Summary | Excerpt | Reviews | Read-Alikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
May 2004, 416 pages
Paperback:
Mar 2005, 456 pages
In this spectacularly dramatic and shocking novel 'The Poet' has returned and Bosch must balance his life as a father to a young daughter with his own sense of mission and his profound awareness of evil.
FBI agent Rachel Walling finally gets the call she's dreaded for years: the one that tells her the Poet has returned. Years ago she worked on the famous case, tracking down the serial killer who wove lines of poetry into his hideous crimes. Rachel has never forgotten Robert Backus, the killer who called himself the Poet - and apparently he has not forgotten her either.
Harry Bosch gets a call, too. The former LAPD detective hears from the wife of an old friend who has recently died. The death appeared natural, but this man's ties to the hunt for the Poet make Harry dig deep - and lead him into a terrifying, bewildering situation.
So begins the most compelling, frightening, and masterful novel Michael Connelly has ever written. The Narrows places Harry Bosch in league with Rachel Walling, at odds with the FBI and squarely in the path of the most ruthless and ingenious murderer in Los Angeles's history. What follows is a taut and tantalizing mystery that has Harry Bosch racing from the hostile vistas of the Nevada desert to the glittering Las Vegas strip to the dark corners of Los Angeles.
Through it all, Bosch works at his newfound life as father to a young daughter, balancing the deepest love he has ever felt with his own sense of mission and his profound awareness of evil. This spectacularly dramatic and shocking novel will have Michael Connelly's readers desperately hungry for the next novel from "one of America's best writers"
Chapter 1
SHE WAS IN DARKNESS, floating on a black sea, a starless sky above. She could hear nothing and see nothing. It was a perfect black moment but then Rachel Walling opened her eyes from the dream.
She stared up at the ceiling. She listened to the wind outside and heard the branches of the azaleas scratching against the window. She wondered if it was the scratching on glass or some other noise from within the house that had awakened her. Then her cell phone rang. She wasn’t startled. She calmly reached to the bed table. She brought the phone to her ear and was fully alert when she answered, her voice showing no indication of sleep.
"Agent Walling," she said.
"Rachel? It’s Cherie Dei."
Rachel knew right away that this would not be a Rez call. Cherie Dei meant Quantico. It had been four years since the last time. Rachel had been waiting.
"Where are you, Rachel?"
"I’m at home. Where do you think I’d be?"
"I know you cover a lot of ...
The sheer number and range of reviews for The Narrows gives an indication of Connelly's literary weight. Below you'll see reviews from the popular press and heavy weights such as the New York Times. This is particularly impressive as The Narrows is the 10 in the Harry Bosch series, and usually by this point in a series review coverage can be difficult to get.
The Narrows is a sequel to Connelly's first stand-alone book, The Poet (1996). For those interested in such things, it's also interesting to note that The Poet and The Narrows are the only two of Connelly's books to be written in the first and third person.
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