The Dark Hours

Review #1

The Dark Hours audiobook free

We start off the new year with a murder. Ballard gets called to a scene at a party where multiple shots were fired in celebration. One of those shots killed a man, a mechanic and family man. Ballard bring the case to her mentor Harry Bosch who connects it to one of his old cases. When Ballard isn’t working on the murder (until it’s sent to West Bureau) she’s working on a series of rapes by tag team rapists dubbed the Midnight Men. A dangerous duo targeting women and assaulting them in their homes.

I like that this book is mostly centered around Ballard as she takes on the responsibility of her two cases alone with some help from Harry Bosch, who feels like an aging Bruce Wayne to Ballard’s Terry McGinnis (for any Batman Beyond fans out there). I loved reading about the conflicted frustration from Ballard’s POV about issues with the department in post George Floyd and mid-pandemic. Everything wrapped up better in Ballard’s cases as opposed to “Law Of Innocence” where the ending felt rushed.

My only complaint isn’t much of a complaint. There wasn’t much of a twist. There were a couple of surprises, but no twist. It’s not a big deal but twists are kinda expected.

Review #2

The Dark Hours audiobook Series Shifters Unbound

Once again, Michael Connelly has delivered another solid story, with a (mostly) satisfying conclusion. (I say “mostly” because you really don’t get the full ending until the next novel). IMHO this one was maybe too light on Bosch and little too heavy on Ballard, and I find myself missing Harry Bosch. I’m guessing we’re not going to see any more stand alone Bosch stories. Hopefully Mr. Connelly will rethink the direction he’s taking the character and perhaps take us back in time for more adventures of Harry when he was with LAPD.

I have a few nits, a few observations that I noticed. Harry is kind of an abrasive character at times, and I just assumed that was his personality. But I’m starting to realize that Mr. Connelly tends to write his characters to be more confrontational than need be, than what’s dictated by the situation. This jumped out at me in the last Jack McEvoy novel and now it’s kind of one of these things I can’t “unsee.”

Another nit kind of goes with my criticism of the last Lincoln Lawyer book, The Law of Innocence. In that novel I noticed an overt political message and while that was dialed way back this time, it seems like he was giving us a not too thinly veiled PSA on wearing masks and getting the vaccine. Now I know I have the hindsight advantage of reading this a couple of years after it was published, but that seemed out of place. For example there was a “scene” where Ballard and Bosch are knee deep in an investigation when Ballard brings it to a halt to make sure she takes Harry to get a vaccine. It was kind of jarring and just seemed out of place (and not relevant AT ALL to the story.) I really wish he would just get back to telling murder mysteries and leave the commentary out.

Review #3

Audiobook The Dark Hours by Cris Dukehart

The Dark Hours is Michael Connelly’s 36th novel, the fourth featuring LAPD late-shift detective, Renée Ballard. In it, Ballard investigates two crimes with the help of Harry Bosch, former LAPD homicide detective, now private investigator. The first crime involves a series of rapes by two males dubbed “The Midnight Men.” The second involves the murder of Javier Raffa, a former gang member who went straight as a car mechanic.

The plot begins in the waning hours of December 31, 2020. As per usual for the date, the LAPD is out in force looking for drunk drivers and worried about people shooting guns in the air to celebrate New Year. That ballistic tradition is what provides cover for Raffa’s murder. But Ballard is also out on patrol because the Midnight Men tend to commit crimes at midnight on holidays.

Looming over these investigations is the growing distrust of cops because of the George Floyd murder and the social unrest it spawned, as well as the anxiety produced by nearly a year of the COVID pandemic. A recurring theme throughout the book is that cops are burned out and unwilling to do anything more than the barest of reactive policing. This frustrates Ballard to know end, who—like Bosch—believes that justice must be done for victims.

Additionally, the closer Ballard gets to the perpetrators, the more she puts herself in personal danger from them. That danger is paired with hostility Ballard endures from colleagues who have it out for her for one reason or another. By the end of the novel, it’s an open question whether Ballard will stay true to an LAPD that doesn’t show good faith toward her.

The Dark Hours is best characterized as a police procedural. Connelly leads readers through Ballard’s investigation as it unfolds, explaining specific techniques detectives use to collar criminals. This keeps readers turning pages to find out what happens next, but it also risks getting boring at parts. Connelly is a master of this form, but I did not find this particular novel to be his best effort, so four out of five stars for me on this one.

However, what keeps me coming back for more is the way that Connelly has created an entire “universe” around the LAPD. At the center of that universe is Harry Bosch, but Connelly has written outstanding novels around characters who live and work in the same milieu, often interacting with Bosch or one another. These include “Lincoln Lawyer” (and Bosch’s half-brother) Mickey Haller, journalist Jack McEvoy, former FBI agents Rachel Walling and Terry McCaleb, and Ballard herself.

As a series-novel fan, the benefit of this “universe” approach is twofold: First, it leverages your interest in one character to introduce you to new ones. If you like Bosch, you’ll like Ballard. Second, it means the series retains your interest as characters age and retire. The Black Echo, Connelly’s first novel featuring Bosch, appeared in 1992. Given that the novels are roughly contemporaneous to their publication date, this means Bosch has aged 30 years since we first met him. The kind of physically demanding exploits he pulled off earlier in his career simply are no longer possible. Rather than stop writing about Bosch entirely, however, Connelly simply moves him off center stage and keeps him as a secondary character.

Connelly’s “universe” strategy looks brilliant, especially when compared to Craig Johnson’s Walt Longmire novels or Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels. Both Bosch and Longmire are Vietnam vets, but while Bosch has sensibly retired, Longmire is still working into his 70s. Similarly, Reacher is 61 and has been effectively homeless for 25+ years, but he’s still going at it full strength. Connelly realizes that to retain their realism, his novels must account for age. By contrast, Johnson’s and Child’s novels increasingly strain my willing suspension of disbelief by making old guys do stuff young men who find very difficult.

So, while I’m giving up on Craig Johnson and Lee Child, I still hold out hope for Michael Connelly. The Dark Hours may not be his best Renée Ballard novel, but the “universe” is still well worth exploring.

Review #4

Audio The Dark Hours narrated by Cris Dukehart

It is obvious from reading the reviews on Amazon that The Dark Hours is not to everyone’s taste with some commenting on the author’s possible views of recent political or other developments (such as the emergence of ‘wokism’) as expressed through the main characters of Ballard and Bosch. For me, the author is simply setting his characters and story in the present day and so is reflecting what is happening in the USA (and other countries around the world) at this time. While I may, or may not, agree with these developments, I would not criticise the author for using them as they add a degree of realism to his story.
The stories I most enjoy reading are those with great characterisation, an engaging plot and an atmospheric setting. This story has all three. Bosch and Ballard are very different individuals; their thoughts and views reflect in part their differences in age; Bosch cannot give up a lifetime of finding the perpetrators of crime (especially those crimes which remain unsolved) even though his health is failing and he has been retired for a number of years while Ballard is at that stage of her life when one questions if one’s chosen career is what one wants to do for the rest of one’s life, and in Ballard’s case particularly as her career appears to have stalled.
The plot is really gripping. There are two separate story lines for us to enjoy and each have their moments of high drama and tension.
The setting is Los Angeles and Connelly’s portrayal of the city pulls no punches – we get to see the good as well as the dark underside of LA and its inhabitants.
I have read most of the Michael Connelly’s novels and for me this is a cracking read, so I have no hesitation in rating it five stars and recommending it to anyone who enjoys reading police procedural crime novels that are set in the present day and which are strong on character, plot and atmosphere.

Review #5

Free audio The Dark Hours – in the audio player below

LA has been through a lot. And much of it is bad. You can always trust Connelly to give LA a fair hearing though. There’s a great deal of hope in LA too after all.

Detective Renee Ballard is working a potential murder. During the new year celebrations, a man is killed during the celebratory gunshots into the air. Not satisfied with one case though, there are women being raped and filmed by a two man team. Like her mentor, Harry Bosch, Renee always sees the job through.

The relationship between Ballard and Bosch is nicely rounded. Ballard makes connections on both cases but Harry has years of experience to draw on and is only too happy to be kept in the game.

I could never tire of Bosch and Ballard is a force of nature. As you would expect from Connelly, the plotting is masterful. Connelly clearly keeps himself fully appraised of the latest LAPD slang, practices, gripes, funding and this comes across strongly in his writing. For me, LA itself shares the top billing with Ballard and Bosch. A joy to read.

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