{"id":3287,"date":"2025-01-02T13:47:28","date_gmt":"2025-01-02T20:47:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/?p=3287"},"modified":"2025-01-02T13:47:28","modified_gmt":"2025-01-02T20:47:28","slug":"bending-the-rules-for-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/?p=3287","title":{"rendered":"Bending the rules – for justice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bob Moyer starts our reading year off right with a review of the new novel from one of his (many) favorite authors.<\/p>\n

Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer<\/p>\n

THE WAITING. By Michael Connelly. Little, Brown. 403 pages. $30.<\/p>\n

Buy two, get one free<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>That\u2019s what happens when you get the latest Renee Ballard and Harry Bosch book. Of course, you know that at some point Lt. Ballard of the LAPD will have to bend some rules, and who better to help her than the master bender, who\u2019s been bending rules before she was a glint in someone\u2019s eye? Sure enough, someone steals her badge, and she can\u2019t report it without getting into trouble. She calls Harry Bosch after she finds out who bought the badge from the thief, and they hatch a plan. In setting it up, they uncover a plan so big they have to bring in the FBI \u2013 and work harder to get the badge.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Renee and her volunteer staff of the \u201clost souls\u201d or Open Case unit have come up with a solid lead on the Pillowcase Rapist Case from years ago. Currently, they are in what Tom Petty called The Waiting <\/em>\u2014 for DNA reports, witnesses to call back, the district attorney to decide to move, Renee\u2019s boss to approve expenses. \u2026 \u00a0 While they are tracking down clues, Renee gets a new volunteer for the unit, and the reader gets a bonus Bosch for their money \u2014 Maddie, Harry\u2019s daughter. She\u2019s a patrol cop for the LAPD, and wants to get the additional experience. She brings another badge, and her father\u2019s intensity. She also brings a trunk of photographs she got at a public storage auction. She thinks there\u2019s a link between the pictures and the most iconic case in LAPD history, the Black Dahlia murders. Comparing the photographs leads her and Renee to a possible solution to that crime.<\/p>\n

Connelly keeps us engaged by shifting back and forth among the plot lines. He gives us the procedural detail and then entertains us as Renee skirts the rules. As always, one of those shortcuts leads to a dangerous confrontation, this time with the Pillowcase Rapist. Renee\u2019s unorthodox ways also lead to the kind of justice Bosch always gave us, the kind that doesn\u2019t come from a court. Connelly gives a double-barreled blast for a finale, and leaves us with Renee Ballard about to head out of town. \u00a0Don\u2019t be surprised if the next book happens in Hawaii.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bob Moyer starts our reading year off right with a review of the new novel from one of his (many) favorite authors. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE WAITING. By Michael Connelly. Little, Brown. 403 pages. $30. Buy two, get one free That\u2019s what happens when you get the latest Renee Ballard and Harry Bosch […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3287"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3289,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3287\/revisions\/3289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}