The Burning Room by Michael Connelly

As attentive readers will note, I have a lot of authors I like.  I have a lot of authors I like a lot.  But if pressed to name a favourite, I would usually say Michael Connelly.  I thoroughly enjoy the Harry Bosch novels and the Lincoln Lawyer novels.  Although I'm eager to get them as soon as they're released, I also want to hold onto them to build the anticipation and wait for just the right time to read them; when I can devote to them the attention they deserve.


I also find that I tend to read them almost too quickly, and very soon thereafter want to do a re-read.  I've enjoyed following Harry's progress through the role of private investigator (which I greatly enjoyed) and onto the cold case squad.  I've always felt, however, that it would be nice for Harry to have a true partner, so he doesn't feel like the last coyote.  I've been worried it was going to need to wait until his daughter was ready to join the force.


The Burning Room sees Harry teamed up with another new partner.  I liked Jed as a character, and while I can see Iggy and Chu as perhaps being representative of different types of cops, I never really warmed to them, and never really viewed them as partners with Harry.  (At least with Jerry I liked the partnership dynamic between them, even if Harry didn't view him as a true partner in detecting).  Kiz Rider falls into a bit of a different category. I always had a harder time putting my finger on her character.  I guess I couldn't picture her like I can picture most of the other characters in Mr. Connelly's novels, and similarly couldn't always perceive her motivations.  I liked her role in The Drop however, and thought it was a good way to provide some closure to that relationship.  I have never warmed to Rachel Walling, though I thought for a while that's where Mr. Connelly was leading Harry.  Eleanor Wish has been close to the type of partner I thought Harry needed; so has Nancy Mendenhall (had to look it up, but she was the professional standards investigator) from The Black Box, but based on their roles and relationships with the LAPD, neither would have worked as a partner for Harry. 


In The Burning Room, Harry's partner is Lucia Soto, and I really like her.  She's the first partner of Harry's that I've really enjoyed reading about to the point I'd be interested in seeing her own novel since Eleanor Wish. Lucia's character can still be fleshed out a little more (in some ways she seems perhaps like a female Harry), but it took a while for Harry to fully emerge as well, and I trust Mr. Connelly's patience in developing her.   The Burning Room sees Harry working on multiple cases at once, in a way that's very deftly handled from a plot perspective.  It's not unusual to see Harry working on, or running into multiple aspects of cases, but this is one of the more segmented investigations I recall.


I really enjoyed the ending.  I've been worried about Harry retiring, or moving on (and by extension, Mr. Connelly) since 9 Dragons, and I haven't felt like there's been a worthy successor to take over the series.  Mr. Connelly's relentless aging of the character has been getting me increasingly nervous, and I've felt the ticking of the clock just like Harry since The Drop.


This book finally brought to me a sense of relief.  I haven't been able to be comfortable with Harry being without a partner who understands his motivations and is driven by the same ones.  I think for closure, Harry needs a true partner in his mission.  With Lucia, I think Harry will be able to find someone that can carry on his mission in a way more meaningful than making it a campaign slogan.  I liked the way the book ended; I like where I think things will go.  I guess I could leave Harry here if I had to... but I'm looking forward to the next Michael Connelly novel anyway.