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The Narrows
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The Narrows
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The Narrows
Audiobook11 hours

The Narrows

Written by Richard Powers

Narrated by Len Cariou

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

FBI agent Rachel Walling finally gets the call she's dreaded for years, the one that tells her the Poet has surfaced. She has never forgotten the serial killer who wove lines of poetry in his hideous crimes—and apparently he has not forgotten her.

Former LAPD detective Harry Bosch gets a call, too—from the widow of an old friend. Her husband's death seems natural, but his ties to the hunt for the Poet make Bosch dig deep. Arriving at a derelict spot in the California desert where the feds are unearthing bodies, Bosch joins forces with Rachel. Now the two are at odds with the FBI...and squarely in the path of the Poet, who will lead them on a wicked ride out of the heat, through the narrows of evil, and into a darkness all his own...

LanguageEnglish
Release dateApr 1, 2005
ISBN9781594831744
Unavailable
The Narrows
Author

Richard Powers

Richard Powers is the author of thirteen novels. His most recent, The Overstory, won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. He is also the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and the National Book Award, and he has been a four-time National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. He lives in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.

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Reviews for The Narrows

Rating: 3.828330290150094 out of 5 stars
4/5

1,066 ratings38 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Always enjoyable Bosch.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    FBI agent Rachel Walling finally gets the call she's dreaded for years, the one that tells her the Poet has surfaced. She has never forgotten the serial killer who wove lines of poetry in his hideous crimes--and apparently he has not forgotten her.Former LAPD detective Harry Bosch gets a call, too--from the widow of an old friend. Her husband's death seems natural, but his ties to the hunt for the Poet make Bosch dig deep. Arriving at a derelict spot in the California desert where the feds are unearthing bodies, Bosch joins forces with Rachel. Now the two are at odds with the FBI...and squarely in the path of the Poet, who will lead them on a wicked ride out of the heat, through the narrows of evil, and into a darkness all his own...
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The Narrows is the tenth book in the Harry Bosch police procedural series. It was published in 2004 and is another excellent novel in the series. This one features two leading protagonists, Harry Bosch and Rachel Walling. The story splits back and forth between them until they join forces and go after the Poet together. Although Bosch and Walling met briefly before, this book features their getting to know each other and their burgeoning relationship. This book has a lot of detail rather than constant action and does contain a lot of theorizing and conjecture to get Bosch and Walling to the solution to the mystery.

    The Narrows in the title of the book refers to the concrete washes that run through the Los Angeles area containing what once were mighty rivers- at least during rainy season- and the idea that one should avoid at all costs the Narrows where the walls of the wash come in close and the mighty water rushes forth at breakneck speed.
    All in all, a terrific book and one of my favorites in the Bosch series.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Read Stephen King's book on writing and this was on the list of books that he likes to read. I must say that I enjoyed it thoroughly
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The Narrows is an adventure mystery that from the very beginning is well written. The characters are all believable. The storyline is believable. It takes place in Las Vegas and So Cal. Portions of the book are eerie. The serial killer's upbringing was sad and in no way justifies his pathetic existence. The book received five stars for all of the reasons listed above as well as being a very good story. It is highly recommended to a reader who appreciates a suspenseful well researched novel.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An excellent fast paced Bosch read. Get me off balanced w some vague foreshadowing but it kept me reading. Finished it in a few days. The suicide twist at the end was unnecessary however.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is another great one from Connelly. Harry Bosch's friend Terry McCaleb dies on his boat. Drops dead of a heart attack so it seems. But, it's not. Someone has diluted the medication Terry must take to prevent his heart transplant (Bloodwork) from rejection.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Boy, it's a whirlwind thinking back on these novels. When reading they just flow right along, but looking back you see just how much you went thru, how complicated and intriguing the stories are. The Poet shows up again, the FBI, and more!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Pretty by-the-numbers Bosch offering. No surprises or twists here. The parts of the book that were told from the perspective of characters other than Bosch were utterly superfluous. Reasonably entertaining but nowhere near as good as the likes of Trunk Music or Angels Flight. I will continue to read the series in order. Next up, the Closers.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Connelly's characters from other books get a chance to team up in the resolution of a case that started with The Poet. If you haven't read that, please do so first, and also before reading this review because it will contain spoilers for said previous volume.Rachel Walling, the FBI agent who was instrumental in determining that the serial killer known as The Poet was actually FBI Special Agent in Charge, Robert Backus. The ending of that book left it kind of ambiguous as to whether Backus was actually dead, and - surprise- he is not. He's begun a cat-and-mouse game with Rachel who will be assisted by our hero, Harry Bosch, in seeking Backus. I enjoy Rachel Walling as a character, but why does Connelly have to have her romantically involved with Harry here? She already had a romance with Jack in the first book that was a little ... unethical .. and this just cements that as part of her character. Dislike. Other than that, though, the book was good
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A Harry Bosch book that I somehow missed. At least I don’t think this is a reading. A clever return to the power saga. It’s it really over. As usual Harry’s insights are key to the story.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I have read so many books in the saga of Hieronymus Bosch, and I am thinking that this one may be the best! Foolishly, I read this before I have read The Poet, as this is a sequel; also, it is a sequel to Blood Work and A Darkness More Than Night, so I was up to speed therein. I once told the author that while Bosch was a great character, an even greater protagonist was the City of the Angels and that both of them held their own. But LA shares center stage here with the Mojave Desert, an area of natural beauty that fits in well inside the ravaged persona of Bosch himself. A personal oddity: (no spoilers here), but weeks ago I finished TC Boyle's Tortilla Curtain, and both books have similar endings! And speaking of endings, when the reader is done with this, pick up The Great Gatsby to compare its last paragraph with The Narrows. Well played, Mr Connelly!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This story moves Bosch along in his life, pointing out that he has struggles like the rest of us. Of course, he is stubborn and ill mannered as usual. It brings together people from past stories, giving the author a chance to tie up loose ends. In the end Bosch is back to square one.I did not like the mix of first and third person. Sometimes I stumbled when it changed direction. Enjoyed the visual imagery of disasters. The first half was slow but the second half went at full speed.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Harry Bosch (his actual first name is Hieronymous, like the famous painter) is a former LA homicide detective who sometimes works as a private investigator. The widow of a retired FBI profiler, Terry McCaleb, has asked him to look into her husband's death which was seemingly a failure of his transplanted heart. However, Terry's blood levels of the anti-rejection drugs he took faithfully up until his death are nil. The widow, and Harry, suspect someone murdered him. So Harry starts looking into the cases Terry was working on before his death (Terry kept doing profiling despite being retired). His investigation leads him into the middle of a current serial killer investigation going on in the desert between LA and Las Vegas. The serial killer is a former FBI agent nicknamed The Poet who was thought to have been killed years before. He forwarded information to the FBI to make sure they would find the bodies and involve the agent who was his supposed killer, Rachel Walling. Together, Bosch and Walling hope to finally bring The Poet to justice.I think some of Connelly's other works have been more suspenseful. Bosch is more laid back (although that is relative) and his relationships with others seem less intense. A few characters were developed for a while and then are dropped. I was never totally consumed with interest in this book but that doesn't mean I could have stopped reading it before the ending.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    this was the first book in the Bosch series where I felt somewhat lost due to reading the books in series order vs. publication order. I hadn't read the Poet and therefore didn't know Backus or Walling. I did know McCaleb though and was sad to see the way his story came to a resolution. The related case was an interesting read and I liked the overlap between Civilian Bosch and the FBI. And Maddie, can't not love Maddie and Eleanor even though I know the end for the latter is near.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It's hard to say exactly who the main protagonist of The Narrows actually is. The story intertwines three of the protagonists from Connelly's previous works: the inimitable, unstoppable Harry Bosch of some 10 previous books, the cold, analytical Rachel Walling of The Poet, and in the background, overshadowing all of the thoughts of the other two, is the insight and spirit of Terry McCaleb from Blood Work. Rachel Walling is called out of her FBI purgatory of the Dakotas because her ex-mentor/ex-boss and current serial killer dubbed "The Poet" is on the loose again and he's pulling the FBI's strings to force her into the case. Bosch, far away in LA, is called to investigate the suspicious death of Terry McCaleb. As he follows the clues that McCaleb left for him and as Rachel tries to piece together the hints left by her old mentor, their paths cross and they join forces to hunt down The Poet.

    I've always felt that Bosch was much more suited for PI work than police work, so it's a pleasure to see him in this role. I like Bosch, even though I find significant flaws in his character, I really appreciate that Connelly also sees the same flaws. My issue is that although Bosch himself recognizes these flaws, he never, ever learns from his mistakes. His tendency for cowboy justice repeatedly endangers others and often gets them killed, yet he never changes. However, as a PI, his tendency to bend the rules and flaunt authority seems more fitting. PI work also seems to have loosened him up; we get some incredibly entertaining moments when he thumbs his nose at authority, like drawing a smiley face in the dust on the top of his car so it can be seen by the FBI helicopter above. One of the touching complexities this story adds to Bosch's character is his struggles to be a good father to his newly found daughter. Of course, since this is a Bosch story, we get a "girl of the week," (which, although different in each book, is treated in the narration as The One. Ugh.) and I'll leave you to guess who that is. Of course, in this story, Bosch isn't the only protagonist; his first-person narration is interspersed with third-person narration from Rachel Walling's perspective. I don't like Rachel; somehow she seems cold and impersonal to me. I also don't understand her; after screwing up by sleeping with a person tangentially related to the case in her last story, her next logical step in this book is to hover for spoiler. Like Bosch, she has become cynical about authority and the trappings of authority, but her emotions are complexified by her desire to regain her previous role.

    As in The Poet, we also get narrative snippets from the perspective of the killer. They say it's good not to get too close to your heroes, and I guess the same thing is true of your villains.
    When I read The Poet I found the killer to be the absolute most terrifying character that Connelly created (except, perhaps, Bosch himself, but that's a another story for another time). The Poet was a person who reveled in control. He manipulated every situation he was in and controlled every action of his opponents effortlessly. The ultimate symbol of this was his use of hypnotism to force people at a much deeper level than simple physical force to do his will. He humiliated his victims and asserted his own supremacy in his every action: the rape, they hypnotism, the notes they were forced to write, everything. The Poet is a killer who kills for power, control, and a sense of status, and he's scary because he is so very good at manipulating people.

    The Poet in this story...just isn't. Rather than using the manipulation and psychological control that made him so scary in his first story, he's much more of a thug. A clever thug, yes, but still a thug who asserts power via brutality, threats, and violence. To me at least, that is far less scary than a man who can suborn the body's will from his unwilling victims. We've seen him defeated before. His return simply feels anticlimactic, like a performer taking another bow after an unenthused call for an encore. I thought it was interesting he didn't go after Jack and that he felt no need for revenge upon him. Yes, I know the real reason is that Connelly felt that Jack got too close to home and didn't want to write about him anymore. But one can also make a case psychologically; in The Poet, he has Jack completely under his control and power. The humiliation, the assertion of superiority, has already been performed. The only thing that saves Jack is Rachel, and maybe that's what's so haunting about The Poet: the killer won, made his point, "got" Jack even if he didn't finish the job.

    Overall, the story felt light to me; it didn't seem to touch on some of the powerful themes that some of Connelly's works such as The Concrete Blonde and Angel's Flight so eloquently struggled with, or the deep personal emotions that its narrator brought to The Poet. It also lacked the element of mystery, since the killer's identity is, for the most part, known from the outset. For all that, it is an enjoyable read. I adored the sequences of Bosch with his daughter, and this book provides some reconciliation between Bosch and the indomitable Kiz Rider, a favorite character of mine. Above all, it was fun to see Rachel and Bosch interact and lock horns.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It just doesn't work when you dilute Bosch with weaker characters. At least McCaleb's gone. Good riddance.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Loved this book!! This was one of my favorites thus far in the Harry Bosch series! I have read the newer books and now going back to read the earlier ones. FBI agent Rachel Walling is involved again as the Poet (serial killer)resurfaces. He is out to track her down once again.

    At the same time Former Former LAPD detective Harry Bosch gets a call, too--from the widow of an old friend. Her husband's death seems natural, but his ties to the hunt for the Poet make Bosch dig deep. Arriving at a derelict spot in the California desert where the feds are unearthing bodies, Bosch joins forces with Rachel. Now the two are at odds with the FBI...and squarely in the path of the Poet, who will lead them on a wicked ride out of the heat, through the narrows of evil, and into a darkness all his own.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Getting addicted to Michael Connelly. Harry Bosch is the best mystery/crime character since Travis McGee, IMO.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An otherwise excellent follow-up to "The Poet" was spoiled by the characterization of the FBI agent in charge, whose arrogant, abrasive, dim-witted personality may be Connelly trying to work out demons from his reporter past. He has Harry Bosch give a rather out of character critique of the Bureau as he's driving, which drives home the same point. Besides this distraction, a great page-turner.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Another great read by Michael Connelly love the Harry Bosch character.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    When I was younger I was a voracious reader of American crime fiction. I was introduced to the genre through my parents’ collection of Ed McBain’s books featuring Detective Steve Carella and his colleagues from the 87th Precinct, and I branched out from there, taking in the sudden explosion of feisty female private detectives, such as V. I Warshawski and Kinsey Milhone, while also continuing to enjoy the police procedural. At some point, however, perhaps around ten or fifteen years ago, I suddenly lost my taste for it, and went several years without even glancing at an American crime book. I don’t know why … there was certainly no conscious decision. I just gradually became aware that it was some years since I had ventured into the genre. A couple of years ago I found myself qualifying for a free book for my Kindle, but the selection on offer seemed rather meagre. I opted for Michael Connelly’s The Black Echo, more on a faux de mieux basis than from anything else. That proved to be a very lucky choice. That book was Connelly’s first, and introduced the character of Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch, the troubled and troubling LAPD detective. I was struck by the intensity of the writing, the authenticity of the scenes and the empathy and plausibility of Bosch himself. Since then I have been working my way through Connelly’s extensive canon, and finding that, even from such a strong starting point, each one seems to be even better than its predecessors. One of the characteristics of Connelly’s novels has been his tendency to cross-refer his novels to each other, introducing characters from one series into others, replicating the way that networks within the law enforcement community will overlap in real life. The Narrows includes an intriguing element of meta-fiction, too. One of the novels (which, as it happens, did not feature Bosch) was Blood Work, which introduced former FBI Special Agent Terry McCaleb who had been compelled to take early retirement following a heart transplant, and who would subsequently work alongside Bosch in a later novel. Blood Work was made into a film starring Clint Eastwood, which was in turn referred to throughout subsequent novels. The plot of The Narrows arises from the death of McCaleb, whose funeral had been attended by both Harry Bosch and Clint Eastwood.As in its predecessor, Lost Light, Harry Bosch is still in retirement, half-heartedly pursuing a career as a pribate investigator. In that capacity he is approached by Terry McCaleb’s widow and asked to investigate his death. This had initially been treated as a straightforward case of a death by natural causes, and one that was not unduly surprising given the context of his previous medical history. She had, however, established that his medication appeared to have been tampered with.Menawhile, the FBI is investigating the discovery of a collection of bodies of victims of a serial killer who may be ‘The Poet’, a murderer who had preyed on retired police officers several years ago, but who had been believed to be dead. The case is very sensitive for the Bureau as The Poet had turned out to be one of its own senior profilers. He had been identified and shot by Special Agent Rachel Walling, who had worked on occasion with Terry McCaleb and had also briefly encountered Bosch on an earlier case.Connelly weaves the stories together in a wholly convincing manner, and maintains the dramatic tension throughout. The narrative switches between first person accounts from Bosch (as in the last novel, Lost Light) and the more customary omniscient third person, which lends a sense of immediacy to the unfolding story.Once again, another very competent, entertaining and gripping thriller from Michael Connelly – the series still manages to go from strength to strength.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The Narrows
    3 Stars

    When an old friend dies suddenly, Harry Bosch is approached by the widow with evidence that her husband may have been murdered. As Harry delves deeper into the case, he finds a connection to a serial killer long believed to be dead. With the FBI reluctant to share information, Harry and disgraced agent, Rachel Walling, team up to uncover the truth.

    Series note: It is necessary to read The Poet first in order to understand the backstory.

    Like many of Connelly's books, the build up is rather slow as Harry follows the clues and collects evidence. However, everything ultimately comes together smoothly in the 2nd half and the last few chapters are action packed and exciting as Harry goes head to head with one of the most nefarious villains in Connelly's books.

    One problematic aspect is Connolly's decision to kill off a major character from previous books. Not only is the death quite shocking, but the final twist in the tale in disappointing as it undermines everything that this character has gone through in the past.

    On a final note, the alternating 1st person narrative for Harry and 3rd person narrative for other main characters is exceedingly distracting. This makes it difficult to listen to the audiobook despite Len Cariou's engaging narration.

    The next installment in the series has Harry once again returning to the LAPD as a cold case investigator, and I look forward to seeing him in his element once again.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Another great Connelly book. Interesting build at the beginning, slow at times in the middle, but very exciting towards the end. The Poet strikes again, but Rachel and Bosch respond accordingly. Full of mystery, suspense, and adventure. If you like the Bosch series you won't be disappointed with this one.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is actually the first Michael Connelly book I've read, so I had no previous history with Rachel Walling, Harry Bosch, or the Poet. The book is an easy read and goes quickly, I was pleased that even though I did not know the history of the characters, this book gives the basic backstory of "The Poet," so I wasn't entirely lost; that is, this book stands on its own and reading previous books isn't a prerequisite for enjoying this. Additionally, I found the amount of procedural information to be just about right; when I have read John Grisham novels in the past, I have felt his explanation of the legal system to be redundant and felt as if he was talking down to me, assuming I had no idea what a grand jury was and such. Not so with this. While Connelly does explain the shorthand terms the FBI agents use, it is not presented in a way to suggest he thinks the reader is an idiot.The story is well paced, the writing is not challenging but not insulting to my intelligence, an enjoyable read I could easily see translated into film. A nice quick detective thriller.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This novel didn't really work for me. I just think it's like a dozen other novels that I've read. It brings nothing new to the table. Novels about serial killers have become a dime a dozen. You would think we have hundreds of serial killers based on the proliferation of them in crime novels. The other thing that strikes me as trite is that the serial killer is a former FBI agent. I have seen this done so many times that it makes me yawn, not to mention that it's horribly unrealistic. To my knowledge I am not familiar with any real like police officers who were also serial killers yet thriller novelists treat this as a normal occurence. The plot was trite and dull. I would advise to skip this one.Carl Alves - author of Two For Eternity
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    not my favorite bosch but good - investigating Terry McCaleb's death for his wife and the Poet comes back.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Not one of my favorite Harry Bosch books. Not enough angst ... probably because no LAPD to contend with. Like seeing him interact with his newly discovered daughter. Looking forward to the next book when he's returned to the LAPD and I'm sure all its attendant problems.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Combines the stories of two Michael Connelly characters from different series. The whodunit from a previous book is back and now I know who he is, even before reading the previous book. Also, thanks to the helpful parenthtical remark of a LibraryThing subscriber, I know whodunit for this previous book. For shame! Again, while the story seems to be about seeing how a detective discover clues, there really is a mystery that the reader can solve.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a detective story. One of Connelly's Harry Bosch stories that overlaps with his other books, The Poet and The Scarecrow, which are the other Connelly books that I have read. This continues the story from The Poet, which you should read first. In The Poet, the killer gets away. Bosch gets into the thread of the story this time because of the death of a former colleague and friend of his, that his wife figures out was not from natural causes, but instead was caused by his medication being switched for shark cartilage. Bosch looks into it and it concludes that the Poet offed him because he was looking into a new string of killings in Nevada. The FBI agent from The Poet and The Scarecrow, Rachel Walling, teams up with Harry to track down Backus.It is a very fast paced story that sucks you in and you will not want to put the book down until the end.