3 STARS
The book definitely kept me hooked and engaged. But some situations were contrived as the torch was getting passed over from Bosch to Ballard – Connelly is delicately trying to prime his audience, Bosch is already 70 years old. But he doesn’t want the loyal fanbase and readership to fall once Bosch is out of picture – so a series of interim books where both the characters are solving cases together. ‘The Night Fire’ is a fine balancing act, but it loses the intensity of the earlier books as there is no overarching case to solve but a multitude of smaller ones that are independently / jointly solved by the two. Even Haller is added to spice things up.
While their circumstances are different, Ballard is slowly turning out to be lady-Bosch. She also likes to rile people up & has the same intense dedication to see things to a closure and ensure Justice is served. Never had I seen Bosch so solicitous to a character, but of course he would be if the character is his mirror image.
A decent read altogether!
Alienman 