Echo Park (Harry Bosch) by Michael Connelly Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $1.50 You Save: $25.49 (94%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.27 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Echo Park (Harry Bosch)
Book Review: Interesting premise
Summary: 3 Stars
The story is interesting, though I am not sure if it's truly original. A murder convict takes the blame of an unsolved crime...but is it what it seems to be. The characters are well-developed and can be easily imagined as real-life people. I also liked the plot and the pace of the story, with Echo Park at the center stage. I would love to see this story turned into a TV show or a movie. However, I have couple of issues grappling with the reason behind Mario Gesto's murder, the main murder case. Was she killed just because she looked like someone else? Also, why would such a random killing happen with the killer having no past history of killing? He intimidated kids at one point and had a volatile relationship with his girlfriend, but is it enough to kill someone? I don't think there was enough justification provided for murdering Mario Gesto. Secondly, the revelation of the Raynard Waits' true name came by fluke or chance. I would have liked a more detailed assessment of the key events that happened in the novel and not about the build-up.
Apart of that, I would still recommend this novel to any crime novel lover for creating a wonderful atmosphere and believable characters.
Book Review: Slightly disappointing
Summary: 3 Stars
Detective Harry Bosch from LAPD is back trying to unravel a 13-year-old mystery which has haunted him since it happened, in connection with the disappearance of a young lady, Marie Gesto. Someone has recently been arrested and is allegedly going to indicate her whereabouts. In a whirl of politically connected events and fast-paced actions, Bosch tries to extricate the truth and is helped in this process by his close friend Rachel from the FBI. They will discover some uncomfortable truths and their lives, especially Bosch's, are consequently at stake.
This is yet another case where an Amazon "half mark" would be handy (3 1/2 stars), but as it is not possible, the mark goes back to 3 stars. I have read other books by the same author ("The Lincoln Lawyer", "Void Moon", "Lost Light" which I would generally rate with 4 stars), but I do not think this book deserved it in full. Although it was quite fast-paced and intriguing, I also found the plot to be a trifle too far-fetched, especially towards the end.
Book Review: The trouble with Harry is, well, . . . Harry.
Summary: 4 Stars
Connelly's Harry Bosch has a bouillabaisse on his plate; a serial killer on the loose, his FBI girl friend who is mad at him, an ambitious prosecutor running for office, smarmy defense counsel, and corruption striking close to home. Harry handles all with his usual reckless hamhandness. He would not be lovable Harry, otherwise. This police procedural mystery, a predecessor book to "The Overlook," couples all this excitement with Harry's recent penchant for stumbling over old records and closed files and solving old crimes.Book Review: Won't get fooled again
Summary: 5 Stars
I've read all of the Harry Bosch series except "The Overlook." With each one I begin, I say to myself, "Michael's not going to fool me this time. I'm going to read very closely and figure out the killer/conspiracy/corrupt influence/traitor/mastermind before the end." I started "Echo Park" this way. Almost to the end, I said, "I see it coming." I was so smug.
Then came the ending.
Dang!