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The Drop
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The Drop
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The Drop
Audiobook (abridged)7 hours

The Drop

Written by Richard Powers

Narrated by Len Cariou

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Harry Bosch has been given three years before he must retire from the LAPD, and he wants cases more fiercely than ever. In one morning, he gets two.

DNA from a 1989 rape and murder matches a 29-year-old convicted rapist. Was he an eight-year-old killer or has something gone terribly wrong in the new Regional Crime Lab? The latter possibility could compromise all of the lab's DNA cases currently in court.

Then Bosch and his partner are called to a death scene fraught with internal politics. Councilman Irvin Irving's son jumped or was pushed from a window at the Chateau Marmont. Irving, Bosch's longtime nemesis, has demanded that Harry handle the investigation.

Relentlessly pursuing both cases, Bosch makes two chilling discoveries: a killer operating unknown in the city for as many as three decades, and a political conspiracy that goes back into the dark history of the police department.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateNov 28, 2011
ISBN9781611139204
Unavailable
The Drop
Author

Richard Powers

Richard Powers is the author of thirteen novels. His most recent, The Overstory, won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. He is also the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and the National Book Award, and he has been a four-time National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. He lives in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.

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Reviews for The Drop

Rating: 4.028061293877552 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    My favorite Bosch book in a while. Toar through it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Typical Bosch. Fast moving, well written, great characterization....................maybe just a little fantastical for a police procedural for me.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A compelling book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Good read! A page turner, although some of Harry's little quirks are becoming fetishes that annoy and distract the reader.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Another excellent story with Harry in the Open Unsolved unit of LAPD worrying about the DROP - the department's Deferred Retirement programme, when he is unexpectedly assigned to a live case of suspected suicide of his old enemy's son, Irvine Irving, former police chief and city councillor.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The paperback edition contains the beginning of his next book, The Black Box. Mr. Connelly enjoys using abbreviations, which he then explains in the next few paragraphs or pages. The title is short for Deferred Retirement Option Plan.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    For me Michael Connelly consistently tells a great story. Harry Bosh is a character who I have journeyed with for many years. We have gotten to see how time and age have made Harry who he is, and why he keeps going.

    Harry Bosch has been given three years before he must retire from the LAPD, and he wants cases more fiercely than ever. In one morning, he gets two.

    DNA from a 1989 rape and murder matches a 29-year-old convicted rapist. Was he an eight-year-old killer or has something gone terribly wrong in the new Regional Crime Lab? The latter possibility could compromise all of the lab's DNA cases currently in court.

    Then Bosch and his partner are called to a death scene fraught with internal politics. Councilman Irvin Irving's son jumped or was pushed from a window at the Chateau Marmont. Irving, Bosch's longtime nemesis, has demanded that Harry handle the investigation.

    Relentlessly pursuing both cases, Bosch makes two chilling discoveries: a killer operating unknown in the city for as many as three decades, and a political conspiracy that goes back into the dark history of the police department.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Have read all the Michael Haller series and making my way through the Harry Bosch series. (You fall in love with this character) and keeps you wanting for more! Looking forward to the next one....did not end the way I expected, so hopefully will be continued.

    Harry Bosch has been given three years before he must retire from the LAPD, and he wants cases more fiercely than ever. In one morning, he gets two.

    DNA from a 1989 rape and murder matches a 29-year-old convicted rapist. Was he an eight-year-old killer or has something gone terribly wrong in the new Regional Crime Lab? The latter possibility could compromise all of the lab's DNA cases currently in court.

    Then Bosch and his partner are called to a death scene fraught with internal politics. Councilman Irvin Irving's son jumped or was pushed from a window at the hotel. Irving, Bosch's longtime nemesis, has demanded that Harry handle the investigation.

    Relentlessly pursuing both cases, Bosch makes two chilling discoveries: a killer operating unknown in the city for as many as three decades, and a political conspiracy that goes back into the dark history of the police department.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Like many of the Bosch titles, this one had multple meanings. Was a jumper just that, or was it re: Harry's remaining time on the force. I didn't care for this one, I think because I didn't have any sympathy for the victim. But as always, a well written and enjoyable read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I absolutely love Mr. Connelly's books. Harry Bosch makes it so "Everybody counts, or nobody counts". This story starts with Bosch getting an extention on his return to the open unsolved unit in LA. But the first case he is assigned to comes at a specific request from Irvin Irving. Irving used to be the chief of police that headed Bosch's department and they clashed many times. So why would Irving ask for him when there is already bad blood between them?
    The open unsolved unit also takes cold cases and opens them up for review. One such case is of a murder and dump of a 19yr old named Lily Price. The weird thing about this is a small drop of blood points DNA evidence to an 8yr old boy. An 8yr old taking and murdering a 19yr old girl doesn't make sense. This is what Bosch needs to figure out.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I think this is my 3rd Connelly novel, but first in the Bosch series. (Although it is like the 15th Bosch novel.) I have mixed feelings about Connelly. I loved the first book I read, but was utterly dismayed when the second book had the same plot line, just different character names. I abhor formulaic books (For those of you who know my love of formulaic crime television shows--I admit it, I am contradicting myself. I can't help it. I like what I like.).

    So I am happy to report that it has either been long enough since I read Connelly that I didn't remember the formula, or that this book does a good job of standing on it's own. I did this as an audio book, and I think that is a good way to ingest this book. However the narrator had a habit of changing his voice to differentiate characters, for me this wasn't as good as just reading it (some of the characters were so nasally voiced I wanted to skip ahead in the book).

    Overall not a bad read, and you don't have to know books 1-14 to understand this one.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Harry is investigating an apparent suicide of the son of a city commissioner as he also tracks down the killer in a cold case from 20 years ago. Good action, fast read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Harry Bosch works two cases at once: one with "high jingle" and the other just plain weird. A quick and easy read/listen, this was a fun book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Harry Bosch is back with the LAPD cold case squad, He is then asked to help the Governor investigate the death of his grown up son.Was it murder or suicide?Harry also has a new partner called David Chu they capture a serial killer. OK book this but it all fell into place a bit to easy.Might be time for Harry to call it a day.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Pure Bosch, excellent book.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Michael Connelly used to be among my favorite writers in this genre. His earliest novels (Concrete Blonde, Trunk Music, etc.) really started me down the path of being a voracious consumer of mystery fiction. Unfortunately, he continues his downward trajectory with 'The Drop', and I think that's the last one I'll waste my time reading. He's apparently content to rest on his laurels, act as a lazy professor emeritus of the genre, and write gushing blurbs about other writers' books (which I don't trust).

    This book brings the laziness to a new level. Connelly combines what appears to be 2 longer short stories into a single novel. In 'The Drop', 2 cases are assigned to Harry Bosch almost simultaneously, and he solves both of them in pretty short order. Of course, there's really no connection between them, so having them in the same book really doesn't work, except for 'padding' purposes.

    What does work in the book is that the story lines for both cases are interesting and probably could have been developed into standalone novels by an author who was interested in doing a little work. The procedural stuff seems to be pretty solid, and the conclusions to both crimes are logical. What doesn't work?

    - A great character, Harry Bosch, is wasted. Really no background is explained, nothing in his rich past in the series is mined to make the novel more interesting and to help the reader understand his motives.
    - The dialogue is wooden. What used to be a strength for Connelly is no longer there.
    - The 2 cases just didn't have synergy. There was no reason for them to be in the same book.
    - The writing was pedestrian, with absolutely nothing to recommend it.

    Anyone starting to read Connelly with this book ought to ask 'what's the big deal with this guy?'. Anyone wanting to start reading him should begin in the beginning and go back to his earliest novels.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Bosch is still working cold cases and one comes up that looks like it might be a s case of lab contamination. As soon as this case comes up he gets pulled into an active case due to his old nemesis Irving asking him to work the death of his son. Bosch solves both cases but there are no easy endings in either case and one will certainly be brought up in the next book. Or at least I hope it will be.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I liked this classic Connelly as I have enjoyed most of the Hieronymous Bosch detective series. But...read on for a few caveats.

    The title is a play on multiple plot themes: the suicide of the son of Bosch's earlier nemesis who now sits on the city Council and has become a thorn in the side of the police department; Bosch's ability to continue work as a detective past the normal retirement sequence (called the "drop); and the budding relationship Harry's starts with a Hannah, a psychologist working in a half-way house for sexual predators. This relationship, BTW, seems woefully unnecessary to the rest of the story(ies) and appears to be there for the sole purpose of some Connelly "preaching" -- I use the word advisedly -- with regard to how society treats sexual predators and the roots of evil and Harry seems to do a flip-flop-flip on the issue depending on whether he wants to have Hannah in bed or not.

    Connelly likes to show off his knowledge of LAPD police procedure and buildings, which is OK, it brings some verisimilitude to the book, but at times feels like overkill.

    There's also a tension between getting the bad guys and doing things by the rules. This is always something the bugs the hell out of me. Many police detective stories rely on the heroes breaking the rules in order to get the bad guys as if they couldn't without doing so. It's the we're-righteous-so-it's-OK syndrome. [spoiler coming] After the suicide/murder investigation has been resolved and Harry and his partner, David, have returned to his original cold case, they finally track down the father of the guy they think is the perp in an old rape case. Bosch cleverly realizes the guy is not the father but the son. Then Bosch proceeds to coerce a confession out of the guy and does an illegal search of the next door apartment where the guy says all his trophies are stored. This, while they are preparing a search warrant (he jumped the warrant) to look for evidence they already know is there and would be totally tainted if the coerced confession were revealed. This is followed by a sanctimonious lecture on how important it is to follow the rules in order top make sure the guy doesn't get off on a Fourth Amendment violation. The fact is, Bosch has just committed a plethora of legal errors quite willingly and totally unnecessarily. Once they had the information about the son's impersonation of the father they had more than enough information to get a proper warrant (they can submit requests wirelessly and it would have taken but a few minutes) and search the adjoining condo where all the incriminating evidence was stored, thus eliminating the risk of a tainted prosecution.

    Now, if that's the way the LAPD really operates, it's abhorrent and breeds a sense of distrust and dismissal of the very rules the police are enjoined to enforce.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Another excellent Harry Bosch novel. Harry is working two cases, one cold and one fresh with high jingo, at the same time. He's on his own because his new partner is green and Harry doesn't trust him to know what to do. Kiz, his former partner, now works in the Chief's Office and even though Harry wants to believe she's the same person, he has suspicions that working in a political climate will make her political. Add to that, he's now a single father and is attracted to a woman he met through work, and that's plenty to keep a person busy and distracted.Harry is assigned to the cold case unit and is assigned a case to figure out a discrepancy. A drop of blood found at a murder scene belongs to a convicted felon was 8 years old at the time of the murder. Is this a lab mixup? Did the detectives cross evidence from two cases? Or is there another explanation? Within hours, Harry gets a call from the Police Chief's office to come to a scene where a man has fallen 7 stories to his death at a hotel. The dead man is the son of Irvin Irving, city councilman, former Assistant Chief of Police and Harry's rival. Harry is told to determine if the son is a suicide or homicide and to let the chips fall, but Harry also has to figure out who else in on the case is telling the truth, blocking, using or being used.I was really happy to see that Harry and Maddie are able to have a good relationship being around each other full time instead of just for visits and holidays. Maddie is a keen observer and keeps Harry on his toes. So far, she seems like a pretty good kid, not so much drama and acting out like teens of main characters in other novels. She's going to be one to watch if Connelly eventually spins her out into her own series.This was my first audio book on my nook, and it was pretty convenient, not having to carry CDs around and bookmarking my spot to come back to later. I didn't think I would like it so much, but I'm kind of digging it now.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Love the Bosch books and this was back on form.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Connelly builds this from the ground up, and by from the ground, I mean the gritty, slimy particles that make up the ground of dark dungeons and ancient prison cells.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Another solid installment in the HB series. It leaves open possibilities to follow up in the next book, but is itself a standalone book. Looking forward to the next one.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I haven't listened to a Harry Bosch tale in a while. The narrator has a distinct way of speaking I've come to associate with Harry Bosch. While engrossing enough to listen to during a commute, this story disappointed me on several levels. WARNING: Ahead there be spoilers. I found Connelly explaining a lot. Things that were obvious he said anyway. A lot of explaining of gestures, for example. The editor in me kept saying 'you just repeated yourself,' or 'that's obvious from what you just said.' It was distracting, interrupted the pacing, and took away from the narrative. Kind of a lesson what not to do for a writer. I may have forgotten details regarding Harry Bosch's character, but he behaved differently than I remember him acting in other stories I've read. Namely, he is more aggressive in this story, and well, he's kind of an ass. He consciously shuts out his partner, David Chu, ordering him about and outright telling him he isn't going to tell him what was going on. Once he tries the "I'm trying to protect you" line, but it comes off as patronizing and he never returns to the idea anyway. Besides, that's not how partners work. He's working a political case, but he should show Chu how to deal with the politics. Instead, he took control of the investigation himself, ordering Chu about, even though Chu calls him on it and tells him he doesn't appreciate being shut out. Chu was out of line talking to the reporter, but when Chu confronts Bosch with how he's treating him, Bosch refuses to acknowledge it, insisting on holding Chu to a standard he's not keeping for himself. He treats Chu poorly and has no guilt about it and no desire to forgive Chu. He just writes off Chu as a partner. Another thing I didn't understand was his reaction to Hannah. They get romantic after knowing each other a short time, and Hannah tells him about her son, who committed a horrible crime. When Hannah asks how he feels about what she told him, he is at a loss to offer anything but sympathy. When Hannah says she can't ignore her feelings, that she has to deal with what her son did and that he was in prison -- a reasonable statement, in my opinion -- Harry suddenly comes to the conclusion he's made a mistake with her and blows her off. It seems a huge leap that didn't have an explanation. There was no connection between point A and B. I don't see how he came to his conclusion just from what she'd said. Maybe it's a guy thing? Hannah starts talking about feelings, Bosch jumps to "this is a mistake"? There's something missing there to me. And somehow, Hannah "knows" she "messed up" with him when they next talk. I don't see how, since he doesn't give any indication except being a little abrupt in how he ended the last conversation. If she can sense he's annoyed, I don't see how she would have figured out why. It seems Connelly was operating with more knowledge than he was sharing with the reader. By the end of the story, Harry has made a U-turn on his opinion of Chu, presumably because of how he handles their second case. I have to assume that, because he never explains his change of heart, except that he manages to tell Chu he did a good job with the case, and later tells himself he's going to move on and stop holding a grudge. But how did he get there from the deep insult he'd felt? It didn't seem plausible. Chu was also a bit annoying in his reaction to Harry's behavior. While he tries to stand up for himself and complains to Harry when he shut him out of the case, that's all he does. Then when Harry finds out about the reporter, Chu insists he's going to make it up to Harry and practically begs Harry for a second chance. Repeatedly. The guy needs to grow a pair. The Hannah storyline is left dangling a bit. But at that point, I didn't much care. With Harry being a general ass, I was less than happy with this story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Another really good Harry Bosch thriller. Bosch's past boss - Irvin Irving specifically asks for Harry to look at a case of suspected suicde, of Irving's own son. This brings Bosch into direct conflict with his nemisis. A seperate cold case is also being investigated and the book finishes with a good twist in the tale
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I really like how Len Cariou reads this book. To me he sounds just like I think Harry Bosch would sound. I liked the one of the storylines but I wasn't as fond of the other.In one storyline Harry and his partner in the cold case squad have been handed a case to investigate. Forensics have matched a blood stain on the neck of a murder victim to a known sex offender. It's a bit of a mystery because at the time of the murder the sex offender would only have been 9 years old. So that's the storyline that I liked. While they are investigating it Harry meets a woman to whom he takes an instant liking.However, before Harry can even get started on the case he gets called in to investigate a suspicious death that occurred the night before. The son of a city councillor (and former thorn in Harry's side) was found at the base of a hotel stark naked. Did he jump or did someone throw him off the balcony? And what was he doing in the hotel in the first place? This is the "high jingo" case because the chief of police, the city councillor and Harry's former partner, Kiz Ryder, all want a quick resolution but do they really want to hear the truth?The endings to both storylines are pretty dramatic but the good news is that Harry is around for another 5 years. Look for more interesting cases with Harry Bosch.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is one of those books in which there are two crimes to solve,and one is of very much more interest than the other.Harry Boch is sent to investigate a potential suicide/accident/murder of the son of a longtime and powerful opponent. Strangely,this enemy of Harry's wants him to look into the case for him.The other investigation concerns an old case which has cropped up once more in which murder and rape are connected. Harry begins to suspect that all is not as it seems. Boch is again shown as a man of principle and honour who puts straight dealing before all else.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Where other series grow predictable and tiresome, Connelly seems to have found the fountain of youth; his Harry Bosch continues to make self-discoveries, plumbing his core values and his unerring sense of right and wrong, and so the work remains fresh, vital, and surprising for readers. Here we encounter political corruption, a rich man's suicide (or murder?), and a despicable sexual predator who has been busily at work for decades. It's one of his victims, together with modern technology, which allows Harry the satisfying task of hunting his prey. There's an under-developed love interest (which fits in with Harry's damage and ambivalence), and also some nice passages featuring Harry as parent. There are also media and police ethics to ponder. This is a wonderful, satisfying series that will please anyone interested in how the police get the bad guys and skillfully participate in the contact sport of urban politics.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Harry Bosch investigates a fresh case and a cold one. The results and the journey there were surprising. I especially enjoyed Harry's ruminations about his "golden years" in law enforcement and in his personal life. And, his interactions with his daughter as she enters adulthood showed his tenderness and humility. I don't think Harry should be allowed to retire. Look what happened to Morse.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Not the best Connelly's work. A little tired - as much as Bosch himself in this novel.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Wow! I read A LOT! I had just finished another book which I thought was good and then I picked up The Drop. Within a couple of pages you could tell the difference in the writing. When you're good, you're good. When you've got more experience writing, you're even better. This book had two cases Bosch was working on. Man. If all the police departments had detectives like Bosch, the bad guys wouldn't have a chance. Connelly just keeps getting better and better.