The Black Echo by Michael Connelly - The First Detective Novel of the Harry Bosch Series

The Black Echo is the first suspense/detective novel written by the Canadian crime author Michael Connelly. It is fast-paced and tension is palpable from the first page. The protagonist, Hieronymus „Harry” Bosch returns in several books of Connelly’s. The Black Echo won the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award for Best First Mystery Novel.



Harry Bosch, once a „tunnel rat”, a soldier for underground search and destroy missions in Vietnam, is now an outcast fired from an elite squad Robbery/Homicide and sent to Hollywood Division homicide as he, out of self-defense, killed the supposed „Dollmaker”. The Dollmaker was an infamous serial killer who murdered young females in Los Angeles and decorated their faces with make-up. His character, cynical, stubborn and aloof, addicted to his job, is a true delight, credible and colourful.
In The Black Echo, a dead man found in a drainage pipe, obviously overdosed, turns out to be Billy Meadows, Harry’s friend and fellow soldier from Vietnam. Harry cannot stay untouched, as the terrible memories of Vietnam come back to him... He suspects that Billy was actually murdered and begins to investigate - and he, a freelancer and a natural born loner, cannot bear any interventions on his colleagues part. He finds out that his friend’s death has to do something with a certain bank robbery. Harry Bosch and an FBI agent Eleanor Wish (yes, there is a hint of forthcoming romance here) learn that it was not a simple bank robbery and there were dangerous groups and interests in the background…

Description of The Black Echo:
For LAPD homicide cop Harry Bosch — hero, maverick, nighthawk — the body in the drainpipe at Mulholland dam is more than another anonymous statistic. This one is personal.
The dead man, Billy Meadows, was a fellow Vietnam "tunnel rat" who fought side by side with him in a nightmare underground war that brought them to the depths of hell. Now, Bosch is about to relive the horrors of Nam. From a dangerous maze of blind alleys to a daring criminal heist beneath the city to the tortuous link that must be uncovered, his survival instincts will once again be tested to their limit.
Joining with an enigmatic female FBI agent, pitted against enemies within his own department, Bosch must make the agonizing choice between justice and vengeance, as he tracks down a killer whose true face will shock him.

Review of The Black Echo from Publishers Weekly:
Connelly transcends the standard L.A. police procedural with this original and eminently authentic first novel, featuring Hieronymus (aka Harry) Bosch, a former hero cop exiled to the small-time Beverly Hills force.