Friday, July 17, 2009

45. Chasing the Dime - Michael Connelly

Audiobook read by Jonathan Davis
8 cassettes/ 10.5 hours
Unabridged
Published 2002
Adult Murder Mystery
pbk 448 pgs.
Rating: 3.5

This wasn't a Harry Bosch mystery. I found it on cassette, cheap, at Bookmans, so I've been listening to it when I've been swimming, cassette recorder propped up beside the pool, trying to have it loud enough so that I can splash and swim and still hear it while not allowing any neighbors to hear it. Since it's about a dead prostitute and a website where her ads can be found - well, I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea about me....

Henry Pierce is a computer gee, who has created a cutting-edge business that is about to crack open the computerbiochip field. His girlfriend, Nicole, has broken up with him, so he has forlornly found an apartment in LA along with everything that comes with a move, including a new cell phone (now that I think of it, why wouldn't you keep your old cell number?) Oh well...this is where the mystery starts, because he keeps getting calls for "Lily" on his cellphone. Henry is curious and starts checking around, asking questions....Lily has disappeared. No one will answer many questions. He doesn't let it go, no matter how much trouble he gets into. And he digs himself in deeper and deeper until it looks like there's no way to get out - HE's going to be charged with her murder.

Many twists and turns later we come to a somewhat satisfying ending....or at least, all the questions seem to be answered. Even the questions that haunted me the most as I floated around the pool, why did he keep digging? Why didn't he get someone who knew what they were doing to help? Why was he so obsessed with these girls? Even that is answered. A few of the characters, especially his ex-girlfriend and his new assistant, didn't seem real, weren't developed enough for me. But it had a good intricate plot, which I love about Connelly. However, there's something about Harry Bosch that I couldn't find in Henry Pierce. Oh well, it's not a series, it's a stand-alone.

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