The Black Echo

by Michael Connelly

Part of Harry Bosch, book 1

First published 2002

Harry Bosch stares down at the corpse wedged inside the drainpipe at Mulholland Dam. The LAPD homicide detective recognizes the victim as a fellow tunnel rat from Vietnam, a soldier who crawled through the same underground hell during the war. What starts as another murder case becomes deeply personal for Bosch. The investigation drags him back into memories of subterranean combat while pulling him into a present-day criminal conspiracy involving an elaborate heist beneath Los Angeles. Bosch faces threats from multiple directions. Enemies within his own police department work against him. The case forces him into an impossible decision between seeking justice through proper channels or pursuing personal vengeance. As he hunts the killer, Bosch must rely on the same survival skills that kept him alive in the tunnels of Southeast Asia. The truth about who murdered his fellow veteran will surprise even the experienced detective.

Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective, action

Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful

Tropes: enemies-to-allies, personal-stakes

Setting: Los Angeles, Mulholland Dam, Southeast Asia, Vietnam

Period: present-day, Vietnam War

482 pages · Paperback · Grand Central Publishing

Content warnings: violence

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