While I’m writing this, it’s the 4th of May 2024. It still feels weird to live in a world without Paul Auster in it. When I went to bed on the 30th of April, he was still there. On the morning of the 1st of May, when I opened the New York Times app on my phone, a black-and-white picture of Paul Auster gave it away.

I had known he was fighting cancer but I thought he had time… Time for more novels - after all, his novels have been present in my life for decades, most of my life. Auster’s novels were never easy to read but they were worth the effort.

Why am I prefacing a review of “Angels Flight” with that? First and foremost, I’m writing these reviews for myself. They add to my enjoyment of the novel discussed and they also serve as a reminder of them, and who I was when I read them. Of course, I’m also writing them for you, dear reader, and I love it when you like them (so, hit that button right now, what are you waiting for?) but that’s a bonus.

When looking for my next read, I first reached for a novel by Auster but I quickly realised, in my state of mind, I couldn’t enjoy it. So I decided to continue my Harry Bosch binge-reading and that turned out to be an excellent idea because it put me into a reading frenzy!

This time, Harry is called in to investigate the murder of a hotshot civil rights lawyer who was suing the LAPD for extreme police brutality against his client. Harry quickly discovers that the lawyer was right and his client completely innocent. Harry’s own colleagues, though, among them his former partner and old friend, Frankie Sheehan, as well as his nemesis, John Chastain of the Internal Affairs Division (IAD), feature prominently among the cast of this absolute page turner.

»[Bosch] “What? What am I doing?”
[Chastain]: “You’re thinning us out. That way you have better control.”
He waited for Bosch to reply but only got silence.
“But eventually, if we’re going to do this thing right, you are going to have to trust us.”
After a pause, Bosch said, “I know that.”«

Teamed up with Chastain and his entourage at first, later joined by Roy Lindell of the FBI (and the previous novel), Bosch is the same old “hard-boiled” detective he always was, but - also as always - with a spin. Bosch is still willing to learn and to adapt. He’s alienated by computers at best but in contrast to many of his colleagues, he’s not only willing to learn but he’s not shy to ask for help:

»Rider came around the desk and looked down at the printout.
“It’s a web page.”
“Right. So how do we get to it and take a look?”
“Let me get in there.”«

(Kizmin Rider is a female colleague of Harry’s.)

Sadly, as good as the novel is in almost every aspect, the author’s fledgling grasp of the then-emerging web technology is embarrassingly rendered. What Connelly writes about web pages, cookies, and other stuff is probably the worst technobabble I’ve ever read. Highly annoying if one knows better but good enough for everyone else.

As usual, Connelly’s other writing is smooth and wonderfully readable. The story itself is very engaging and represents a clear step-up from the previous novel, easily becoming one of the most suspenseful Bosch novels so far.

Unfortunately, the ending came unexpectedly quickly: The story was fully wrapped-up but the way it ends is satisfying in its consequences, but it feels rushed with chances to redeem a major character lost, and a few threads not loose, but at least not neatly tied up as in every other Bosch novel so far.

Nevertheless, I read till I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer and - very uncharacteristically for me - I started reading again almost immediately after waking up without even checking in on my computer.

A clear winner that garners 4.5 stars out of five from me, rounded up to five.

P.S.: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6eG0lyAgR-/

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Ceterum censeo Putin esse delendam ( )

I am pretty sure I watched every episode in the television series, but so far I have not recognized any of the plots. The Los Angeles location keeps it interesting. Being in the next county over we (hubby and I) are only vaguely familiar with the street names and the neighborhoods. Don knew all about "Angel's Flight". I never heard of it. Neither of us has ever been to the area where it is. Coincidentally, I just started watching too, an HBO series (Perry Mason) that is using this location as well, but back in the 30's.
This was a different reader. I'd gotten used to Dick Hill, so it was an adjustment, but Mr. Giles (Peter) does well. ( )

(1999)very good police mystery has Harry Bosch trying to solve murder of lawyer that specialized in suing the LAPD over racial harassment issues. Case finally points to Internal Affairs cop who turns out to be the lawyer's inside source who was threatened with being outed in a big case.

It was a fun book to reread. I also loved comparing it to the TV Series which I was surprised to find myself thinking, “they made a few changes for the better.”

Still loved the book. He is one of my favorite crime writers and reading them again is bringing me a lot of joy. ( )

An activist attorney is killed in a cute little L.A. trolley called Angels Flight, far from Harry Bosch's Hollywood turf. But the case is so explosive--and the dead man's enemies inside the L.A.P.D. are so numerous--that it falls to Harry to solve it. Now the streets are superheating. Harry's year-old Vegas marriage is unraveling. And the hunt for a killer is leading Harry to another high-profile L.A. murder case, one where every cop had a motive. The question is, did any have the guts? ( )