Connelly's new book Chasing The Dime went on sale yesterday. This is a departure for him from his typical crime (Bosch) novels.

It's the story of a regular guy who start getting these messages on his voice-mail for some woman who disappeared. Well, one thing leads to another and he ends up getting involed in a bunch of mayhem, etc.

The interesting thing is how the book came about:

Connelly was hard at work on the next Bosch book when he moved from Cali to Florida. He got a new phone number but the house wasn't ready on time so he had a VM hooked up to the number so as to not miss any calls.

When he got into the house and hooked up the phone he checked his VM and had all these messages for some woman named Tammy. They were from her mother, her boyfriend, creditors, etc. The woman had just disappeared.

Well, Connelly stopped what he was doing and started writing this story.

Pretty wild when a mystery falls right into a mystery writer's lap.

I've been a big Connelly fan since reading The Poet in paperback. Before even finishing The Poet I raced out to purchase Black Echo, Black Ice, Concrete Blonde, and The Last Coyote. No regrets whatsoever on my purchases. Black Ice is pretty good but the other 3 are excellent.

Connelly is an amazing writer. He can say so much in so few words; it takes him just a few short sentences to describe in detail almost any scene (probably because of his newspaper background). I used to be a fairly avid reader but I've been in a big reading slump this year (due in some part to my attempts to read a very popular (highly overrated imo) book whose author...........well I'd better just drop the subject, also due in part to some favorite authors doing standalones as a break from their series characters).

Back to Connelly, I think the next Bosch novel is coming up this Spring. Can't wait. I recall Connelly will be trying something different with this one (first-person perspective). Though I do feel Connelly's more recent works fall short of the excellence he displayed through Trunk Music, average Connelly still surpasses most in the genre.

Thanks BoatDrinks!

I always forget when his damn_books come out, but you are always there to update me.

BTW, did anyone see the movie Clint Eastwood did?

Bloodwork. I found it was kept very much the same format as the book (not a bad thing ) The ending was a little different and not as good as the book, but not a bad movie. The detectives were a little stereotypical and more annoying than useful, but overall, I enjoyed it.

I was sorry I missed this in the theatre.

I'm patiently awaiting a Harry Bosch movie.

For some reason I see Harvey Keitel as Harry.

Yeah Harvey Keitel would've made a great Harry

To continue the topic of casting "Harry Bosch", what do you guys think of maybe John Malkovich as Harry, maybe Gabriel Byrne as Terry McCaleb, and Michael Douglas as Jack McEvoy. Or maybe Ed Harris as Harry or perhaps even better McCaleb. Maybe David Morse (from the TV show Hack, film The Rock, etc.) as McEvoy. My preference for Malkovich over Keitel is that, while both bring equal amounts of anti-establishment intensity/volatility to the role imo Malkovich brings a little more warmth and slightly more solitary-quiet-tranquil/world-weariness to the role than Keitel would. I've always pictured Bosch as better-looking than Keitel so again I think Malkovich fits the role plus I feel he is easier to sympathize with.

Often when reading first-person narrative (especially) detective fiction I often equate the main character as looking like the author (unless described differently (example Alex Cross does not equal author James Patterson). I think Elvis Cole would look like Robert Crais, Myron Bolitar would look like Harlan Coben, not sure about Patrick MacKenzie looking like Dennis Lehane though, and Spenser will always look like Robert Urich (not Joe Mantegna) to me. That being the case I've always thought that Harry Bosch looks like Connelly but I guess Connelly might not be a good actor so we have to cast the role.

Regarding Eastwood as McCaleb, I didn't see the film BloodWork but I thought that Eastwood was too old to play the role, the casting of Eastwood I felt took away from the impact of the character. I felt it was integral to one's feeling for McCaleb that you had a fairly young fellow who was so beaten down by "the job" that he suffered the heart problem at a relatively young (middle) age. Sort of showed you how much McCaleb put into his work. With an older actor like Eastwood I felt that line of thought was dampened because at Eastwood's age it is not unexpected that you would have health issues. Again I didn't see the film so I don't know how it came across but just commenting on one of the reasons I skipped the movie.

flixtime, while I agree that Malkovich could show more warmth then Keitel, I don't see him as Bosch. Not gritty enough I guess.

Ed Harris would be a pretty good choice.

Or maybe Sipowitz from NYPD Blue.

Gabriel Byrne as McCaleb =

Man a Harry Bosch movie would be so great.

I just finished reading City of Bones and I have a question. Does anyone know the direction he will take the series? Its obvious things will never be the same at the end of the book.

I was scared at first the series might end. Losing Inspector Morse was bad enough, I don't want to lose the Bosch novels too.

I'm hoping BoatDrinks pops back into this thread.

He seems to know a lot about Mr. Connelly.

I too would welcome BoatDrinks' comments, however until that time, I'll take a stab at it:

I recall reading somewhere that Connelly will undoubtedly continue writing Bosch novels. I think the coming one is entitled "Lost Light". I am not 100% certain on this but I believe Harry Bosch is going to become a Private Investigator, plus as I mentioned earlier the next book (if not more) will be first-person narrative instead of third-person (as were the previous books), meaning it would read "I woke up at leisure this morning, thus is my life as a P.I. now that I no longer work for LAPD" instead of "Harry woke up leisurely, one of the benefits of being a P.I. as opposed to working for LAPD".

Also, I recall that Connelly himself has moved to Florida but I think the Bosch series is going to remain based in CA.

Hello.

Yep, Bosch goes on. He will appear every April as long as folks keep buying.

And yes, the next Bosch is first person. That's all I'm gonna say!

Casting note: Mike has said that his first choice for Bosch would be Ed Harris, followed by Robert Duvall.

Oh damn!

I will continue to read Bosch!

Thanks BoatDrinks and flixtime.

Man what a great book this was!

Once again, Connelly has come through for me.

Quick question....

Does anyone remember what book The Dollmaker was in?

I can't remember for the life of me.

The Dollmaker case happened before the series started, but the reliving of the original case and the second Dollmaker was in The Concrete Blond. Still my favorite books in the series.

Gracias!

One day, I'm gonna re-read the whole series from beginning to end with no inbetween books.

A few Michael Connelly updates:

Crime Beat: A Decade of Covering Cops and Killers is coming out in May 2006



Echo Park, the next Harry Bosch novel is coming October 2006



Also, Michael Connelly will serialize a new Harry Bosch novella over a period of 12 to 15 weeks in the New York Times Magazine starting this summer.

2006 is shaping up quite nicely for Connelly fans!

I'd been aware of "Echo Park" but not the two others. I'm not much of a non-fiction guy so I'll likely pass on "Crime Beat" but thanks for bringing to my attention the Bosch serialized novella - that would certainly be of interest down the road. To prevent falling behind on his efforts, I suppose I'd better crack the spine ASAP on his most recent standalone - "The Lincoln Lawyer". Anyone read it yet.....thoughts (no spoilers please)?

I have put off reading The Lincoln Lawyer and I have no idea why. Connelly is easily my favorite author and I have never been let down by one of his books. I'm going to get off my butt and read it this weekend. Really excited to hear about the Bosch stuff on the way.

Connelly's latest Bosch novel "Echo Park" hit stores yesterday. Amazon.com has it at $15.06 (44% off list).

Echo Park is excellent. I highly recommend it.

I haven't picked it up yet, but I can't wait to read it. I thought The Closers was pretty good (as are most of his books).

Coming out on May 29th:

Can't wait for it. I'd finished up Echo Park and The Lincoln Lawyer in this past month. Both were excellent reads.

I was going to read The Overlook on the Times website, but as soon as I realized they'd be putting out a book (in an expanded version, no less), I decided to give it a pass. I think it's still up over there, though, in case anyone can't wait.