The Drop

Written by Richard Powers

Narrated by Len Cariou

When evidence links a brutal murder in 1989 to a convicted rapist named Clayton Pell, the case should be water-tight. Pell's DNA was found on the victim - but he was only eight years old at the time.

This is not the only mystery Harry Bosch has to solve. A man jumped - or was pushed - from a window. The victim's father is Councilman Irving, who's been intent on destroying Harry's career for years. Now Irving wants Harry to head up the investigation.

Harry uncovers traces of two of the city's deepest secrets: a killer operating for as many as three decades without being detected, and a conspiracy that goes back into the dark history of the police department...

Read by Len Cariou

(p) 2011 Hachette Audio

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hachette UK Audio
• Release date: Oct 27, 2011
• ISBN: 9781409134848

Richard Powers

Michael Connelly is an American author of detective novels and other crime fiction, notably those featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch and criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller. His books have been translated into 36 languages and have won many awards. He lives with his family in Florida.

Reviews for The Drop

[eyejaybee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of the difficult choices facing writers of series of novels is how, or indeed whether, they address the ageing process of their characters. Some of the great figures in traditional detective fiction seemed impervious to the ravages of time. Both of Agatha Christie’s principal recurring sleuths, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, were already advanced in age when the reader first encountered them, but they exhibit little sign of growing significantly older. It may be easier to leave characters who had already retired at an advanced but unspecified age, but there are also some leading characters who seemed to persist unchanged within the police force. Ruth Rendell’s Chief Inspector Wexford, and Michael Innes’s Sir John Appleby, feature in twenty-four and thirty-two novels respectively, without any clear sign of ageing (or even progression of rank, having achieved their senior positions early on), although some of the peripheral characters do seem to age.More recently, the trend among leading writers of crime fiction has been to allow their characters to age in real time. This, of course, lends verisimilitude, and allows the author to express their own changing perspective as they themselves grow older. It does, however, pose other challenges, as their readers have finite credibility and might struggle to accept protagonists nearing, or even entering their seventies, not only with their energies and faculties undimmed, but still employed within the police force. Both Ian Rankin and Michael Connelly have had to face this quandary, and have adopted the same approach, seeing John Rebus and Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch retiring from their respective forces (Lothian and Borders Police – now Police Scotland – and LAPD), before returning within a couple of years to work on ‘cold case’ teams, reviewing old, unsolved murders.The title of this novel is, in part, a reference to the Deferred Retirement Option Plan, the scheme by which Bosch returned to work for LAPD following his formal retirement several years (and books) previously. As the story opens, he is advised that under the DROP regulations, he now has just over three years to go before his mandatory final retirement. There is, however, a passing reference to the case that represents the principal focus of the book.Bosch has clashed over many years with Irwin Irving, formerly Deputy Chief of LAPD and subsequently, following his enforced retirement from the force, a member of the city’s governing council. In that role he has sought revenge for being ousted from his leading role on LAPD, and has been the central figure in a cabal of councilmen who have voted to curtail funding for the police and, in particular, pare back its overtime budget. Irving’s and Bosch’s paths cross again after the councilman’s son is found dead in the parking lot of one of the city’s more flamboyant hotels, where he had taken a room on the tenth floor. There is no immediate indication as to whether the death was suicide or murder. Irving musters all his considerable influence to have a full investigation undertaken by LAPD, and, despite their longstanding enmity, specifically requests that Bosch should lead it. Despite their strained relationship over the years, Irving recognises the essential integrity of Bosch’s approach, and knows that he will not let politics interfere with his investigation.As always with Connelly, the plot is very strong, and the characters all immensely believable. His depiction of Bosch struggling to balance his portfolio of investigations and the stresses of family life a he brings up his teenaged daughter is very convincing.

[edjoubert · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A compelling book.

[malcrf · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Typical Bosch. Fast moving, well written, great characterization....................maybe just a little fantastical for a police procedural for me.

[writemoves · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I think this is the first Harry Bosch novel that I have read. I probably will look to read more books in this series. It did have a lot of turns and twists – – sometimes it was hard to distinguish between the good guys ( and gals) from the bad ones. Bosch is an interesting character--" Dirty Harry" without the guns and violence and a bit more cerebral in his approach. His character has a bit of history attached to it so I will take a look at earlier books in the series.

[pier50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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

[gypsysmom_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[devenish_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[neddludd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[peggygillman · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

A Harry Bosch novel and the last one I’ll read. It was too long and he put two stories together that had nothing to do with each other. 3/14/12

[weeziesbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I listened to this audio book while on a road trip on the East Coast. It was well done and interesting enough to keep me wanting to drive so that I could find out what was going to happen next. Harry Bosch, a LAPD Detective, part of the unsolved cases unit, is assigned to a cold case regarding a years old murder. Almost simultaneously he is directed by his boss and her superiors to investigate the apparent suicide of a very influential councilman’s son. The councilman has had a vendetta against the police department ever since he was forced to leave the department several years before. One of his primary agendas in office seems to be to make things as difficult as he can for the department. Harry had just put in for a “DROP”, which would allow him to continue for 5 additional years serving the department. Budget cuts, in part caused by the councilman threaten his opportunities.Investigating and sometimes alienating friends of the councilman and his decreased son, being led to find a sex offender and meeting, and working with an important Doctor all add interest to this story. Harry is raising his daughter by himself and with his extremely demanding position, it also points out the difficulty in raising a child as a single parent. Harry is as always creating controversy with his coworkers and Chu, his current partner is no exception. Can Harry work with others or is he always going to be the ‘lone wolf’. This was a good read and I give it a 4 point rating.

[bohemiangirl35 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[samm4-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[ricaustria · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[edwardsgt · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[monica67_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

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.

[markus.bauer · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Zwei Fälle ineinander verwoben, ein aktueller Fall mit stadtpolitischem Hintergrund und ein alter ungeklärter Fall, teilweise spannend, manchmal langfädig und erklärend, sprachlich im Reportage Stil, warum wieder ein Serientäter, eine unnötige Opferhäufung auf dem Altar der blutgeilen LeserInnen.

[infjsarah · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Love the Bosch books and this was back on form.

[addunn3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[buffalogr · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[ecw0647 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[jamespurcell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Complex and interesting plots as Harry works to solve two unconnected crimes. His relationship with his daughter continues to develop nicely and female of interest enters the picture. Solid police work pays off in both cases yet leave room for a surprise ending.

[bitsy08_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[everfresh1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not the best Connelly's work. A little tired - as much as Bosch himself in this novel.

[nbsp_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[bookconcierge · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Audio book performed by Len Cariou

This is the latest Harry Bosch mystery. I don’t want to give anything away so will dispense with the plot summary except to say that Harry and his partner are working a cold case when they are also assigned a priority case, investigating the death of a powerful councilman’s son.

Connelly writes a fast-paced, intricately plotted story, but he also explores his characters’ motivations, which makes the books more interesting to me. Doesn’t hurt that he manages some twists and turns I never saw coming.

Cariou does a pretty good job of narrating, but his naturally “gravelly” voice makes it more difficult to voice the women.

[gmmartz · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

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.

[runner56_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a truly fantastic read by what has to be my favourite crime writer; Michael Connelly. What is it about his style, what is it about his writing that makes a character so real, so unbelievably complex yet so dedicated who truly believes "Everybody counts or nobody counts." Bosch working with the unsolved crimes unit is looking into historic cases that were never resolved, in this particular instance the murder of Lily Price some 20 years previous. Added to this he has been requested, by his long-time rival Councilman Irvin Irving, to help apprehend the murderer of his son George. There is so much that is "human" about Harry Bosch constantly working as a lone maverick and ignoring advice or guidance from his immediate superior or his present partner David Chu. Harry is so arrogant so impossible to work with, a maverick who always seems to read and understand the facts before anyone else and thus identify the culprit.Irvin Irving has especially requested Bosch to find the truth behind his son's death, no matter how painful that truth may be. Irving has no love for Harry but he knows that this wily experienced detective will surely uncover the story behind his son's suggested suicide. Meanwhile the historic search for the killer of Lily Price will lead Bosch on a journey into the mind of an evil predator where depravity knows no bounds. Add to this the emergence of Harry's daughter Maddie into adulthood, and a timely long overdue love interest then we have all the ingredients for a wonderful read. Michael Connelly brings to life the daily pressure and decisions that are a constant occurrence for the officers within the LAPD....."Every Cop knew that quietly carrying the horrors of the job inside could be like carrying untreated cancer".... It has been a joy to read "The Drop" over the last 24 hours I could not put the novel aside which is a tribute to the brilliant storytelling. A fantastic 10 star read! one of the best in series and highly highly recommended

[csdaley-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My favorite Bosch book in a while. Toar through it.

[tromboneal-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Read it in a few sittings. Well done and engaging.

[lauren2013_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Drop
4 Stars

Detective Harry Bosch is back in the Open-Unsolved Division awaiting confirmation of his DROP (Deferred Retirement Option Plan), when he is assigned a cold case with a DNA hit as well as a current case revolving around an apparent suicide. These seemingly simple cases turn out to be more complex as the DNA belongs to a child and the suicide is the son of Harry's old nemesis, Irvin Irving. Can Harry solve them without ruining his career?
 
An improvement after the disappointment of Nine Dragons.
 
While the two cases are not connected, they are both, nevertheless, fast-paced and well plotted with several compelling twists and some of the best elements from the series, such as Harry's continuing conflict with Irving. Their interactions always demonstrate not only Harry's integrity and devotion to his "mission", but also the depths of the political machinations inherent in any large organization including the police force.
 
Harry is once again his likable if somewhat anti-social self, and it is great to see the close relationship he has developed with his daughter, Maddie. It turns out that he is a wonderful father.
 
In contrast, Harry's instant attraction to Hannah Stone (another damaged love-interest) reflects his terrible taste in women. Connelly really needs to stop writing romance into his books. It is unnecessary.
 
All in all, The Drop is a solid police procedural installment in the series, and I hope that the next one will be as satisfying.