Renee Ballard works the night shift in Hollywood, beginning many investigations but finishing none as each morning she turns her cases over to day shift detectives. A once up-and-coming detective, she’s been given this beat as punishment after filing a sexual harassment complaint against a supervisor.But one night she catches two cases she doesn’t want to part with: the brutal beating of a prostitute left for dead in a parking lot and the killing of a young woman in a nightclub shooting. Ballard is determined not to give up at dawn. Against orders and her own partner’s wishes, she works both cases by day while maintaining her shift by night. As the cases entwine they pull her closer to her own demons and the reason she won’t give up her job no matter what the department throws at her.
A mostly wonderful new start for Michael Connelly. Renée Ballard is great. A mostly wonderful new start for Michael Connelly. He’s created a new protagonist, Reneé Ballard, who is tough and smart and, best of all, not a Bosch-clone. When long-series authors create new characters, they are often just re-skinnings of their most successful leads. In this case, Reneé stands and thinks on her own. Well done!Â
The Late Show Being a big fan of Bosch – both the books and the TV series – I started this book with a little trepidation, sort of partly hiding behind the sofa, with a cushion in front of my face, and one eye closed! To be fair and honest, once I had read a few pages, all the defenses I had raised crumbled as I realised that I had nothing to fear from this, the series opener for Mr Connelly’s new character Renee Ballard, night shift detective.Â
The first in a new (hopefully) long series. Renee Ballard is the new Harry Bosch (there’s a sample at the end of this book from the upcoming Harry Bosch book – which I didn’t read, preferring to savour new instalments afresh).Â