by Michael Connelly
This is my first Harry Bosch and second Michael Connelly, and neither of them let me down.
There is nothing funky about the fiction. A typical detective story develops in a straight forward way. One case, two major detectives and some politics. The readers access the case the same way as the detectives, from reading the murder book to finding clues. The drama is not achieved through hiding information or twisting narration. We are allowed, or maybe even forced to emerge our minds into those of the detectives and therefore, when they think, we think, when they discover, we discover. In a way, we become the drama. The suspension is achieved through the rhythm of narrating. Nothing interrupts the case. The private lives of the detectives are kept minimum, the background and environmental information are given just enough to facilitate a better understanding of the case, and even the politics within the police department are tightly controlled. Thanks to his training in journalism, Connelly's narration is concise and right to the point.
Michael Connelly and John Grisham represent two types of author. The former is a professional. Since writing a good mystery is his ultimate goal, Connelly may never go beyond a bestseller, but readers can always depend upon his consistency in style and skill to have a good read. John Grisham, on the other hand, has agenda above writing, and he explores and expresses them through his writing. Therefore, depends on whether the cultural, religious or political topics he engages into interest you or not, the reading experiences may vary drastically. Great writers usually come from this second type.
