Connelly’s first ‘Harry Bosch’ novel was published in 1992. Now, more than 20 years and 23 books later, the series remains one of the best in the genre. This is the fifth novel in the spin-off Ballard and Bosch series, in which Harry plays more of a cameo role. The main character is Detective Renee Ballard, and Harry’s daughter, Maddie, steps up to play a pivotal role.
Renee Ballard, a surfer and former corruption whistle blower, runs an Open Unsolved Unit staffed entirely by volunteers, who are currently investigating a series of brutal rapes that ended in murder. A new
lead throws up a link to a sitting judge as a possible suspect.
During a morning surf, Renee’s car is broken into and her badge and gun are stolen. She enlists the assistance of her friend and former colleague, Harry Bosch, who is undergoing treatment for cancer, to help recover them before anyone else finds out, and her career, which is already on thin ice, is ended.
Meanwhile, Harry’s daughter, Maddie, a young patrol cop, wants to become a detective and is looking to kick-start her own career. She joins Renee’s unit and brings her own new leads, investigating legendary Hollywood murder case – The Black Dahlia.
As with all of Connelly’s novels, The Waiting is densely plotted and combines police procedural with mystery, drama and complex moral dilemmas. Three main strands – the rapist case, Renee’s badge theft, and the new Black Dahlia investigation, are woven together creating a compelling and satisfying story.
Another brilliant entry into an already strong body of work. Connelly goes from strength to strength as a writer.
Reviewed by Tessa Chudy
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Connelly was born in Philadelphia, PA on July 21, 1956. He moved to Florida with his family when he was 12 years old. Michael decided to become a writer after discovering the books of Raymond Chandler while attending the University of Florida. Once he decided on this direction he chose a major in journalism and a minor in creative writing – a curriculum in which one of his teachers was novelist Harry Crews.
After graduating in 1980, Connelly worked at newspapers in Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, primarily specialising in the crime beat. In Fort Lauderdale he wrote about police and crime during the height of the murder and violence wave that rolled over South Florida during the so-called cocaine wars.
In 1986, he and two other reporters spent several months interviewing survivors of a major airline crash. They wrote a magazine story on the crash and the survivors which was later short-listed for the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing. The magazine story also moved Connelly into the upper levels of journalism, landing him a job as a crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times, one of the largest papers in the country, and bringing him to the city of which his literary hero, Chandler, had written.
Michael is the bestselling author of over 40 novels. With over 85 million copies of his books sold worldwide and translated into 45 foreign languages, he is one of the most successful writers working today.
His very first novel, The Black Echo, won the prestigious Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1992. In 2002, Clint Eastwood directed and starred in the movie adaptation of Connelly’s 1998 novel, Blood Work.
In March 2011, the movie adaptation of his #1 bestselling novel, The Lincoln Lawyer, hit theaters worldwide starring Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Haller.
His most recent #1 New York Times bestsellers include Desert Star, The Dark Hours, The Law Of Innocence, The Night Fire, and Dark Sacred Night. Michael’s crime fiction career was honored with the Diamond Dagger from the CWA in 2018, and the Outstanding Contribution To Crime Writing Award at the 2022 Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, England, and the Grand Master title from the Mystery Writers of America in 2023.
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