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Summary and Reviews of Echo Park by Michael Connelly

Echo Park by Michael Connelly

Echo Park

by Michael Connelly
  • Critics' Consensus (5):
  • Readers' Rating (2):
  • First Published:
  • Oct 9, 2006, 416 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Aug 2007, 464 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

More than a decade ago, Harry Bosch worked on the case of Marie Gesto, a twenty-two-year-old who went missing but was never found. Now, with the Gesto file still on his desk, Bosch gets a call from the District Attorney: A serial killer has confessed. Did Harry miss a key clue? Or is something more going on here?

In 1993 Marie Gesto disappeared after walking out of a supermarket. Harry Bosch worked the case but couldn't crack it, and the twenty-two-year-old was never found. Now, more than a decade later, with the Gesto file still on his desk, Bosch gets a call from the District Attorney.

A man accused of two heinous murders is willing to come clean about several others, including the killing of Marie Gesto. Taking the confession of the man he has sought-and hated-for thirteen years is bad enough. Discovering that he missed a clue back in 1993 that could have stopped nine other murders may just be the straw that breaks Harry Bosch.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

The New York Times Sunday Book Review - Marilyn Stasio
Connelly gets everything else right too, layering his fast-moving narrative with problem-solving details; using sound principles of psychology to give life to his characters; setting scenes to convey the fabled aura of local landmarks like Beachwood Canyon and the High Tower Apartments; and, all in all, delivering terrific bang for the buck.

The Washington Post - Kevin Allman
Echo Park is simple, straightforward writing that plumbs beneath the deceptive surface of a deceptively surfacey city, and Connelly's chronicles of Bosch -- like the detective himself -- are aging like a fine Scotch.

The Washington Post - Kevin Allman
That sense of uncertainty and dread, combined with Bosch's going from middle age to the precipice of old age, informs every page of this novel.

Library Journal
Connelly offers strong action writing and exciting plot twists, coupled with more development of Bosch's character and his internal conflicts. Another excellent and riveting entry in the longstanding series by one of mystery fiction's best writers.

Publishers Weekly
Smooth prose and plausible characters even the secondary figures elevate this several notches above the standard cop vs. serial-killer thriller.

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Read-Alikes

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