiction: his characters, particularly the world-weary Bosch, are complex and appealing; his stories fast-paced, edgy and believable.”
— BookPage
“Connelly artfully reclaims the procedural genre. The technical drill in this narrative is as detailed as it gets, and when Bosch applies himself to his first case…he is, in effect, taking the reader on an inside tour of the machinery running the new and streamlined L.A.P.D. … …Bosch can’t bring back the victims, but in his new job he can honor his resolve ”to carry on the mission” and make good on his promise ”always to speak for the dead.””
— Marilyn Stasio, New York Times
“Connelly has risen well above the genre pulp, by telling stories that matter, filling them with rich characters and bringing the locales alive for the reader. All this is accomplished with a skill that lifts the prose from the page and turns it into something palpable.”
— Robin Vidimos, The Denver Post
“The return of Harry Bosch is good for his beloved City of the Angels and great for readers.”
— Gary Wisby, Chicago Sun-Times
“The Closers” is a powerful book… The forensics are fascinating, but it’s the blood splatter from the LAPD’s darkest years that really stain the page.”
— Sherryl Connelly, New York Daily News
“The Closers is as hard-boiled a novel as they come, but the story also explodes in a quiet way. Connelly doesn’t use gratuitous violence to drive a story — he relies on first-class storytelling.”
— Oline H. Cogdill, Sun-Sentinel
“Mr. Connelly’s previous Bosch novel, “The Narrows,” was a career high point. “The Closers,” an engrossing and exciting tale, does nothing to lower the standards of the series. Throughout, Mr. Connelly takes as his subject not just Harry Bosch and his circle of friends (and enemies) but Los Angeles itself: “A city as great as any other. And just as mean.””
— Tom Nolan, The Wall Street Journal
“It’s terrific, rich not just in suspense (at which Connelly has no superiors) but in the warp and woof of police work, of police bureaucracy, of Los Angeles itself. Every character is convincing…”
— Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post
“Fans of Connelly will recognize the deliberate progression of Police Procedural 101, in which he excels; also the thick acronym soup of cop-speak. They will welcome back Bosch on full alert and with tricks aplenty, most of them legal.”
— Eugen Weber, Los Angeles Times
“With crackling dialogue and masterful plot work, Connelly weaves a tale of corruption and betrayal that reaches deep into the abyss called Los Angeles.”
— Geoff Jennings, Rainy Day Books, Fairway, KS (A BookSense Pick For May 2005)
“…in a Michael Connelly novel, things are never as simple as they seem. …excellent, twisty police procedural…”
— Amazon.co.uk Editorial Review
“Connelly’s in top form once again with this tight-as-a-noose tale of retired homicide detective Harry Bosch, who returns to the LAPD to investigate a 20-year-old unsolved murder.”
— LIFE Magazine
“THE CLOSERS finds both Bosch and Connelly on the top of their game.”
— CrimeSpree Magazine
Best Books of 2005, Top 10 Editors’ Picks: Mystery & Thrillers
— Amazon.com Washington Post “Critics Choices” For 2005, Top 5 Books
