Part of Harry Bosch, book 12
First published 2006
Harry Bosch carries the weight of failure in his desk drawer. The Marie Gesto file sits there, a constant reminder of the twenty-two-year-old woman who vanished from a supermarket parking lot in 1993. Bosch worked the case hard but came up empty. The young woman disappeared without a trace. Thirteen years later, the District Attorney calls with unexpected news. A serial killer facing charges for two brutal murders wants to make a deal. He offers confessions to additional killings, including Marie Gesto's death. Bosch must sit across from the man he has hunted and despised for over a decade. He must listen as the killer reveals details only the murderer would know. The confession brings no relief. Instead, it delivers a devastating blow. Bosch realizes he missed a crucial piece of evidence back in 1993. That overlooked clue could have led him to the killer years earlier. Nine other victims died because Bosch failed to see what was right in front of him. The detective who prides himself on speaking for the dead discovers he may have failed them all.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: detective, redemption, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Echo Park
Period: 1993, 2006
405 pages · Hardcover · Little, Brown & Company
Content warnings: death, murder, violence