Product Description
When a sheriff's detective shows up on former FBI man Terry McCaleb's Catalina Island doorstep and requests his help in analyzing photographs of a crime scene, McCaleb at first demurs. He's newly married (to Graciela, who herself dragged him from retirement into a case in Blood Work), has a new baby daughter, and is finally strong again after a heart transplant. But once a bloodhound, always a bloodhound. One look at the video of Edward Gunn's trussed and strangled body puts McCaleb back on the investigative trail, hooked by two details: the small statue of an owl that watches over the murder scene and the Latin words "Cave Cave Dus Videt," meaning "Beware, beware, God sees," on the tape binding the victim's mouth. Gunn was a small-time criminal who had been questioned repeatedly by LAPD Detective Harry Bosch in the unsolved murder of a prostitute, most recently on the night he was killed. McCaleb knows the tense, cranky Bosch (Michael Connelly's series star--see The Black Echo, The Black Ice, et al.) and decides to start by talking to him. But Bosch has time only for a brief chat. He's a prosecution witness in the high-profile trial of David Storey, a film director accused of killing a young actress during rough sex. By chance, however, McCaleb discovers an abstruse but concrete link between the scene of Gunn's murder and Harry Bosch's name:"This last guy's work is supposedly replete with owls all over the place. I can't pronounce his first name. It's spelled H-I-E-R-O-N-Y-M-U-S. He was Netherlandish, part of the northern renaissance. I guess owls were big up there."McCaleb looked at the paper in front of him. The name she had just spelled seemed familiar to him."You forgot his last name. What's his last name?""Oh, sorry. It's Bosch. Like the spark plugs."Bosch fits McCaleb's profile of the killer, and McCaleb is both thunderstruck and afraid--thunderstruck that a cop he respects might have committed a horrendous murder and afraid that Bosch may just be good enough to get away with it. And when Bosch finds out (via a mysterious leak to tabloid reporter Jack McEvoy, late of Connelly's The Poet) that he's being investigated for murder, he's furious, knowing that Storey's defense attorney may use the information to help get his extravagantly guilty client off scot-free.It's the kind of plot that used to make great Westerns: two old gunslingers circling each other warily, each of them wondering if the other's gone bad. But there's more than one black hat in them thar hills, and Connelly masterfully joins the plot lines in a climax and denouement that will leave readers gasping but satisfied. --Barrie Trinkle
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Amazon.com Review
When a sheriff's detective shows up on former FBI man Terry McCaleb's Catalina Island doorstep and requests his help in analyzing photographs of a crime scene, McCaleb at first demurs. He's newly married (to Graciela, who herself dragged him from retirement into a case in Blood Work), has a new baby daughter, and is finally strong again after a heart transplant. But once a bloodhound, always a bloodhound. One look at the video of Edward Gunn's trussed and strangled body puts McCaleb back on the investigative trail, hooked by two details: the small statue of an owl that watches over the murder scene and the Latin words "Cave Cave Dus Videt," meaning "Beware, beware, God sees," on the tape binding the victim's mouth. Gunn was a small-time criminal who had been questioned repeatedly by LAPD Detective Harry Bosch in the unsolved murder of a prostitute, most recently on the night he was killed. McCaleb knows the tense, cranky Bosch (Michael Connelly's series star--see The Black Echo, The Black Ice, et al.) and decides to start by talking to him. But Bosch has time only for a brief chat. He's a prosecution witness in the high-profile trial of David Storey, a film director accused of killing a young actress during rough sex. By chance, however, McCaleb discovers an abstruse but concrete link between the scene of Gunn's murder and Harry Bosch's name: "This last guy's work is supposedly replete with owls all over the place. I can't pronounce his first name. It's spelled H-I-E-R-O-N-Y-M-U-S. He was Netherlandish, part of the northern renaissance. I guess owls were big up there." McCaleb looked at the paper in front of him. The name she had just spelled seemed familiar to him. "You forgot his last name. What's his last name?" "Oh, sorry. It's Bosch. Like the spark plugs." Bosch fits McCaleb's profile of the killer, and McCaleb is both thunderstruck and afraid--thunderstruck that a cop he respects might have committed a horrendous murder and afraid that Bosch may just be good enough to get away with it. And when Bosch finds out (via a mysterious leak to tabloid reporter Jack McEvoy, late of Connelly's The Poet) that he's being investigated for murder, he's furious, knowing that Storey's defense attorney may use the information to help get his extravagantly guilty client off scot-free. It's the kind of plot that used to make great Westerns: two old gunslingers circling each other warily, each of them wondering if the other's gone bad. But there's more than one black hat in them thar hills, and Connelly masterfully joins the plot lines in a climax and denouement that will leave readers gasping but satisfied. --Barrie Trinkle
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 Worst of the series by far
I have read the other Bosch books and this one is by far the worst with The Overlook coming in a close second.
McCaleb is unsympathetic and appears to base his original accusation of Bosch as a serial killer on shaky, to say the least, facts and suspicions.
The Bosch segments concentrate on a supremely boring court case and its proceedings. Like we couldn't all see that the killing was a setup by the defendant in that case.
But the most unbelievable was the suggestion that Bosch allowed the first guy to get killed, a. because he deserved it, and b. to catch the guy that was on trial. Both scenarios are out of character for Bosch who has always lived by the motto "they all matter or none of them matter."
I guess I'm giving it two stars instead of one for the reason that he at least kept Bosch and McCaleb active and united in the end to solve things. Not a really good reason I admit.
It appears that Connelly got an advance and had to write a book to justify it. So he churned out this sub par performance. Good thing I only paid $2.00 used.
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 Not Bad - But Not His Best!! ( ebwhyte )
Ok, I'm a huge Michael Connelly fan. Unfortuantely, I've read his books out of sequence; starting with the newer ones before making my way through the older ones. I thoroughly enjoy these novels and the characters Connelly weaves into each book. I haven't read Blood Work and therefore have no real background on Terry MaCaleb's character. However, it appears that he was a highly sought after and respected FBI profiler. Given this, it was very hard to understand how he named Harry as a suspect. He even had the advantage of having previous knowledge of Bosche from a previous case. It just wasn't plausible and didn't work for me.
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 Up Your Alley? ( antiochandy )
I thoroughly enjoy every Michael Connelly book I read. His plots are always complex and satisfying, his characters always engaging. A DARKNESS MORE THAN NIGHT is no exception. It's like a Connelly reunion book. Terry McCaleb, Harry Bosch, Jack McEvoy (each the star of at least one previous Connelly title) along with lesser lights such as Jaye Winston, are all brought together here in a fascinating case.
Things get rolling when Winston asks McCaleb to help her profile the killer in a case she's working on. Though reluctant at first, McCaleb finds himself hooked once he gets involved. Bosch, meanwhile, is the main prosecution witness against a Hollywood sleaze-ball accused of murdering a young actress during a sexual encounter. The two parallel plots begin to mesh when McCaleb uncovers evidence that makes Bosch a suspect. If McCaleb's suspicions become public, Bosch's effectiveness as a witness will be decisively compromised.
A DARKNESS MORE THAN NIGHT is another great read from Michael Connelly. I enjoyed it from start to finish and I think most other readers will, too. If you are a fan of Connelly, or just like reading a good police procedural, this should be right up your alley.
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 water damaged
This book arrived on time but was almost unable to be opened because of water damage.
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Mixed Bag ( acadia2431 )
I just discovered Michael Connelly and while I have really enjoyed his other books this is my least favorite so far. Parts of it are incredibly entertaining and it is interesting to view Bosch through the eyes of another character (McCaleb) and the idea of weaving together two murder cases is good, but, for me, the story gets a bogged down by both the solving of the two cases and the courtroom scenes. Reading so-called "courtroom drama" for me is incredibly boring. Apart from some clever word-play and maybe a "gotcha" moment, it's mostly just hot air...no action, no enjoyable writing, very little character development. Still, this doesn't deter me from wanting to read all of Connelly's books b/c those moments with the dark-hearted Bosch are worth it.
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