Copyright 2008 by Hieronymous Inc. Published by Little, Brown and Company, New York.

This is one of the series of mysteries by Michael Connelly featuring Hieronymous Bosch, LAPD detective. But this one has a twist: Bosch is a supporting character. The main character is Mickey Haller, a lawyer fresh out of drug rehab who gets his career resurrected in a big way when another lawyer dies (shot to death) and he inherits his portfolio of 31 open cases. The big prize in that caseload is the pending murder trial of Walter Elliot, the head of a small-but-growing movie studio. So Haller is immediately thrown into an intense, high-profile murder trial. Some way to ease back into legal life.

Bosch is the detective who is investigating the murder of the lawyer. Haller first encounters him as he enters his inherited office to find Bosch poring over case files. He immediately kicks Bosch out of the office, but soon realizes that until the person who murdered his predecessor is caught he, too, might be in danger. This suspicion is heightened when, after working late in the office, he is attacked by a man in the parking garage – the same man that Bosch had shown him a picture of just a few days earlier. He ultimately teams up with Bosch to unmask the murderer.

So there are several mysteries here. Who murdered the lawyer? Why is Elliot adamant that there be no delay in the trial? Why is Bosch asking Haller about the FBI? All of these questions are nicely intertwined and completely resolved. I can’t say it is the most puzzling crime novel I have ever read as I correctly guessed the main culprit early on, but it moves along nicely and has more than the usual number of surprises.

The biggest problem, from a reading enjoyment perspective, is that Haller’s career reboot is ultimately not very successful. I found myself rooting for him and was disappointed that things did not work out so great. But such is life, I suppose. The lack of a nice, neat resolution makes the story all the more believable.

7 out of 10.

Copyright 2016 by Daniel Silva. Published by HarperCollins.

This is my first Daniel Silva novel. Unlike most of my reading material (mysteries), this is a novel of international intrigue and suspense. The protagonist is Gabriel Allon, an Israeli spy and assassin who is slated to become the next head of Israeli intelligence. But first he has one last operation to run in the field: insertion of an Israeli spy into the heart of ISIS.

Is becomes apparent in the first 50 pages, that this is one of a series of novels featuring Gabriel Allon. As I learned after finishing the book, it is one of a long series of novels featuring him: this is the 16th book in the series.

I was impressed with Silva’s skill as an author. He kept me interested, both with his characters and his plot. In part because so much came before, the oblique references to his history were somewhat lost on me. If I read more of this series I will start at #1.

The plot in this case was realistic: an ISIS plot to attack Washington DC and kill as many Americans as possible. The insertion of the spy – a female Israeli doctor of Palestinian heritage – into the heart of ISIS – was intended to discover plans for the next terrorist attack being planned by a shadowy ISIS leader named Saladin. The spy was successful in infiltrating ISIS but was not successful in preventing an attack. The result was harrowing. And sobering.

It wasn’t a fun book to read, probably because it was all too real and too possible. But I guess that is a tribute to Silva’s skill.

7.5 out of 10.

Copyright 2013 by Dan Brown. Published by Anchor Books, a division of Random House LLC.

This is the 4th book featuring Robert Langdon, the Harvard professor and expert in medieval symbols, the most famous being The DaVinci Code. The plot in this one is centered on a brilliant genetic scientist who is a big fan of Dante’s Divine Comedy and believes that the human race is on the brink of extinction due to overpopulation. His solution is to concoct a new plague that will “thin the herd.”  He wants to kill a third of the people on earth.

Initially Langdon’s role in thwarting this plot is unknown as he is, at the outset, suffering from amnesia.  He wakes up in a hospital room in Florence, Italy, with no recollection of the three days prior.  He remembers nothing after an evening walk across Harvard Yard.  He is apparently is involved in something serious as shortly after he regains consciousness a young woman shoots her way into his hospital room, killing a doctor.  Langdon barely escapes with his life in the company of another doctor, a young American named Sienna Brooks.

What follows is an epic chase, through Florence, Venice and Istanbul, with Langdon barely escaping numerous times from a black-clad group of assassins who are just one step behind.  This book has been made into a movie, apparently, and I can only imagine that it is one long, non-stop chase scene.

My objection to the book, initially, was that the chase was implausible.  A Harvard professor and a doctor successfully eluding a large team of assassins?  My other objection was that it reads like a chase scene through a Fodor travel book.  The chase visits all the great tourist sites of all three cities.  Yes, it did make me more interested in visiting all three cities, but great tourism seems tangential to a plot to kill billions.  My feeling, halfway through, was that Dan Brown must have been able to take some very long vacations in Europe and write it all off as “research.”

So two-thirds of the way through, my opinion of the book wasn’t very high.  But he saved up the best for the last third of the book.  Nothing is quite what it seems.  Unraveling what is going on – and who the bad guys are – becomes very engrossing.  He is a fine storyteller and he kept me guessing in this one.

After finishing the book I am left with just one complaint: that Langdon, despite being central to the plot, really doesn’t do anything to affect the outcome.  The result would have been the same if Langdon had never left Harvard.  But, still, the book was well-written and very thought-provoking.

8 out of 10.

Copyright 2012 by J.A. Jance. Published by HarperCollins, New York.

This is one of Jance’s mysteries featuring Joanna Brady, sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona. This is a long series – this is apparently the 15th – so it is very popular. Sheriff Brady is petite, so she isn’t capable of overpowering anyone like Jack Reacher or John Puller can do when necessary, but she is tough. She commands well and has a clear head about what needs to be done.

There are several plots here. The main one involves the murder of the principal of Bisbee High School, found in the desert with four gunshot wounds. This is followed the next day by the murder of a woman who is in charge of an artist conference and painting exhibition. What is the connection? Is there a connection?

The secondary plot involves the death of a copper miner many years before. This one ultimately involves the death of Joanna’s father who was once a miner who became sheriff. This is ancient history. This plot helps advance Joanna’s character and history, but smacks of being thrown in to give the book more weight.

I liked the characters in the book and think that Jance is a fine author. But the plot seems thin to me. The motive of the murderer (spoiler alert: the murders were committed by the same person) seems very thin, on the verge of unbelievable. The motive in the cold case is more believable but less central to the book. And in both cases the identities of the culprits were uncovered due to actions of outsiders rather than due to the diligence of the police. To me this makes the plot rather unsatisfying.

5 out of 10.