49 pages 1 hour read

Michael Connelly

The Black Echo

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1992

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Background

Authorial Context: Harry Bosch Series

Harry Bosch is the protagonist of 24 novels by Michael Connelly, most recently Desert Star (2022). In 2015, the series was adapted into an Amazon Prime TV Series, Bosch, with Titus Welliver in the title role. In the books, Bosch is a Vietnam veteran who quickly rose through the ranks of the LAPD before his uncompromising pursuit of the truth and antisocial personality put him at odds with Internal Affairs and career-minded superiors. Before the start of The Black Echo, Bosch was demoted from the prestigious Robbery-Homicide Division (RHD) after Internal Affairs questioned his motives in the shooting of a serial killer suspect known as “the Dollmaker.” Over the course of the series, Bosch works for the Hollywood Division and for RHD again as a private detective and as a criminal defense investigator, and he returns from retirement as a detective for the San Bernadino Police Department. Despite the variety of positions, for most of the series, Bosch works out of Hollywood and is partners with Jerry Edgar.

Bosch is an updated version of the classic 1930s hardboiled detective. He distrusts his own profession, puts justice before his own happiness, and searches for truth no matter the consequences.