renee-ballard

The Night Fire

Book Notes Instead of being asleep at 21:22 on 25 December 2019, kitt created this:

This is book three of the Renée Ballard/Harry Bosch crossover, continuing the world of Bosch's Los Angeles.

Okay, at the funeral of Bosch's mentor, he is handed a murder book by the mentor's widow. Bosch is confused why, after illegally removing the unsolved murder murder book, his mentor didn't actually do anything with the case. Puzzling indeed, until plot twist at the end, when we realize the mentor didn't want anyone to investigate the murder. So there we go.

Given the events at the end of the previous Bosch/Ballard book, Bosch isn't a cop any more. The need for justice is strong in this one, however, so he keeps at the investigations as an investigator for his half brother (yeaaaaaaah, I'm not a big fan of the Lincoln Lawyer, Mickey Haller, and tend to avoid those books as a general rule). A simple confession isn't, and, hey, what do you know solving the one murder with the bogus confession leads to solving the "accidental" death that Ballard was investigating. Talk about a win-win!

I like Bosch books. He is, however, a 69 year old retired cop without a badge. There are only so many more books in the old guy. Ballard may be the way of the future, but I'm reading for the Bosch references.

If you're a Bosch completionist or fan, keep reading. If not, eh, they are reasonably good to read.

Domestic disputes were tricky. Calming anger, settling nerves, and then simply backing away might seem to be the most judicious path, but if an hour or a week or a year later the same relationship ends in a killing, the neighbors talk to the news cameras and say the police came out before and did nothing. Better safe now than sorry later. That was the rule and that was why the patrol officers wanted no part of the decision.
Page 170

Dark Sacred Night

Book Notes Yeah, kitt finished writing this at 22:21 on 11 May 2019

This is book two of the Renée Ballard/Harry Bosch crossover, which is really the transition of one lead character that I like, Bosch, to another lead character, Ballard, that I am less fond of. I mean, in the Bosch books, you know there will be tunnels and the bad guy is a cop. With Ballard, you know that she has a messed up childhood, was the last person to see her dad go out surfing never to return, and doesn't really keep her dog well cared for, mostly.

That I took no notes from this book probably says something about my enthusiasm for the book. Or that I lost the notes. One of those things.

So, here we have Bosch trying to work an old case. I know, unsurprising there, quelle surprise, all that.

Ballard, also unsurprisingly, is still on the late shift, catches a murder, shows that it isn't a murder, but hey, two expensive paintings are gone.

The thread through all of the book is Bosch's death of Daisy Clayton, given that he helped her mother, Elizabeth, come clean. IDK, the death of a kid kinda sticks, so we know that even though Elizabeth is back, she won't be for long.

The book was an easy, fast read. If you're a Bosch fan, he's still working on things in in this book. Ballard is kinda super-human, which takes some of the intensity out of the books. We know she is going to live, Connelly isn't going all R.R. Martin on us. Worth reading if you're a Bosch fan or completionist. Not a series necessarily worth starting otherwise.

The Late Show

Book Notes kitt decided around 17:18 on 16 December 2018 to publish this:

I picked up this book not because I was excited about the new series that Connelly (of Harry Bosch writing fame) was writing, but rather because book two of this series is a Harry Bosch book, and it made sense to read book one before reading book two.

My prediction before reading the book, once I realized the main character, Renee Ballard is a cop, was "Okay, murder, tunnels, and bad cops did it." I was not disappointed, but there was only two of those three.

The book follows a week or so of Ballard's time in the night shift of being a cop in the Hollywood Police Department. A large amount of Los Angeles, ala Bosch, which I enjoyed.

A couple of the timelines just didn't work for me. Some events happened way too fast, people do not heal as fast as they do in this book. Bureaucracy does not move as fast as they do in this book. Recovery from traumatic events does not occur as fast as it does in this book. The compressed timeline pulled me out of the book.

Which is fine. I enjoyed the book. I'm looking forward to the next Bosch book, which is out, but has a 3 month wait at the library. If you're a Bosch fan, this is a good one to read (the Bosch step-brother ones, eh, less so).

Ballard had been in the Dancers and knew the club got its name from a club in the great L.A. novel The Long Goodbye. She also knew it had a whole menu of specialty drinks with L.A. literary titles, like the Black Dahlia, Blonde Lightning, and Indigo Slam.
Location 328

Well, time to look up more books...