Two Kinds of Truth: New subtitle: Harry Bosch, Book 20

“Of life's two chief prizes, beauty and truth, I found the first in a loving heart and the second in a laborer's hand. --- Khalil Gibran”Demakis, Joseph. The Ultimate Book of Quotations (p. 34). Unknown. Kindle Edition.I shared that with you because I believe, in the present day, and as referenced by this latest in the harry Bosch series, the above quote of Khalil Gibran has a special pertinence.INTRO: Two Kinds of Truth, the 20th installment in the great Harry Bosch series, shares with us the inner workings of an investigator who finds truth to be a sacred principle. In one sentence, it is a must-read and can certainly be read as a stand-alone. But, as crisp and intriguing as is the writing and the character, why would anyone read only one book in the series? Read on to learn more...*** ARE THERE PROFANITIES USED? ***BLUSH FACTOR Although the language used is consistent with the characters depicted, this is probably a story in which, if reading to your 8-year-old daughter or 80-year-old grandmother, you will want to skip over some of the rough language. Don’t though, pass on this book if you want to read one of the best police procedurals published during 2017.POV Third person.DOES THIS WRITER SHOW OR TELL WHAT WE SEE/FEEL/HEAR? He shows us.DOES THE WRITER EVOKE THE FIVE SENSES? With uncommonly good skill, in my opinion.CLIFFHANGER? No.Q - How was this book obtained?A – Bought this, and the companion audible version on Amazon.Q - Are there a lot of typos/misspellings, grammatical errors or other editing failures?A – Very few.Q - Is this a fast, easy read or is it more of a leisure read?A – Fast-paced, but at 417 pages this is a leisure read.To give a feel for the editing, and the style and flow of this work, I am posting a brief excerpt below.Excerpt‘…he put in Frank Morgan’s Mood Indigo and soon he was hearing “Lullaby,” one of his favorite recordings. He then looked back through the stack of old reports for the transcript of the interview conducted thirty years earlier with Borders. It was the thickest report in the stack, weighing in at forty-six pages. He quickly leafed through it to find the moment when Borders was caught in the lie that ultimately led to his arrest and conviction. It was two-thirds through the thirty-minute conversation and during a segment where Bosch was asking the questions. It was also after Borders had signed a consent form acknowledging his Miranda rights and agreeing to talk to the detectives.HB: So you and Danielle didn’t have sex? You just dropped her at her place and took off?PB: That’s right.HB: Well, were you a gentleman? Did you walk her to her door?PB: No, it was like she jumped out and was gone before I could even be a gentleman.HB: You mean like she was mad at you?PB: Sort of. She didn’t like what I’d had to say.HB: Which was what?PB: That there wasn’t any chemistry. You know, nice try but it wasn’t right. I thought she understood and thought the same thing but then she jumped out of the car and was gone without so much as a good-bye. It was rude but I guess she was disappointed. She liked me better than I liked her. Nobody likes getting rejected.HB: And you said you had not picked her up at her place earlier?PB: Yeah, she took a cab and we met at the restaurant, because she was coming from the Westside and for me to go all the way over the hill to get her would be a slog, man. I liked the girl, or at least I thought I did, but not that much, you know what I mean?HB: Yeah, I get it.PB: I mean, I’m not running a taxi service. Some of these girls think you are their chauffeur or [unintelligible]. Not me.HB: Okay, so what you’re saying is that you didn’t pick her up and then you just dropped her at the curb and took off.PB: That’s it. Not even a good-night kiss.HB: And you were never in her apartment?PB: Nope.HB: Not even to her door?PB: Never. HB: What about after that night? You knew where she lived now. Did you ever come back?PB: No, man, I’m telling you. I wasn’t interested.HB: Well, then, we have a problem that we need to work out here.PB: What problem?HB: Why do you think we approached you today, Preston?PB: I don’t know. You said you needed my help. I thought maybe one of her friends told you Skyler and I had dated.HB: Actually, it was because we found your fingerprints on the front door of her apartment. The problem is, you just told me you’d never been to the door. PB: I don’t understand. How’d you get my fingerprints?HB: You know, that’s sort of funny. I tell you that your fingerprints were found at a murder scene and you ask how I got your fingerprints. I think most guys would’ve…’Connelly, Michael. Two Kinds of Truth (A Harry Bosch Novel) (pp. 53-55). Little, Brown and Company. Kindle Edition.Bottom Line:There are two series I never fail to purchase on Amazon, in Kindle and in Audible format. Craig Johnson’s Walt Longmire and Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch.Five stars out of five.Comments regarding your opinion of this book or of my review, whether favorable or unfavorable, are always welcome. If you buy the book based on my review and become disappointed, especially, I do want to know that and I want to understand how I can improve as a book reviewer. Just please be polite.Thank you.

On a recent book tour, Michael Connelly talked about his decision, very early on, that Harry Bosch would age more or less in real time as his series continued. It was a way for him to allow the books to reflect the world around him, he explained, even though he conceded that he didn't really think about how that would probably lead to some issues as Bosch - intentionally crafted as a Vietnam veteran - continued to be popular and work into the 2010's.Nevertheless, in so many ways, that choice to have Bosch age and the series unfold in real time is one of my favorite thing about Connelly's Bosch novels, and one of the things that most sets them apart from the other crime series going today. Thirty-ish books into the series, Bosch continues to evolve, slowly adjusting to technology, political and social trends, his role as a father, and his own relationship to the cities he watches over. But somehow, even after so many books, Two Kinds of Truth shows that Connelly can write just as well as ever, and that Bosch is still one of the most compelling, wonderful detective characters in fiction today.Connelly's choice to shift Bosch into a sort of elder statesman role, working at a small police department outside of Los Angeles, pays off beautifully in Truth, allowing him to both be the consultant for a department that's in way over its head, as well as letting him follow his pet cause of long abandoned cases ignored by the world around them. As he's done for a few books now, Connelly follows Bosch as he handles a variety of cases, ranging from the murder/robbery of a young pharmacist to the death row appeal of a killer that Bosch put away decades ago. And while a lesser author might go for the obvious strategy of letting all of these cases link together as some master plot, Connelly instead allows the cases to simply be separate facets of Bosch's life, showing us how police officers' lives aren't always neat and orderly and focused on just one case. (That's not to say the cases don't impact each other; indeed, the way the consequences of each slam into the other is part of the book's plot. It's just that Connelly avoids the easy tropes of the "overarching master plot".)But while Connelly's plotting remains satisfying (to say nothing of his ability to tap into modern anxieties, with a strong focus this time out on the opioid crisis and society's inability to reckon with the supply that's available and feeding addictions), the book is most enjoyable as a chance to catch up with Harry Bosch. Over the course of twenty-plus years, Bosch has changed in some ways, while never changing in the most important ones - even after all these years, he's a dogged investigator, a pragmatist to his core, an old-fashioned police detective. But he's getting older, and while he refuses to let go of his quest for justice in the world, Truth shows us a Bosch that's settling into the role of a mentor, trying to guide a generation of officers that will have to take up his mantle one day all too soon. It's more subtext than text in Truth, but there's little denying that Bosch is getting older, and that he's a man who's still so focused on his missions in life that he sometimes doesn't think about what's best for him as a person, so much as what's best for justice in the world. Is it true to Bosch the character, though? Undeniably, from the risks he takes to the certainty he shows to the refusal to let go of a woman he feels like he has to safe at all costs. But we as readers - and Connelly, as an author - are all too aware that Bosch is a man who's no longer the young man he once was. All of which sets up DARK SACRED NIGHT...but that's a book for another day.

This is the best detective mystery I have read in a long time. Great details and excellent character development. This is the 20th book in the series that keeps getting better. Thank you Mr. Connelly. More please.

A little wordy, but a good story. Who Done It Readers will enjoy it. Good old Harry Josh strikes again.

I like these police novels written by Michael Connelly and have read over the years most of the Bosch genre books. They are very realistic. One type of crime story that author Connelly won’t touch is featuring a killer who is non-White.

I very much enjoyed reading this book.This is the first Michael Connelly I have read. I Will recommend books by Mr Connelly to my friends.This book was recommended to me by my father.

Usual fast paced action with Harry Bosh working in tandem with his half-brother Mickey Haller and the super sleuth Cisco. Use of Street and place names gives atmosphere of reality to this tale and you can almost taste the smog and brilliant vista of the Los Angelos area. Moral of the story is that even a hardened, flawed person like Harry can feel compassion for someone fallen and vulnerable and do something selfless to try to help. In addition, he is the man on the wall protecting the rest of us,against chaos.

I just finished this book and all I can say is I wish it didn’t end. This author is a close 2nd the my best author Yann Martel but the Michael Connelly books are sooo good. He really connects the reader to the characters in his books and makes me feel like I am truly there watching it all happen. His books Blood Work and The Late Show got me started reading his books and what can I say except I’ve got several more of his books coming my way from Amazon and I look forward to them but not to the finishing part.

Well written…no surprise there. His characterizations are so believable.

Good story line, typical Harry Bosch, keeps your interest throughout the book.

Another very good Harry Bosch even if it feels at the twilight of his career. It will be a sad day, when Harry hands in his badge

Um Bosch na sua essência e nos seus melhores momentos e mais humanizado. Uma estória que termina com o anúncio de outra...

Five stars is just not enough. Once again Mr.Connelly delivers. I can recommend this book to everyone . Go and read it, you will not be disapointed.