South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Bosch and Ballard a good team in ‘Dark Sacred Night’
The buzz that has been building this year over Michael Connelly’s 32nd novel has little to do with the superb plot, the authentic police procedural or even the sprawling view of the Los Angeles area. What readers first want to know about “Dark Sacred Night”: Does the pairing of police detective Harry Bosch and LAPD detective Renée Ballard work?
A resounding yes, with no hesitation.
Connelly delves deeply into the shared traits of perennial hero Bosch and newcomer Ballard, introduced last year in “The Late Show.” Both are outsiders, insightful detectives, adamant seekers of justice and basically loners. Both discount by their colleagues — Bosch as he grows older and Ballard because she was relegated to the midnight shift (a.k.a. “the late show”) as punishment for filing sexual harassment charges against her former boss. Connelly also makes them distinctively different people with complicated pasts.
Ballard and Bosch meet when she finds him looking through some old case files in the Hollywood Station where he used to work. Ballard doesn’t recognize him, but Bosch’s reputation and legacy loom large. Retired from the LAPD, Bosch is now a reserve officer for the small San Fernando PD, concentrating on cold cases.
Bosch was seeking the file about the unsolved 2009 murder of 15-year-old runaway Daisy Clayton. The deceased girl’s mother is a recovering addict who is staying in Bosch’s guest room — a situation that has him temporarily estranged from his own daughter, Maddie.
The unsolved murder of a teenage girl is the kind of case that Ballard wants to work on — empathy for the victims fuels her as much as it does Bosch. Ballard and Bosch form a solid partnership, each using
their own skills.
Connelly has spent 26 years establishing Bosch’s character and ethics beginning with “The Black Echo” in 1992. Yet, Connelly has shown he has even more to uncover in Bosch.
Connelly used 2017’s “The Late Show” to establish Ballard’s background and her principles. “Dark Sacred Night” finds Connelly exploring Ballard’s investigative skills and how she and Bosch can form a partnership. Their union is not always smooth, but it is based on a growing respect for each other.
While Ballard is the younger detective, she proves she has instincts. Each also handles incidents of moral ambiguity according to each’s personality. Each sees the other through their own eyes, allowing Connelly to further keep the story fresh.
Once again, Connelly delivers an exciting police procedural, only this time with two unique characters.