“The Crossing” by Michael Connelly – Cops and Lawyers; The Partnership

Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller are both rather well-known icons of the thriller world at this point, both operating on the same side of the law, but each one in their own respective domain. Harry Bosch is a detective while Mickey Haller is a defense attorney, the kind whose clients are rarely innocent.

The two don't cooperate more than need be, but in The Crossing by Michael Connelly, they are left no choice but to pool their forces to stop an innocent life from being wasted.

As the novel starts, we learn that Harry Bosch is actually no longer working for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), but nevertheless his half-brother Mickey Haller has the kind of complex task Harry can't help but sink his teeth in. Mickey's client, Da'Quan Foster, is accused of having beaten to death a woman named Alexandra Parks who worked as an assistant city manager in West Hollywood.

There are six weeks to spare until the trial, and Haller firmly believes that his client has in fact been set up, and truly is innocent for once. While Bosch certainly doesn't feel overjoyed at the idea of working alongside the lawyers he can't stand, he still can't let a miscarriage of justice occur, not at least without trying to do something about it.

Along with help of his former partner, Lucia Soto, they begin to dig up questions upon questions, eventually coming face-to-face with a large conspiracy, its participants wallowing in corruption, greed and brutality.

Though most of us may be used to seeing Bosch operate with the help of his badge, it is admittedly equally exciting to see what he can manage to do without one. Seeing him use his wits and experience to get people to talk and find the information he needs to is a real pleasure... after all his resourcefulness, has always been one of his greatest assets.

Him and Soto work rather quickly on the mystery, and contrary to previous works, the name(s) of the perpetrator(s) is/are revealed relatively early in the book. Rather than being a whodunit mystery, this is a story that places its focus on how Bosch and Haller are going to solve it.

While it does take some of the punch out of the plot and makes the climax tamer, it certainly is a welcome change of pace that provides a slightly different view on what we're used to seeing.

As far as Haller is concerned, his involvement in the book is somewhat minimal, and frankly a bit disappointing. We don't see him working his courtroom magic outside of the very beginning and the end, the area where he is arguably the most interesting.

More often than not, he is a receptacle for Bosch to speak into and explain himself, for the most part being distanced from the investigation. While they might both be present, this is definitely Bosch's show... which in itself isn't bad at all, especially considering this book is part of the Harry Bosch series, and not the Lincoln Lawyer.

While most of the pages are concentrated on the main case, there is definitely some interesting character development inserted here and there. We get to see how Bosch manages in a transitional stage of his life as he is out of a job and living alone, with his daughter having left for college, how his number one hobby remains catching killers, right after Jazz music and restoring his Harley Davidson. There may not be all that much of it, but it's always nice to get a bit more insight into the character's mind.

In conclusion, The Crossing may not be the best Bosch or Haller novel out there, but it certainly is an interesting one that tries some new things and ends up succeeding in delivering a captivating thriller that is worth adding to your collection.

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Michael Connelly Personal site Michael Connelly is perhaps one of the most popular modern writers, starting has career when he discovered Raymond Chandler’s writings at his university. To support himself, he worked at the local newspaper while specializing in crime, which shows in virtually all of his works touching on criminal subjects, such as The Black Box and The Lincoln Lawyer.