The Black Echo
The Black Echo is the 1992 debut novel by American crime author Michael Connelly. It is the first book in Connelly's Bosch series. The book won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for "Best First Novel" in 1992.[1]
 First edition cover | |
| Author | Michael Connelly |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English language |
| Series | Harry Bosch |
| Genre | Crime novel |
| Publisher | Little, Brown and Company |
Publication date | January 21, 1992 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover, Paperback) [digital] |
| ISBN | 0-316-15361-3 |
| Followed by | The Black Ice |
Plot
The novel centers on Harry Bosch, a Vietnam veteran who served as a "tunnel rat" (nicknamed Hari Kari Bosch), with the 1st Infantry Division — a specialized soldier whose job it was to go into the maze of tunnels used as barracks, hospitals, and on some occasions, morgues, by the Vietcong and North Vietnamese Army.[2] After the war Bosch became an L. A. police detective advancing to the Robbery-Homicide Division. However, after killing the main suspect in the "Dollmaker" serial killings, Bosch is demoted to "Hollywood Division" homicide, where he partners with Jerry Edgar. The death of Billy Meadows, a friend and fellow "tunnel rat" from the war, attracts Bosch's interest, especially when he determines that it may have been connected to a spectacular bank robbery using tunnels. Bosch suspects that the robbers were after more than money and he then partners with the FBI, in particular agent Eleanor Wish, in an attempt to foil their next attack.
Season 3 of the Amazon series, Bosch, is loosely adapted from this novel. After Harry captures a suspect, Detective Bosch tells him "I will make sure you spend the rest of your life in the black echo."
Awards
The Black Echo won the 1993 Edgar Award for "Best First Novel" and was also nominated for the Anthony Award in the same category and the Dilys Award for "Best Novel".[3][4][5]
References
- "Questions For... Michael Connelly". The New York Times. October 3, 2006. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
- Michael Connelly, The Black Echo, Little, Brown and Company, 1992, page 88.
- "Best First Mystery Novel by an American Author Edgar Award Winners and Nominees - Complete Lists". Mysterynet.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-14. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
- "Bouchercon World Mystery Convention : Anthony Award Nominees and Winners". Bouchercon.info. 2003-10-02. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
- "The Dilys Award - (Imba)". Mysterybooksellers.com. 2012-03-31. Archived from the original on 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2012-04-30.