Crime Beat - Michael Connelly

Crime Beat
A Decade of Covering Cops and Killers
Michael Connelly
Little, Brown and Company

True Crime - Compilation

Michael Connelly, now a best-selling author of crime fiction, started out as a crime reporter. In both south Florida and Los Angeles, Connelly covered the crime beat. He saw every kind of crime, from the fascinating and intricate to the utterly banal and obvious. He dealt with beat cops, detectives, attorneys, investigators, victims and their families, and criminals of every stripe. It’s this background that infuses his fiction with realism.

Here, readers get a look at the work Connelly did before he began his Detective Harry Bosch series. And, if you’re looking for the next Harry Bosch novel, this isn’t it. You’re going to have to wait a few months for that. This is a collection of the articles and columns Connelly wrote as a reporter. It’s interesting to pick out the various little things that, perhaps, inspired various elements of his novels.

In the Introduction, Connelly tells the story of the single event in his young life, the one moment that set him on the path to crime writing. It’s the little moments that most inform his fictional events. While some of his novels were based on actual cases, some are amalgams of those little moments and the author’s imagination. Readers interested in becoming writers of fact or fiction can view this collection as a treasure trove of exemplars. Fans of Connelly will appreciate the chance to see the early days and evolution of the author.

Rating: 8
May 2006
Hardcover isbn# 0-316-15377-X

Rating Scale = 1-10