[mesquite]

TITLE: The Wrong Side of Goodbye (Harry Bosch #21)
AUTHOR: Michael Connelly, Titus Welliver (Narrator)
GENRE: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
PUBLISHED: 2016
RATING: ★★★★

PURCHASE LINKS: Amazon Audible
MOBILISM LINK: eBook Audiobook

Description: Detective Harry Bosch must track down someone who may never have existed in the new thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly.

Harry Bosch is California's newest private investigator. He doesn't advertise, he doesn't have an office, and he's picky about who he works for, but it doesn't matter. His chops from thirty years with the LAPD speak for themselves.

Soon one of Southern California's biggest moguls comes calling. The reclusive billionaire is nearing the end of his life and is haunted by one regret. When he was young, he had a relationship with a Mexican girl, his great love. But soon after becoming pregnant, she disappeared. Did she have the baby? And if so, what happened to it?

Desperate to know whether he has an heir, the dying magnate hires Bosch, the only person he can trust. With such a vast fortune at stake, Harry realizes that his mission could be risky not only for himself but for the one he's seeking. But as he begins to uncover the haunting story--and finds uncanny links to his own past--he knows he cannot rest until he finds the truth.

At the same time, unable to leave cop work behind completely, he volunteers as an investigator for a tiny cash-strapped police department and finds himself tracking a serial rapist who is one of the most baffling and dangerous foes he has ever faced.

Swift, unpredictable, and thrilling, The Wrong Side of Goodbye shows that Michael Connelly "continues to amaze with his consistent skill and sizzle" (Cleveland Plain Dealer).

Review:

“I want you to find someone for me,” Vance said. “Someone who might never have existed.”

A simple statement from a dying man searching for an heir. Harry Bosch, no longer with the LAPD but working as a reserve Detective with the San Fernando PD while doing PI work when it comes up. At the request of an ex-Deputy Chief, he takes on the case of the steel and aviation tycoon Whitney Vance, who makes the request.

I listened to this book, read by Titus Welliver, who plays the titular character on Amazon Prime Video. The husky voice of Welliver, brings this story to life. The production, with entrance music to every 3rd chapter, gives the story a sense of foreboding as things get tense. Its well read, possibly having the actor who plays Bosch reading the novel gives it a closer feel to reality.

The plot is tense, 2 cases: Private and Public are offered here. The search for the missing heir and a serial rapist. Both cases taking equal time with the story, expertly woven by Connelly in his 21st entry to Harry Bosch.

Exploring the missing heir we get the premise of the title: Vance had left her on the wrong side of good-bye. Vance left a woman he loved, who was Mexican, pregnant with his child out of fear of retribution from his father during a time when race in southern California wasn't just about Black or White but White and Hispanic. Race is a central theme and delicately woven in.

The serial rapist, dubbed "The Screen Cutter" due to the MO of cutting the window screen to his victims, also has a racial undertone. As the City of San Fernando has a primary demographic that is majority Latino. A diverse mixture of employees within SFPD exudes this majority: the Chief, Captain, and other detectives are all Latino. Bosch shows no prejudice that the primary victims are all Latino women, which is needed obviously as Crime and Justice have no color and shouldn't differentiate with the color of skin.

I like Bosch as a character, he's simple and likable. I feel like he is down to earth, grounded by not just his work but also by his interactions with other characters, especially his daughter. The father/daughter relationship is important and humanizes him. The intermingling of jobs doesn't prevent him from being the dad he needs to be, even with her out of the house and in college.

The back and forth of the Missing Person and Criminal case kept me going, the husky bass of Welliver is imperative and almost pleading for you to keep going. Which I did cause I wanted absolution and resolve to my own questions as much as Bosch. Though I'm pretty sure I shouldn't have missed previous entries in the series, Connelly fills in the plot holes I felt may have been evident by touching up on circumstances early on but I should definitely get caught up.

If a reader wants to grasp the current racial situation of America and the past as well, then this book definitely could give insight to it without being political. Overall, this is a satisfying read and would recommend to anyone who wanted to sit down over a weekend to relax.