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I don't usually read humour books, but I really enjoyed this. And even LOL'd a number of times. It's lighthearted... for the most part. But seeing as the major theme is grief (and how to deal with it), the eye-watering moments are inescapable. It's rather predictable, but not in a terrible way, which helps keep it lighthearted (and heartwarming) and makes it a gratifying read. The Crisis could have been more dire, so maybe closer to a 3.5, but rounding up.

I don't usually read humour books, but I really enjoyed this. And even LOL'd a number of times. It's lighthearted... for the most part. But seeing as the major theme is grief (and how to deal with it), the eye-watering moments are inescapable. It's rather predictable, but not in a terrible way, which helps keep it lighthearted (and heartwarming) and makes it a gratifying read. The Crisis could have been more dire, so maybe closer to a 3.5, but rounding up.

Moving review to the Review section

Too much detailing the minutiae of high-tech surveillance equipment, describing every action in setting it up, step-by-step motions in card tricks, etc.
The main premise (the protag's end game) is unrealistic and doesn't jibe with her moral character, even though she's uninteresting and unsympathetic. Also, there are no likable characters in the book. And the whole thing is all very predictable.
Was this the first novel Connelly wrote, then shelved for years, then his agent said "Hey, let's publish that thing."? Sure seems like it.

Another fine Harry Bosch story. Compelling, multi-layered plot.

Masterpiece. One of the best crime fiction novels ever written. An intricate epic with characters weaving in and out over the course of 4 decades. Read it slowly over time to appreciate and savour its scope.
A few hundred trigger warnings for the faint-hearted.

Putting aside the ridiculous premise on which this story begins, I never really cared about the protagonist. As a thriller, it wasn't very thrilling or compelling. Despite being on the run for nearly the entire book, I never felt he was truly in peril, and the climax was anything but. Meh. It felt like he wrote this to be an easy-to-digest Netflix limited series. Points for the entertaining banter from the FBI agents, who are tertiary characters.

I used to be a regular listener to Mark Dawson's podcast, but never read one of his books as I'm not a big fan of international assassin stories. His first foray into crime fiction was... ok. Not much of a mystery, as I kinda knew right away whodunnit. And you will too, should you read this. (You shouldn't.)

I didn't much care for the Holmesian, barely-on-the-spectrum protagonist. The whole pick-up-on-body-language-and-minor-particularities trope has been done to death over the past 20 years. And lots of cliches.

But I read it to the end, so there's that.

I liked the first 80% before it started testing the limits of my suspension of disbelief. Still enjoyable though. Alternate protags in the Bosch Universe have so far been fun.

I tried but I tired. A book needs a good story or great writing. Ideally both. This has neither.
I struggled to 60%, then decided not to punish myself any further.
DNF.

A quick read and a solid debut that deftly weaves in humour while tackling serious and relevant social issues. Two POVs were done well for the most part, but the main protagonist could be more developed and the secondary POV becomes really unsympathetic rather quickly. (As does the main protag, in fact, but for other reasons.)
It was clearly written with a screen adaptation in mind. Some bad dialogue and missed opportunities, and an unsatisfying ending, but still a fun read.