The Dark Hours

By: Michael Connelly

Narrated by: Titus Welliver, Christine Lakin

A Wall Street Journal and South Florida Sun-Sentinel Best Book of the Year

“A masterpiece” - LAPD detective Renée Ballard must join forces with Harry Bosch to find justice in a city scarred by fear and social unrest after a methodical killer strikes on New Year’s Eve (Publishers Weekly).

There’s chaos in Hollywood at the end of the New Year’s Eve countdown. Working her graveyard shift, LAPD detective Renée Ballard waits out the traditional rain of lead as hundreds of revelers shoot their guns into the air. Only minutes after midnight, Ballard is called to a scene where a hardworking auto shop owner has been fatally hit by a bullet in the middle of a crowded street party.

Ballard quickly determines that the deadly bullet could not have fallen from the sky and that it is linked to another unsolved murder - a case at one time worked by Detective Harry Bosch. At the same time, Ballard hunts a fiendish pair of serial rapists, the Midnight Men, who have been terrorizing women and leaving no trace.

Determined to solve both cases, Ballard feels like she is constantly running uphill in a police department indelibly changed by the pandemic and recent social unrest. It is a department so hampered by inertia and low morale that Ballard must go outside to the one detective she can count on: Harry Bosch. But as the two inexorable detectives work together to find out where old and new cases intersect, they must constantly look over their shoulders. The brutal predators they are tracking are ready to kill to keep their secrets hidden.

Unfolding with unstoppable drive and nail-biting intrigue, The Dark Hours shows that “relentless on their own, Ballard’s and Bosch’s combined skills … could be combustible” (Los Angeles Times).

©2021 Michael Connelly (P)2021 Hachette Audio

I hate for it to end!

I eagerly await Michael Connelly books, listen compulsively, and hate for them to end. Michael Connelly, if you ever read the reviews, may I ask that you emulate Herman Wouk and give your reader/listeners a really L-O-N-G book? Thanks for all the great characters and engaging stories.

Rene Ballard and Harry Bosch

Another Michael Connelly classic featuring Detective Rene Ballard and retired Detective Harry Bosch. Don’t miss it!

Loved it

Hard to stop listening to
Narrative well done
Love the combo of these two together

Loved it!

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It was a realistic view of 2020 and the effects of COVID and the protests. To try and minimize and gloss these events over would not do this book justice. I do not mind the separate voices because I am used to dual narrators so it's not a deal-breaker for me. My only "real" issue is that there wasn't enough Harry but I am happy to see that the next book will have a lot more of Harry Bosch in it. I've enjoyed all of Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch books over the years and he has not disappointed me with this one.

Needs a TRIGGER WARNING!!!

Yeah, so…I start listening, anxiously waiting for a New Bosch/Ballard story.
Then, WHAM, a rape, a graphic rape.
I happen to be a female, Navy Veteran with MST, Military Sexual Trauma, PTSD. Had to stop and wait until my husband got home, to feel safe.
I was able to continue but with difficulty.
It’s another great story and had there been any mention of rape in the synopsis, I would have prepared myself. I have developed many coping mechanisms, I function quite well, with warning.
All that said, it is mostly a Ballard story but it is oh so nice, to hear Titus Welliver as Harry Bosch. Wonderful, soothing voice.

edge of your seat, fun listen

enjoyed this book a ton. I didn't realize how woke the author was until this book. he lives in a sad fantasy world where everyone is racist and sexist. he made a huge deal out of covid and masks in this book. January 6th was treated as it should be, a terrible part of the history of our nation. but the riots were passed over because they're left wing.

it was interesting, and some people really do have this warped, woke perspective.

it didn't make the book unreadable. the story was still captivating. he did a good job building suspense.

I just wish I could get some entertainment without woke garbage and talking points.

but this one was entertaining and worth a read.

just don't call it a Bosch novel.

it was a good solid story. Harry Bosch played such a small part, it can't be called a Bosch story.

Bosch and Ballard Make A Good Team—More Bosch

Sometimes it seemed that Detective Rene Ballard was trying to push the envelope to the very edge beyond what a LAPD officer could do. Then she finally did. This is an interesting storyline with several paths going in different directions. The main one is trying to find the rapists who have now struck 3 times. Ballard is sure there is a pattern but she can’t see it. She calls Bosch to help her set a trap. He doesn’t like it. It’s too dangerous for Ballard but she insists. So, he backs her but no one can know he is involved because he is retired. It seems Connelly isn’t sure what to do with Bosch now that he has retired. The last few books have him helping Ballard with some difficult investigations but even these are off book. As long as Connelly writes the book, I’ll read it. The narrator for Bosch, Titus Welliver, has become Bosch in every way, even playing the character in the Prime Video. Christine Lakin is newer to the narration game but she is an excellent narrator.

Dark Hours

Another hard hitting mystery about Bosch and Ballard. Excellent story. Great reading. Hope to see another.

Best B&B Yet! More Please!

I am biased because I love everything Connelly...but this was simply ex cel ent!