It’s reassuring to pick up the latest book in a long-running series, especially when it’s Michael Connelly’s newest Harry Bosch. If you’ve been following a character’s exploits for any significant period of time, it’s like checking in with an old acquaintance, and getting an update on what’s happening in their corner of the world.
That’s certainly the case with The Drop, the chief plot points of which can be illuminated through a discussion of the title itself. There’s the literal drop/fall of an apparent suicide, which triggers much of the main action. There’s also the Deferred Retirement Option Plan, through which Bosch hopes to extend his tenure in the Open/Unsolved unit of the LAPD. Further, Bosch is falling more deeply in paternal love with his young daughter by the day, and may be falling in romantic love with one Dr. Hannah Stone, whom he meets after a surprising DNA match provides a new lead in a decades old cold case. Finally, there’s the drop down the metaphoric rabbit hole, as Bosch deals with the surreal nature of the world he inhabits, from the oddities of police bureaucracy to the horrors and sudden violence he confronts on the job.
Readers will vicariously experience similar feelings and emotions, as Connelly successfully strives to keep them off balance throughout. The sensation is only temporary, however, as the author’s sure-footed and psychologically incisive writing provides yet another solid, satisfying example of suspenseful and agile storytelling, delivered with his trademark tight style and craftsmanship.