Desert Star

Harry Bosch endures retirement but the desire to work a case and deliver justice pulls him back. Detective Renee Ballard is working on a cold case squad examining old homicides. Bosch and Ballard worked together previously, but their partnership ended rather abruptly due to LAPD bureaucracy. Ballard offers Bosch an opportunity to work on an unsolved homicide that has nagged at Bosch for years. The catch is that Bosch will need to help work a decades-old murder that possesses political ramifications. Bosch begins to re-examine that case from top to bottom and unearths a possible DNA lead. Bosch and Ballard find their cold cases come with immense complications.

Desert Star illustrates the continued brilliance of Michael Connelly in his flourishing oeuvre. The world may be rapidly changing, but the character of Harry Bosch remains steadfast to his philosophy of “everybody counts.” The cases are worth the price of admission, but the dynamic between Bosch and Ballard is the truly rewarding payoff. Ballard is a more “by the book” detective, but her intense resolve is on par with Bosch and makes her just as interesting. Connelly continues to one-up himself with each new book.