The Black Echo.

The Black Echo, by Michael Connelly

My Dad gave me a most of a series that he's been reading for me to read as well. The difference between my Dad and me is that I have to read the series in order, and he doesn't. This book was not included in the bundle, as he'd borrowed it from another library while on vacation, and so I got it from my local library. 

This book is definitely an adult selection. Were this book to have a warning label, it would be labeled for violence, language, and mature content. The star of the book, and of the series (this is book one), is Harry Bosch. He is a vietnam war veteran and a homicide detective in the Hollywood division of LAPD. He is a very complex and well-crafted character, as are all the characters in the novel, including the victims. He is not the perfect hero as he has significant failings, flaws, and vices. The reader is asked to overlook these, with the commendation that he is extremely good at his job, and indeed it is easy to overlook them.

In this novel, Harry finds an old acquanitance from Vietnam dead in a tunnel. At first glance it looks like an overdose, but Harry suspects more is at stake. He digs in, despite resistence, and uncovers, well, many interesting things. I can't say much more without revealing the good stuff, but I can say that if you like detective novels, this is a great read. While it's not a slow read, there are many seemingly inconsequential points that don't pull together until the final quarter of the mystery.

Impossible.

Impossible, by Nancy Werlin

Call to mind the song, Scarborough Fair. The lyrics, apart from the beautiful melody, are a bit strange, aren't they?

Take this verse for example: (Thanks Wikipedia!)

Tell him (her) to make me a cambric shirt,

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,

Without a seam or needle work,

Then (s)he'll be a true love of mine.

A seemingly impossible task is set before the singer's love. That thought, and the reasons behind the song, were the inspiration for this book. Lucy, the seventeen year old whom the story follows, is forced to attempt the completion of all the tasks listed in the song, (in her family's version of it, the author took a few liberties to shorten and amend the better known versions out there) or become slave to the fae who cursed her family generations before.  

 This is not a gentle book. Lucy is emotionally tortured, her mother has been insane since Lucy's birth, and there is a rape. I was honestly shocked when I found out this was considered a teen book, well after I'd read it. I would personally call it adult fiction, and would not recommend it to the average teen. It is, however a very good book, in my opinion. Despite the overwhelming amount of frenzied darkness that is in this book, that Lucy is asked to face, there is also small but strong undercurrent of hope running throughout. It is as enchanting as it is haunting. Overall, this is a book I'm continually drawn back to read again.