Michael Connelly is a well-oiled machine turning our tightly-wound thrillers, running on the twin engines of Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller. There are other booster engines, but these two carry the author into the stratosphere.
‘Lost Light’ is an amazing Bosch thriller. Not a single page wasted, not a single pay-off denied to the reader. Each moment, each thought, each random incident to happen (i.e., a dropped water bottle) – is calculated, and has a clear intent and purpose. While I do know that life isn’t conceived so, there are too many wasted energies and pent-up frustration to deal with, man-oh-man – it just feels enormously satisfying to read this book where every potential plot point is fully realized. It is a sign of a true master-planner – something I have seen very few authors doing – J.K. Rowling being one of them, Michael Connelly the other.
Now-a-days, while reading – I am easily bored. I picked this one up considering it to be a light-weight that I could finish off quickly. I did finish it off quickly, but it isn’t a light-weight but a super-fun, high octane ride. Bosch might be a self-doubting prat in personal life, but he makes such a good, hardy, ball-busting detective when he is on a mission. Such a character!
A bunch of murders, internecine office politics in LAPD & FBI, and our smart alec now-retired detective pushing everyone’s buttons just because he can or his moral high-ground beckons him to – ‘Lost Light’ is everything you can ask for and some more.
While Michael Connelly ensures that none of his protagonists are happy or satisfied with their present lot, he would sometimes go out of his way to make them suffer in any and all of his books – this one has a good personal pay-off for Bosch at the end.
Though we know, he won’t be happy for long. Restless, imperfect characters make for the most entertaining reads!
Alienman 