#1520 The Black Echo (audiobook) by Michael Connelly

The Black Echo is the very first of the Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly. His most recent, Desert Star was reviewed earlier this year. We at MRB have reviewed most, if not all of the Bosch novels, so you know that we really appreciate Connelly’s craft. I reviewed this book on 6/1/09, so it may have been my first review for the blog. I only gave it a modestly positive rating, and nearly 14 years later, after having read more than 1,000 crime novels since that date, I wonder what the hell I was thinking. This time, I listened to the audiobook which is performed by Titus Welliver, the same actor who plays Bosch in the 7 year run of TV shows. Welliver is Bosch, and not only does Welliver deliver Bosch’s lines well, he narrates the rest of the book with incredible skill. Even though I was familiar with the storyline, listening to the book was a very favorable experience. It was hard to stop listening even when it was time to turn out the lights. After all, this novel won the Edgar Award for best first mystery novel.

 

In Black Echo, Harry had been transferred away from his desired homicide division as a punishment for his self-determined anti-hierarchy behaviors. He discovered a dead man in a drainpipe who just happened to be one of his fellow tunnel rats from Vietnam. The emotional trauma of having been in the tunnels was relieved by Harry as he worked to solve a crime that took him into the sewer tunnels of Los Angeles. Black Echo was a term the tunnel rats used when they were in a tunnel with anxiety levels at maximum, that they were sure the enemy could hear the echo of their heart rates. As we’ve seen with in so many Bosch books, he is driven by justice and he is repeatedly put in situations which call for him to compromise.

 

There are some bonus sections with the audiobook. Connelly writes about his relationship with his first agent, and then the second agent. Welliver reads an intro by James Lee Burke, this being a time when Connelly was an unknown novelist. After the conclusion of the book, there was a conversation between Welliver and Connelly about the collaboration, and there was more information about the screen writing for the TV series. I’ve learned to appreciate Connelly’s craft at crime novels, and it’s my opinion that he is the king. This was a 5-star production.