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Summary and Reviews of A Darkness More Than Night by Michael Connelly

A Darkness More Than Night by Michael Connelly

A Darkness More Than Night

by Michael Connelly
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (4):
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  • First Published:
  • Jan 1, 2001, 432 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Mar 2001, 432 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

Explores the darkest precincts of Los Angeles and the hidden corners of the human heart. Connelly's most brilliantly plotted novel ever, a riveting courtroom spectacle woven together with a nerve-racking investigation.

LAPD detective Harry Bosch, star of Angels Flight, crosses paths with Bloodwork's Terry McCaleb in Michael Connelly's most tension-charged novel ever.

Harry Bosch is up to his neck in a case that has transfixed all of celebrity-mad Los Angeles: a movie director charged with murdering an actress during sex, and then staging her death to make it look like a suicide. Bosch is both the arresting officer and the star witness in a trial that has brought the Hollywood media pack out in full-throated frenzy.

Terry McCaleb is enjoying an idyllic retirement on Catalina Island when a visit from an old colleague brings his former world rushing back. It's a murder, the unreadable kind of murder he specialized in solving back in his FBI days. The investigation has stalled, and the sheriff's office is asking McCaleb to take a quick look at the murder book to see if he turns up something they've missed.

McCaleb's first reading of the crime scene leads him to look for a methodical killer with a taste for rituals and revenge. As his quick look accelerates into a full-sprint investigation, the two crimes—his murdered loner and Bosch's movie director—begin to overlap strangely. With one unsettling revelation after another, they merge, becoming one impossible, terrifying case, involving almost inconceivable calculation. McCaleb believes he has unmasked the most frightening killer ever to cross his sights. But his investigation tangles with Bosch's lines, and the two men find themselves at odds in the most dangerous investigation of their lives.

A Darkness More Than Night explores the darkest precincts of Los Angeles and the hidden corners of the human heart. It is Michael Connelly's most brilliantly plotted novel ever, a riveting courtroom spectacle woven together with a nerve-racking investigation. This is a new masterpiece of crime fiction by the writer USA Today has hailed as "one of those masters ... who can keep driving the story forward in runaway locomotive style."

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Reviews

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Although getting to the meat of the book requires some patience, it's definitely worth it. The Count is one of literature's more memorable characters, and A Gentleman in Moscow is a well-written novel worthy of one's time. The book is sure to win Towles new fans as well as satisfy those already familiar with his writing.

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Read-Alikes

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