Status
Available
Genres
Collection
Publication
Brilliance Audio (2010), Edition: Abridged
Description
Fiction. Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:Detective Harry Bosch was sure he'd shot the serial killer responsible for a string of murders in LA . . . but now, a new crime makes him question his convictions. The Dollmaker was the name of the serial killer who had stalked Los Angeles ruthlessly, leaving grisly calling cards on the faces of his female victims. Now with a single faultless shot, Detective Harry Bosch thinks he has ended the city's nightmare. But the dead man's widow is suing Harry and the LAPD for killing the wrong man�?? an accusation that rings terrifyingly true when a new victim is discovered with the Dollmaker's macabre signature. So for the second time, Harry must hunt down a death-dealer who is very much alive, before he strikes again. It's a blood-tracked quest that will take Harry from the hard edges of the L.A. night to the last place he ever wanted to go�?? the darkness of his own heart. With The Concrete Blonde, Edgar Award-winning author Michael Connelly has hit a whole new level in his career, creating a breathtaking thriller that thrusts you into a blistering courtroom battle�?? and a desperate search for a sadisti… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member markatread
Harry Bosch is on trial in a wrongful death civil action brought by the family of Henry Church who Harry Bosch killed 4 years ago. Harry and all of the other cops in the LAPD believe Henry Church was the Dollmaker, a serial killer that killed 11 prostitutes and then painted their faces garishly
The Concrete Blonde has many different elements that Michael Connelly uses expertly; the courtroom drama, the murder mystery, and the police procedural drama that weave back and forth in harmony. Each of the elements support each other and make the other elements even stronger. But what makes this book better than the other early Harry Bosch books is Sylvia. This is the first girlfriend that Harry really has and he likes her and wants it to work out. He's afraid to attach to her and when later on in the book she needs space, he reassures himself that he is better off without her, that in fact she made him weak. But what she also does it make Harry even more human for us the readers. He feels uncertainity and joy and peace with her. He feels sadness and lonliness without her. In the other early books, he feels a lot of anger and rage, it is his fuel.But with the court case, the uncertainty involved with questioning himself about whether he killed the wrong man or not, Harry is a much more complete and complex character. He still sees being a homocide cop as his calling but that single minded focus is gone. The uncertainity is what replaces it, and underneath the uncertainty, is hope. Hope that Sylvia helps him move cautiously towards. Hope that Harry will be able to find some peace from the demons that damaged him and cause him to damage those that are around him.
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like dolls.The family is claiming that Harry killed the wrong man; that he was being a "cowboy" and took the law into his own hands when he killed Henry Church. Their Lawyer, Honey "Money" Chandler is both feared and admired by Harry and their exchanges outside of the court room are excellent. Money is able to prove that Henry Church could not have killed the 11th prostitute and to make it even worse, just as the trial is beginning another Dollmaker note appears identifying where another victim is buried ..... and she was clearly murdered after Harry killed Henry Church. The Concrete Blonde has many different elements that Michael Connelly uses expertly; the courtroom drama, the murder mystery, and the police procedural drama that weave back and forth in harmony. Each of the elements support each other and make the other elements even stronger. But what makes this book better than the other early Harry Bosch books is Sylvia. This is the first girlfriend that Harry really has and he likes her and wants it to work out. He's afraid to attach to her and when later on in the book she needs space, he reassures himself that he is better off without her, that in fact she made him weak. But what she also does it make Harry even more human for us the readers. He feels uncertainity and joy and peace with her. He feels sadness and lonliness without her. In the other early books, he feels a lot of anger and rage, it is his fuel.But with the court case, the uncertainty involved with questioning himself about whether he killed the wrong man or not, Harry is a much more complete and complex character. He still sees being a homocide cop as his calling but that single minded focus is gone. The uncertainity is what replaces it, and underneath the uncertainty, is hope. Hope that Sylvia helps him move cautiously towards. Hope that Harry will be able to find some peace from the demons that damaged him and cause him to damage those that are around him.
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LibraryThing member Mariebart
I am a Harry Bosch fan. Just when I had the real murderer figured out, it turns out to be someone I never suspected.
LibraryThing member jmcclain19
Best Connelly book I've read to date (It's my fifth Connelly book FWIW). Well thought out & believable characters, intriguing plot twists, and a good story line that keeps hammering you along right up till the end. I thought of the first three Bosch novels, this is the one where several of the main
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guys (Asst Chief Irving & Bosch's former partner in particular) matured and became less like caricatures and more like real people. Concrete Blonde is also written well enough that it could be a stand alone without having read the 1st two books in the series. Show Less
LibraryThing member mrtall
This third entry in Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series combines courtroom drama with a serial killing spree. Sounds like too much going on, but Connelly makes it work to excellent effect. This one's all about the Dollmaker case, that defining episode in the Harry Bosch backstory. Bosch is being
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sued for blowing the Dollmaker away four years prior -- but did he shoot the wrong man? It sure looks that way when a new victim, the eponymous Concrete Blonde, is uncovered. This one's in the top rank of American crime fiction. Show Less
LibraryThing member Joycepa
The 3rd in the Harry Bosch series.
The book opens with a scene in which Bosch guns down a suspect who is reaching underneath a pillow after having been repeatedly told to freeze. It turns out that what is under the pillow is actually a toupee and not a gun, but Bosch feels no remorse because he is
Four years later, Bosch is standing trial in a civil suit brought by Church's widow for wrongful death. The attorney is Honey Chandler, a high-powered lawyer with a gift for the jugular. While Bosch and the rest of LAPD is convinced that Church was indeed the Dollmaker, Chandler raises disturbing questions and shows herself to be a brilliant courtroom operator.
In the meantime, a note in a style all too familiar shows up on Bosch's desk, leading to the discovery of the body of a young woman whose physical appearance and manner of death fit the MO of the Dollmaker. His lawyer unable to prevent this damaging information which implies that the Dollmaker is still alive from being introduced into court, Chandler introduces other evidence that proves that Church could not have been the killer of the last victim.
Still convinced that he killed the right man, Sharpe investigates the latest murder. Baffled by the eerie similarities between this latest victim and those of the Dollmaker, Bosch travels down one blind alley after another in a relentless and desperate search until at last he finds the thread that leads him to the killer. The denoument is brilliant.
The third in the series, The Concrete Blonde is the best so far. The writing is taut, the characters and plot utterly believable, which means that the book is engrossing from the first page.
A page turner from beginning to end. Highly recommended.
The book opens with a scene in which Bosch guns down a suspect who is reaching underneath a pillow after having been repeatedly told to freeze. It turns out that what is under the pillow is actually a toupee and not a gun, but Bosch feels no remorse because he is
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certain that Norman Church was the Dollmaker, a brutal serial killer. Evidence in the apartment in which Church died links him definitely with 9 of the 11 murders credited to the Dollmaker.Four years later, Bosch is standing trial in a civil suit brought by Church's widow for wrongful death. The attorney is Honey Chandler, a high-powered lawyer with a gift for the jugular. While Bosch and the rest of LAPD is convinced that Church was indeed the Dollmaker, Chandler raises disturbing questions and shows herself to be a brilliant courtroom operator.
In the meantime, a note in a style all too familiar shows up on Bosch's desk, leading to the discovery of the body of a young woman whose physical appearance and manner of death fit the MO of the Dollmaker. His lawyer unable to prevent this damaging information which implies that the Dollmaker is still alive from being introduced into court, Chandler introduces other evidence that proves that Church could not have been the killer of the last victim.
Still convinced that he killed the right man, Sharpe investigates the latest murder. Baffled by the eerie similarities between this latest victim and those of the Dollmaker, Bosch travels down one blind alley after another in a relentless and desperate search until at last he finds the thread that leads him to the killer. The denoument is brilliant.
The third in the series, The Concrete Blonde is the best so far. The writing is taut, the characters and plot utterly believable, which means that the book is engrossing from the first page.
A page turner from beginning to end. Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member Kathy89
Picked this because it's on the list of the 100 best mysteries of the last century. Cop on trial for a civil wrongful death lawsuit finds himself investigating a copycat crime. Lots of red herrings and misleading clues until the murderer is revealed
LibraryThing member naga_books
A very good read. Interesting premises. I would have rated it higher if not for the dry romance (or the lack of it) passages between Bosch and Sylvia.
A serial killer (or is he?) was killed by a cop (Bosch). The cop is now being sued for lack of discretion by the wife of the supposed serial killer.
A serial killer (or is he?) was killed by a cop (Bosch). The cop is now being sued for lack of discretion by the wife of the supposed serial killer.
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The twist now is - the killings start again.. Bosch has to figure out whats going on, while his job is in line through the trial. Show Less
LibraryThing member debavp
This is the third of the series, not as great as the first two...but this one takes you back to the case Bosch was involved in that made him famous so you get a LOT of background info that I'm sure will be helpful as the series goes along.
LibraryThing member smik
Justice is a concrete blonde - that's what Honey Chandler the prosecuting attorney tells Harry Bosch as they stand outside the courtroom smoking a cigarette. Why? She doesn't speak and she is blind.
LAPD detective Harry Bosch is being prosecuted by the widow of a man he shot 4 years earlier. Harry
The day the trial starts a new body is found, embedded in a concrete floor, as the result of a tip off received by the LAPD. It has all the trade marks of being the work of the Dollmaker, but how can that be if the Dollmaker was killed by Harry 4 years before?
Much of THE CONCRETE BLONDE deals with the trial, with Harry's doubt about whether the man he killed really was the Dollmaker, and if he was, who killed the blonde in the concrete.
This is a tightly plotted book, excellently read. I was impressed by the variations in voice that the narrator Dick Hill was able to produce. I also enjoyed the structure of the story and the other elements that were included such as Harry's relationship with Sylvia.
LAPD detective Harry Bosch is being prosecuted by the widow of a man he shot 4 years earlier. Harry
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burst into a flat and shot dead a man whom he thought was the serial killer the Dollmaker. Now Harry is in court being protrayed as the worst of the worst, a rogue cop, who believes he is judge, jury and executioner.The day the trial starts a new body is found, embedded in a concrete floor, as the result of a tip off received by the LAPD. It has all the trade marks of being the work of the Dollmaker, but how can that be if the Dollmaker was killed by Harry 4 years before?
Much of THE CONCRETE BLONDE deals with the trial, with Harry's doubt about whether the man he killed really was the Dollmaker, and if he was, who killed the blonde in the concrete.
This is a tightly plotted book, excellently read. I was impressed by the variations in voice that the narrator Dick Hill was able to produce. I also enjoyed the structure of the story and the other elements that were included such as Harry's relationship with Sylvia.
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LibraryThing member wiccked
The second of the Harry Bosch books I've read, but the third book. I wish I had the second to read first, but I didn't. And I'm still reading ahead, but I know, by now, that I'm going to have to read them all again, in order, once I can get my hands on the others!
I like the crime parts of these
I like the crime parts of these
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stories, maybe understandably since this is my favourite sort of book, but I've gotten to like Harry, and I don't like missing out on chunks of his life, which is what's happening if I miss a book. If you're at all bothered by continuity, don't read them out of order. Each in it's own right is a fine book, and can be read just as enjoyably without ever reading any of the others, but if you do want to read them all, and you're as picky as me, read them in order. You'll be glad you did. Show Less
LibraryThing member DavidGreene
Like other reviewers, I enjoyed author Michael Connelly's writing in this third installment in the Harry Bosch series, and was engaged with the story more than I was with his first two Bosch installments. But like others, I also found the protagonist difficult to like and the themes in this book
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disturbing. A more favorable spin would be to say that the book is provocative--since it wrestles with the moral ambiguities involved in the pursuit of justice. Because of the moral ambiguities, I find reading about Connelly's Harry Bosch less purely entertaining than reading about Lee Child's Jack Reacher. In Jack Reacher's universe there is little moral ambiguity. Reacher always witnesses the bad guys being decidedly bad before he mixes it up with them. Bosch sometimes mixes it up with people solely on the basis of his speculations. No matter that his speculations are justified retroactively, it pulls me out of an escapist trance to follow a hero with so many self doubts.Bosch is a loner and outsider who is nevertheless working inside the system. Despite being a cop, Bosch frequently subverts the rules and regulations, and undermines the legal process which he is supposed to represent. His character promotes the view that the rules and mechanics of the legal process provide not so much the foundations of justice as impediments to it. That view didn't stop me from reading the book, but it made it difficult for me to enjoy it. Show Less
LibraryThing member Fumblingmuse
This was my first introduction to the writings of Michael Connelly - I had picked it up in a DC metro station to have something with me to read during my morning commutes while I interned one summer for the DOJ. I was not disappointed! This book was fast paced and full of twists - huge I did not
I went on to read the bulk of his series that summer. My other personal favorite of his is The Poet. I would love to say more, but I feel with Connelly the less said about a particular storyline the better, but if it is a thriller you seek, this would be an excellent choice!
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see that coming twists. I found that aside from my commute reading I couldn't put it down! Mr. Connelly has a wonderful style that keeps readers on the edge of their seats as he allows you to attempt to play sleuth along side his leading man Detective Harry Bosch. I went on to read the bulk of his series that summer. My other personal favorite of his is The Poet. I would love to say more, but I feel with Connelly the less said about a particular storyline the better, but if it is a thriller you seek, this would be an excellent choice!
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LibraryThing member TheoClarke
Despite losing its energy during the trial scenes in the second quarter, this thriller found its way again and delivered a worthy element of the Harry Bosch canon.
LibraryThing member gma2lana
I tried reading this book once before, and ended up putting it down for whatever reason. I picked it up again, and started reading it, and thought at first it was slow going. THEN, I got into it and really enjoyed the book. Couldn't wait to get to the end.
LibraryThing member nocto
this book comes over partly as a courtroom style legal thriller, partly as a police procedural and partly as an old fashioned whodunnit. the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. in four hundred pages i never felt like i was languishing in filler and the sub plots never felt superfluous. it
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always seemed that the solution must be just around the corner, but the twists were never pulled out of a hat. i kept thinking that i'd guessed the solution but i'd only seen around the corner to the next twist which kept me feeling clever without me feeling let down by guessing too early. this book was recommended to me quite some time ago, and i'm always wary of being let down by books that come highly recommended. i wasn't let down though and i'll be reading more of harry bosch in the future. Show Less
LibraryThing member page.fault
Wow. Just wow.
The story centers around a previous case of Bosch's, the one which got him booted out of the elite homicide squad and into Hollywood. Bosch was on the case of the Dollmaker, a serial killer who hunted, raped, and murdered prostitutes, then dehumanized them by painting their faces with
The book also explicitly deals with society's treatment of women. It points out the way the prostitutes are dehumanized, even how names like "the Dollmaker" infantilize and dehumanize the victims. Connelly points out how anger at women in power always seems to fall into sexual insults. They are called bitches and whores, and the men they dominate intellectually tell themselves and others that they gained the power by "f*cking a man in power". The book discusses how rape, how reducing women to sexual objects, is about humiliation and dominance. Yet throughout the series, Bosch and Connelly themselves are complicit in using sexually charged, female-humiliating language. I can't decide if it is intentional or not, but it certainly got me to thinking about how often the language for humiliation is the language of rape. For example, IAD officials who go after a detective have a "hard-on" for him, a phrase I have found repulsive and distasteful in previous books. Bosch declares that (emphasis mine) "we're going to nail this son of a bitch." (Ever hear anyone use the phrase, "son of a womanizer"?) Another conversation: "'You f*ck!...I'm in that courtroom getting f*cked in the ass and I find out you're the guy'...'I'm sorry. She screwed me too. It was like blackmail. I couldn't--I tried to get out of it but she had me by the shorthairs.'" The language of rape here is so explicit, so repetitive, that it made me realize how common this language is in our culture, especially in male-dominated fields. I didn't even realize how often I use them.
The book's focus is on ethics rather than action, but the prose still has the tight journalistic style that makes it a fast and easy read. I like this style, although it leaves some of the characterization very sparse; for example, after three books of the character, I still don't know whether "98" Pound's nickname was given sarcastically. Connelly's dialogue is still a little problematic: although more natural than in the first book, all characters have very similar voices and use similar intonation and expression. Oddly, for a book that so clearly "gets it" in terms of rape and rape language, the book's predominantly male cast is rather disappointing. For a story dealing with the theme of humiliation of women, dominance of women, confinement of women, there are very few women in the story; only two of any significance: the cold, clinical, and extremely successful lawyer, Honey Chandler, and Harry's gentle, damsel-in-distress style girlfriend, Sylvia. But for all these minor defects, the questions asked are troubling and relevant. To hunt the monsters, must one become one? Has Bosch crossed that invisible line that divides the monsters from the heroes? Does the line even exist?
This book also comes at the right time in the series. At this point, after two books seeing him in action, seeing him both cruel and kind, I like Bosch. I empathize with him. But now we see Bosch on the defensive, hammered (see, the language so automatic that I'm doing it) by a defence attorney who links his own troubled past, including the murder of his mother, to his own actions. Like Bosch himself, I began to wonder where the line can be drawn between the monster and the man who hunts them. There's this really powerful, sickening moment where Bosch, confronted with his own actions and his own reactions, is unashamed and says the man got what was coming to him. Like me, the jury is sickened. And Bosch simply doesn't understand why they have this reaction. Bosch's agony is twofold. Even if the man Bosch killed was guilty, he was not given the opportunity to face justice. As the attorney says, "You say he deserved what he got. When were you appointed judge, jury, and executioner?" Bosch believes in justice, but he doesn't even trust the system that he is a pert of. He makes his own deals, hands out his own sentences. It's a troubling moral question. What happens when the system is broken? But how can we have a world when each person executes their own justice? I think I tend to love books which ask who watches the watchers. It's a question we deal with every day as we fight against the traits we fear and hate in ourselves. To echo Nietzche again, “Is it better to out-monster the monster or to be quietly devoured?”
It's a book full of questions with no easy answers. In the end, Bosch discovers that "Nobody in this world is who they say they are, nobody. Not when they're in their own room with the door shut and locked. The best you can hope for is to know yourself. And sometimes, when you see your true self, you have to turn away." Altogether, a powerful, powerful story.
The story centers around a previous case of Bosch's, the one which got him booted out of the elite homicide squad and into Hollywood. Bosch was on the case of the Dollmaker, a serial killer who hunted, raped, and murdered prostitutes, then dehumanized them by painting their faces with
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makeup. Bosch shot and killed a man who he thought was resisting arrest and reaching for a gun. Evidence that this man was the serial killer was subsequently discovered--as was the fact that the man's object when disobeying police orders, far from a gun, was his toupee. Years later, the man's widow is now suing Bosch. At the same time, evidence is emerging that either the Dollmaker had a copycat or Bosch killed the wrong man. Alternating between being interrogated in court for his past actions and searching for this new appearance of the killer, Bosch is forced to consider whether his violence is justified or whether hunting the monsters has so warped his viewpoint that all he can see is the monster in those around him. As the prosecutor asks, "If the system turns away from the abuses inflicted on the guilty, then who can be next but the innocents?" During the story, one of the characters quotes Nietzche: “He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” All of the stories in the series have explored this theme. What makes the internal investigations officer become an instrument of corruption? How does the drug task force cop become a dealer? Why does the Ad Vice cop become the sexual predator he is supposed to hunt? In this book, Bosch is confronted with how easy it is to fall into darkness--how easy it is for a man who hunts monsters to become one. It is a poignant and powerful story and leaves one with questions far after the last page is reached.The book also explicitly deals with society's treatment of women. It points out the way the prostitutes are dehumanized, even how names like "the Dollmaker" infantilize and dehumanize the victims. Connelly points out how anger at women in power always seems to fall into sexual insults. They are called bitches and whores, and the men they dominate intellectually tell themselves and others that they gained the power by "f*cking a man in power". The book discusses how rape, how reducing women to sexual objects, is about humiliation and dominance. Yet throughout the series, Bosch and Connelly themselves are complicit in using sexually charged, female-humiliating language. I can't decide if it is intentional or not, but it certainly got me to thinking about how often the language for humiliation is the language of rape. For example, IAD officials who go after a detective have a "hard-on" for him, a phrase I have found repulsive and distasteful in previous books. Bosch declares that (emphasis mine) "we're going to nail this son of a bitch." (Ever hear anyone use the phrase, "son of a womanizer"?) Another conversation: "'You f*ck!...I'm in that courtroom getting f*cked in the ass and I find out you're the guy'...'I'm sorry. She screwed me too. It was like blackmail. I couldn't--I tried to get out of it but she had me by the shorthairs.'" The language of rape here is so explicit, so repetitive, that it made me realize how common this language is in our culture, especially in male-dominated fields. I didn't even realize how often I use them.
The book's focus is on ethics rather than action, but the prose still has the tight journalistic style that makes it a fast and easy read. I like this style, although it leaves some of the characterization very sparse; for example, after three books of the character, I still don't know whether "98" Pound's nickname was given sarcastically. Connelly's dialogue is still a little problematic: although more natural than in the first book, all characters have very similar voices and use similar intonation and expression. Oddly, for a book that so clearly "gets it" in terms of rape and rape language, the book's predominantly male cast is rather disappointing. For a story dealing with the theme of humiliation of women, dominance of women, confinement of women, there are very few women in the story; only two of any significance: the cold, clinical, and extremely successful lawyer, Honey Chandler, and Harry's gentle, damsel-in-distress style girlfriend, Sylvia. But for all these minor defects, the questions asked are troubling and relevant. To hunt the monsters, must one become one? Has Bosch crossed that invisible line that divides the monsters from the heroes? Does the line even exist?
This book also comes at the right time in the series. At this point, after two books seeing him in action, seeing him both cruel and kind, I like Bosch. I empathize with him. But now we see Bosch on the defensive, hammered (see, the language so automatic that I'm doing it) by a defence attorney who links his own troubled past, including the murder of his mother, to his own actions. Like Bosch himself, I began to wonder where the line can be drawn between the monster and the man who hunts them. There's this really powerful, sickening moment where Bosch, confronted with his own actions and his own reactions, is unashamed and says the man got what was coming to him. Like me, the jury is sickened. And Bosch simply doesn't understand why they have this reaction. Bosch's agony is twofold. Even if the man Bosch killed was guilty, he was not given the opportunity to face justice. As the attorney says, "You say he deserved what he got. When were you appointed judge, jury, and executioner?" Bosch believes in justice, but he doesn't even trust the system that he is a pert of. He makes his own deals, hands out his own sentences. It's a troubling moral question. What happens when the system is broken? But how can we have a world when each person executes their own justice? I think I tend to love books which ask who watches the watchers. It's a question we deal with every day as we fight against the traits we fear and hate in ourselves. To echo Nietzche again, “Is it better to out-monster the monster or to be quietly devoured?”
It's a book full of questions with no easy answers. In the end, Bosch discovers that "Nobody in this world is who they say they are, nobody. Not when they're in their own room with the door shut and locked. The best you can hope for is to know yourself. And sometimes, when you see your true self, you have to turn away." Altogether, a powerful, powerful story.
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LibraryThing member ct.bergeron
The dollmaker was the name of the serial killer who had stalked Los Angeles ruthlessly, leaving grisly calling cards on the face of his female victims. Now with a single faultless shot, detective Harry Bosch thinks he has ended the city's nightmare but the dead man's widow is suing Harry and the
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LAPD for killing the wrong man. An accusation taht rings terrifyingly true when a new victim is discovered with the dollmaker's macabre signature. So for the 2nd time, Harry must hund down a death dealer who is very much alive before he strikes again. It's a bloodtracked quest taht will take Harry from the hard edges of the L.A. night to the las place he ever wanted to go, the darkness of his own heart. Show Less
LibraryThing member crazybatcow
The 2nd quarter of this book is more like a courtroom procedural/drama than a police/detective novel. Lots of trial scenes which were rather dull. I like the action to occur within the novel, not be related via "testimony" in a courtroom. Fortunately at the halfway point the story got back to its
There was LOTS of suspense and wondering who done it and how will Bosch figure it out and how will he get on with his life and etc...
I think it was the best in the series so far (although I did skip most of the early court scenes because they were irrelevant and just plain uninteresting). The plot and pacing after the halfway point , however, fully made up for the boredom of these court scenes.
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roots as a detective novel - and a very good one at that!There was LOTS of suspense and wondering who done it and how will Bosch figure it out and how will he get on with his life and etc...
I think it was the best in the series so far (although I did skip most of the early court scenes because they were irrelevant and just plain uninteresting). The plot and pacing after the halfway point , however, fully made up for the boredom of these court scenes.
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LibraryThing member moontyger
I have surprisingly little to say about this book. I generally like the Harry Bosch novels and it wasn't that this one was poorly written. I was just somehow more "meh" about it than I usually am. Maybe the problem was that I felt more conflicted about the trial that's part of the plot here than I
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think you're supposed to, so I found Harry less sympathetic than I sometimes have in the past. Show Less
LibraryThing member hildeg
I have read a string of Michael Connolly's books this summer, and pick this one to review, even though I think it is not his best. In my opinion Connolly is a great writer. This is certainly not just "airport fiction". He writes very well on most aspects of the human condition - and gives you a
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pageturning thriller on top of that. I have become a great fan of both Harry Bosch and the Lincoln Lawyer, less so perhaps of Jack McEvoy. The Concrete blonde has some weaknesses. The psychiatrist is just too much to believe in my opinion (or maybe they make them like that in California), and the solution to the mysteri seems just a little contrived. Still on the whole a good read. Show Less
LibraryThing member she_climber
The third in the Harry Bosch series. Got off to a slow start with all the courtroom time, but eventually picked up and was good to the finish.
LibraryThing member emigre
Engrossing thriller with equal parts court room drama and whodunit police investigations, there were some convincing red herrings before the real killer was revealed, definitely a good read.
LibraryThing member creighley
Fast-pace and a good read. Not too predictable, except for the fact that we know Bosch always gets his "man."
LibraryThing member Darrol
Back story about the Dollmaker case.
LibraryThing member WeeziesBooks
The Concrete Blond is part of Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch novels. It follows “The Black Ice” and is a very good read. Those of you that have read about ‘The Doll Maker’ who is a brutal murderer who paints the faces of women he murders like a doll. Detective Bosh receives a letter that
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tells of a concrete blonds who has been murdered and is encased in a concrete mold. A combination of investigative chase scenes, descriptions of the murders and personal vignettes with Bosh and Sylvia his girlfriend are included in tis book. Along with detective investigations and confrontations, there is also courtroom drama since Bosch is also on trial for a wrongful killing. Connelly had a great way of drawing you into believing that you know what is happening next and the you turn the page and your suppositions are turned upside down. He is an excellent storyteller and I recommend this book. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Anthony Award (Nominee — Novel — 1995)
Dilys Award (Nominee — 1995)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1994
ISBN
1441856579 / 9781441856579