16829 Followers
195 Following
LG

Familiar Diversions

I'm a librarian who loves anime, manga, and reading a wide variety of genres.

Currently reading

How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom, Vol. 1
Dojyomaru, Fuyuyuki, Sean McCann
Progress: 103/374 pages
Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Jeff Lindsay
Progress: 424/470 minutes
Wait Till Helen Comes: A Ghost Story
Mary Downing Hahn
Progress: 184/184 pages
Parental Guidance
Avery Flynn
Progress: 40 %
An Offer From a Gentleman
Julia Quinn
Progress: 102/358 pages
The Twisted Ones
T. Kingfisher
Progress: 385/385 pages
Educated
Tara Westover
Progress: 315/730 minutes
My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Vol. 2
Satoru Yamaguchi, Nami Hidaka
Progress: 24/171 pages
Graphic Medicine Manifesto
MK Czerwiec, Kimberly R. Myers, Scott T. Smith, Michael J. Green, Susan Merrill Squier, Ian Williams
Progress: 26/172 pages
Ao Oni: Mutation
Kenji Kuroda, Karin Suzuragi, Alexander Keller-Nelson
Progress: 30/152 pages

Echo Park (audio book) by Michael Connelly, read by Len Cariou

Echo Park - Michael Connelly, Len Cariou

[An old review. This was work-time listening and, I think, my first Harry Bosch book. I followed along fairly well, considering it's the 12th book in the series.]

 

I almost quit listening to this book during, I think, disc 4, because it looked like things were going to go directions I didn't particularly want to deal with in audio book form. Waits had just described what he'd done to the victim from one of Bosch's old cases (one word: necrophilia). He ended by saying that was just the start of what he'd done, and that what he had to say about how he'd dealt with his other victims would be worse. If that were true, I didn't know that I wanted to hear about it all.

I persevered, though, and found myself hooked by all the twisty paths this case took. Every time Bosch thought he knew what was going on, he found out something new that changed things. It got to the point where, whenever Bosch started acting like the newest bit of information was absolute truth, I rolled my eyes a little, because who knew what the next developments would bring?

Most of the book's characters didn't grab me in such a way that I felt the need to read more in this series just to get to know them better. Rachel Walling, an FBI agent and old flame of Bosch's, is around for a good bit of the book, and she and Bosch try to rekindle their relationship. Although their relationship didn't really interest me all that much, I did appreciate that it didn't get in the way of their ability to communicate as professionals. I was a little amused when, shortly after having sex (off-page), they spend time watching a tape of Bosch interviewing a man he thought had done the murder Waits confessed to committing. Perfect movie for a date, right?

I think Kiz Rider, Bosch's partner, actually got less story time than Rachel, so I didn't get to know her quite as well (and it's not like I felt I even knew Rachel all that well – she was mostly a professional presence rather than a personal one). She seemed to be the more computer-literate side of the partnership and was less emotionally connected to the case than Bosch. According to the handy little chart in Wikipedia, Kiz is in at least four books in the series. I'm vaguely curious about whether she gets a larger part in any of those other books, but I think I'd probably be more interested to read how Bosch adapts to new partners.

One of the big things I liked about this book was all the police procedural stuff. I'm not a police officer myself and don't know one personally, so I can't say for sure how accurate any of it is, but it all came across as realistic to me. If you're annoyed by the way fancy technology seems to solve everything in a lot of crime shows on TV anymore, you'll probably like the bit, as I did, where Bosch and Rachel spent hours going through water-damaged documents looking for the information Bosch needed, not even knowing if it was still readable.

I may have to see about reading the next book in the series, if only to find out whether Bosch really did what Rachel accused him of having done. I don't know that the next book would necessarily reveal that, but it would be interesting to see if Bosch were more inclined to do things that didn't fit well with “the way of the true detective” (a phrase that struck me as a little silly and boyish every time it came up, although it's a big part of Bosch and how he sees himself). I was a little surprised at how unaffected Bosch seemed by Rachel's final decision and words, but, then again, the book ended not long after that and Bosch couldn't really confide all of that to Kiz. For one thing, I don't know if their relationship was such that they ever confided much personal stuff to each other, and, for another, Kiz had her own big life changes to worry about.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. My library has more audio books in this series, so I'll probably listen to those at some point.

I thought Len Cariou did a good job as the reader for this book. His voice fit perfectly as Bosch, although all his voices for female characters sounded a bit...weak. It made it a little hard for me to take Rachel seriously.

As far as content goes, like I said, there's no on-page sex, but there is some strong language. It's not something I usually worry over in my reading choices, but I tend to listen to audio books on CD over my computer's speakers, rather than with headphones or earbuds.

 

(Original review, with read-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)