The Narrows, Michael Connelly, Little, Brown, $25.95.

The Narrows by Michael Connelly

Michael Connelly is by far one of the most consistent writers in all of mystery fiction - while some of his novels haven't given me the same thrill as some of his others, there's not a bad one in the bunch, and The Narrows is no exception. Connelly uses all of his major characters - Harry Bosch from his series, Terry McCaleb from Bloodwork and the "Poet" from the thriller of the same name (you knew he wasn't dead, didn't you?). Under the definition of "smooth" in the dictionary might be the name "Michael Connelly", so easily and beautifully is he able to tie all these threads together into one compellingly readable novel (I read it in two sittings). I read an online review that said this book was short on character development and all plot - well, to me, that's a compliment. I know plenty about Harry and was perfectly happy to settle back and enjoy a story by one of the most able plotters in the business.

The story opens with Harry getting a call from Terry McCaleb's wife, now widow, wanting Harry - now a P.I. - to look into Terry's death. Harry of course agrees, feeling he owes Terry a debt of gratitude (remember A Darkness More than Night where Terry saves Harry's life?). In any case, Harry begins his usual meticulous, take no prisoners style of investigation, and meanwhile there's a spot in the desert where the FBI has unearthed six bodies and are sickened to find that they might be the work of the Poet, whom they had all fervently hoped was dead. The two investigations, of course, collide, and it's there that the real fun begins.

Along the way Harry discovers that he can re-join the police force if he's been out less that 3 years (he's been gone 2 1/2) and it's hardly suspenseful or a giveaway to say that he decides to re-up. I'm thankful, because I felt the machinations Connelly had to go through to get Bosch believably involved in police investigations were becoming tortured and frustrating, both for the reader and for Bosch. Bosch needs some real power behind him when he takes down the bad guys, and the police force is just the ticket.

There's a great suspenseful ending involving a mystery bookstore owner (Connelly obviously is a book biz veteran, the details are all perfect) and a showdown between Harry and the bad guy. While the outcome may seem obvious, through some wonderful writing and an unusual setting, Connelly is able to make you wonder how it's going to come out. All along the way the fiendishly clever clues and twists that are a Connelly trademark draw you hopelessly along, caught, as Connelly's own metaphor would have it, in the "narrows" - which in the case of the book is an onrushing, dangerously engorged river in flood. The whole book is written in what I would call "Connellyese" - a kind of prose that's so bare bones and practical it could only come from the former journalist that Connelly is. There's nothing extraneous here; my only problem with The Narrows is that I finished it so quickly - now I'll have to wait another year for my next fix of Harry.

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