‘The Drop’ by Michael Connelly

Published by Orion 27^th October 2011.
ISBN: 978-1-4091-3428-2

LAPD Detective Harry Bosch has been put on DROP – Deferred Retirement Option Plan, and is currently assigned to the Open-Unsolved Unit. The thousands of unsolved cases are slowly being evaluated in the light of forensic developments such as DNA.  A cold hit is when DNA from an old case is matched to the DNA in the nation’s databases and then the case is re-opened.  With his long experience Harry gets the cases that require careful handling, and when a cold case from 1989 gets a DNA hit for the rape and murder of young woman which points to a convicted rapist who was only eight at the time of the killing, the case is immediately assigned to Harry.

Within hours of being assigned his new case Harry gets an urgent call to investigate the death of Councilman Irvin Irving’s son George.  It appears that the Councilman who has considerable clout with the police department has requested that Harry take-over the investigation.  As Irvin Irving and Harry have clashed on many occasions over the last twenty-five years, with Irving seemingly bent of destroying Harry’s career, he is surprised and suspicious of the request, but is unable to get out of it.  Although told to put his cold case on the back burner and to concentrate on the death of George Irving, Harry continues to pursue both cases along with his new partner David Chu.  

As with previous books I was fascinated by the detail of the chase as Harry follows the trail of these two cases that twist and turn like live snakes.  While the cold case leads Harry in pursuit of justice for a brutally murdered young girl, the current case immerses him in politics, corruption and conspiracy.

While juggling with two cases, with the Police Chief and Councilman Irving constantly on his back, Harry is also a single parent caring for his fifteen-year-old daughter, and trying to have a personal life – a tall order.

A compelling entry in this excellent series, I couldn’t put this book down and read into the early hours to finish it.  One of the best books I have read this year, put it in your ‘must read’ list.

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Lizzie Hayes

Michael Connelly was born in Philadelphia, PA on July 21, 1956. After graduating in 1980, Connelly worked at newspapers in Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  After three years on the crime beat in L.A., Connelly began writing his first novel to feature LAPD Detective Hieronymus Bosch. His first book The Black Echo, based in part on a true crime that had occurred in Los Angeles, was published in 1992 and won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel by the Mystery Writers of America. Connelly followed up with three more Bosch books, The Black Ice, The Concrete Blonde, and The Last Coyote, before publishing The Poet in 1996—a thriller with a newspaper reporter as a protagonist. In 1997, he went back to Bosch with Trunk Music, and in 1998 another non-series thriller, Blood Work, was published.  Connelly's next book, Angels Flight, was released in 1999 and was another entry in the Harry Bosch series. The non-series novel Void Moon was released in 2000 and introduced a new character, Cassie Black, a high-stakes Las Vegas thief. His 2001 release, A Darkness More Than Night, united Harry Bosch with Terry McCaleb from Blood Work.  In 2002, Connelly released two novels. The first, the Harry Bosch book City Of Bones. The second release was a stand-alone thriller, Chasing The Dime. Lost Light was published in 2003. It is another in the Harry Bosch series but the first written in first person. Connelly's 2004 novel, The Narrows, is the sequel to The Poet. His 11th Harry Bosch novel, The Closers, was published in May 2005. The Lincoln Lawyer, Connelly's first-ever legal thriller and his 16th novel, was published in October. This book introduced Mickey Haller, a Los Angeles defense attorney who works out of the back seat of his Lincoln Town Car.  Echo Park, was released in October 2006. The Overlook, Michael's 18th novel, was originally serialized in the New York Times Magazine. This Harry Bosch story was published as a book with additional material in May 2007. Michael's 19th novel, The Brass Verdict, was released in October 2008. It introduces Lincoln lawyer Mickey Haller to LAPD Detective Harry Bosch in a fast-paced legal thriller. Michael's 20th novel, The Scarecrow, was first released in May 2009, and reunites reporter Jack McEvoy and FBI Agent Rachel Walling for the first time since The Poet. In the 15th Harry Bosch novel, Nine Dragons, Bosch goes to Hong Kong to find his missing daughter. It is the most personal Bosch story since The Last Coyote.  In October 2010, The Reversal was released. This book has Mickey Haller and Harry Bosch working together on the high-profile retrial of a brutal child murder. The Fifth Witness, a Mickey Haller novel, was released in April 2011.     Michael lives with his family in Florida.