The Late Show
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4.3 • 405 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A pulse-pounding thriller, introducing a driven young detective trying to prove herself in the LAPD.
'Excellent series launch ... What follows is classic Connelly: a master class of LAPD internal politics and culture, good old-fashioned detective work, and state-of-the-art forensic science - plus a protagonist who's smart, relentless, and reflective ... once again, he delivers.' - starred review in Publishers Weekly
Los Angeles can be a dangerous city - never more so than in the dead of night.
Renee Ballard works the night shift at the LAPD in Hollywood, beginning many investigations but finishing none as each morning she turns her cases over to day shift detectives. A once up-and-coming detective, she's been given this beat as punishment after filing a sexual harassment complaint against a supervisor.
But one night she catches two cases she doesn't want to part with: the brutal beating of a prostitute left for dead in a parking lot and the killing of a young woman in a nightclub shooting. Ballard is determined not to give up at dawn. Against orders and her own partner's wishes, she works both cases by day while maintaining her shift by night.
As the cases entwine, they pull her closer to her own demons and the reason she won't give up her job - no matter what the department throws at her.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
We’d bet that Michael Connelly—creator of veteran Los Angeles detective Hieronymus Bosch—counts Midas as a distant relative. His romping police procedural The Late Show—a timely reimagining of the hardboiled detective novel—really is pure gold. After being relegated to the Los Angeles Police Department's night shift, tenacious investigator Renée Ballard stumbles upon three intertwining cases that force her to fight institutionalised dirty politics and rampant gender inequality while trying to get justice for female victims. Equal parts emotional and technical, this masterfully crafted novel owes its magnetic qualities to its offbeat, delightfully flawed heroine.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The title of this excellent series launch from bestseller Connelly (The Wrong Side of Goodbye and 20 other Harry Bosch novels) refers to the midnight shift at LAPD's Hollywood Division. Det. Ren e Ballard has landed there in retribution for filing sexual harassment charges against her former boss, Lt. Robert Olivas. Two major crimes soon concern Ballard: the vicious beating of a woman, who says she was assaulted in the "upside-down house" but passes out before she can explain, and a nightclub shooting that kills five people. Though most "late show" cops hand off cases to their day shift counterparts, Ballard personally investigates the assault (with official approval) and the nightclub shooting (without). Olivas, who's leading the latter investigation, wants her nowhere near the case. What follows is classic Connelly: a master class of LAPD internal politics and culture, good old-fashioned detective work, and state-of-the-art forensic science plus a protagonist who's smart, relentless, and reflective. Talking about the perpetrator of the assault, Ballard says, "This is big evil out there." That's Connelly's great theme, and, once again, he delivers.
Customer Reviews
Great pace, ties it up beautifully in the end
Michael Connelly may not know anything about surfing, but putting that aside he sure writes well. Very readable, great story pacing, engaging plot, some fascinating details. I love that he’s found a niche inside the police bureaucracy for a driven detective to be self directed to pursue her own investigations without really reporting to anyone... with enough experience to know how to cover her six. I’ll definitely be back for the next instalment. As ever Connelly’s characters are pretty much all business, whilst they can be admired or respected they also tend to be humourless. I have become accustomed to his characterisations, however it prevents me from really warming to his central characters.
Love the late night police work
Love Michael Connelly! Missed reading this book when it came out and love the Renee Ballard character. A real page turner that didn’t disappoint!
Gripping
Read it one day. Thrilling and unputdownable.