Michael Connelly: BLACK ECHO (Short Reflection)

A family member of mine just moved to a short-term rental in Echo Park, a Los Angeles district that features in Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series. Coincidentally, another family member got hooked on Connelly's new series featuring Mickey Haller, the "Lincoln lawyer" of the new film; and yet a third enjoyed the book The Lincoln Lawyer last week.

So I've been talking about Connelly and his work a lot lately, with people who aren't necessarily seasoned readers of his crime fiction. It reminded me of the power of his books, and the impact of reading his Edgar Award-winning first one, Black Echo.

So here's a link to Connelly's website, the portion that describes his first book, Black Echo: http://www.michaelconnelly.com/Book_Collection/TheBlackEcho/theblackecho.html -- if you have a Nam background, you'll probably know about the nonfiction background of the tunnels of Cu Chi, and the tunnel rats. And if you aren't/weren't tuned in to that war and region, the story is so good that you'll be soaking up info while biting your nails. At least, that's what happened for me.

Although it's hard to find nice-condition copies of this 1992 book, Kingdom Books has a decent hardcover reprint right now: http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&tn=black+echo&vci=1498832&x=0&y=0

Reminder: Lea Wait will be at Kingdom Books on Sat. 6/25 at 11 a.m., featuring her new Down East Maine mystery, Shadows of a Down East Summer. She's bringing some Homer Winslow artwork with her, a great reflection of the novel's turning points. Reserve a signed copy by calling 802-751-8374 or drop us an e-mail at KingdomBks@gmail.com. Glad to mail the books if you can't be here in person (but it's much more fun to be here!).