The Late Show
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4.2 • 312 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Classic Connelly #5: The book that introduced the dauntless Renee Ballard to the world.
Young LAPD detective Renee Ballard has been relegated to the 'Late Show' after filing a sexual harassment complaint against her supervisor. Working in a twilight world of tragedy and violence, Ballard never gets closure, each morning forced to turn her cases over to the day shift detectives.
But one night she's called out to a brutal assault and then to a multiple murder, and she's determined not to relinquish these cases at dawn.
Working by day while maintaining her shift by night against orders and her own partner's wishes Ballard finds herself drawn deep into the dark heart of her city, her department and her past ...
'The Late Show introduces a terrific female character: Detective Renee Ballard ... this new star is a beauty ... Ballard is complicated and driven enough to sustain the series Connelly doubtless has in mind for her. Connelly writes passionately about, and captures especially well here, the detective's high when the pieces of a puzzle fall into place.' - New York Times
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.
The late show
Loved it hard to put down.
Not a fan of new detective
Sometimes I think authors try too hard to create characters. I found Renee unbelievable and unlikeable. Her lifestyle is just too weird. I prefer the old Bosch stories.