Meaningless Rating: ***1/2
It's a warm Christmas night in the city of angels. LAPD Detective Harry Bosch is called out to a flea-bag motel. Fellow officer Calexico Moore has been found dead, his head painting the faded, smoke stained walls, the AC on full blast to slow the decomposition and delay the finding of his body. Moore's life was in shambles: his marriage was over, and he was under investigation by IA for selling a new street drug, the Black Ice referenced in the title. The department is quick to rule it a suicide, sweep the embarrassment under the rug. Except for Bosch. Something doesn't seem right, and he can give a damn about appearances and the reputation of the LAPD. His investigation takes him south of the border, putting him smack dab in the middle of a cartel power struggle, climaxing in yet another set piece worthy of an action movie.
I remember thinking when I first read this book that it was one of the weaker entries in the early part of the series; on re-read, I see it as one of the strongest. In the first novel, Bosch comes across as an over-zealous do-gooder. Yes, he does things his way, but he still follows the letter of the law. By the end of this second book, Connelly succesfully course corrects his hero, makes it clear that Bosch lives by his own code, his own sense of justice. Unfortunately, Connelly either doesn't see what makes his creation so interesting, or he lacks the will or talent to fully explore it. I think it's the latter. Connelly does attempt to tackle the morally gray nature of Bosch, yet it feels insufficient. I can't help but feeling it would be best not to explore Bosch's nature. The novels are more interesting when things are left ambiguous, when we're not tossed a cursory scene of Bosch wrestling with his demons so he doesn't scare away the mass market paperback crowd.
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