Customer Reviews
as gripping as ever - By: P. SACRE, 08 Apr 2008 
I have read alll his books & hesitated getting this one based on alll the negative reviews this site & others have. So I started reading with apprehension. And then time warped, hours went by & I read it in one sitting. This is admittedly a straight, no frills, Harry Bosch tale, but it does the job of hooking you with a good suspense as usual with Michael. This is a very well told story, with a good final twist, very entertaining as it should be under the Connelly name. For me it is NOT a dud like the previous reviews said. I loved it, thanks Michael
A bad Harry Bosch - gulp - By: J. A. Harrison, 25 Mar 2008 
Echo Park, the last Bosch novel, was great, but the Overlook is seriously bad.
The 'crime' is plain silly; the denouement stretches credibility too far; Bosch is almost completely anonymous throughout and, most annoyingly, seems Hell bent in getting in the way of the FBI - who are investigating terrorism - for no good reason except cussedness.
This reallly is not what we have come to expect from Bosch novels. I feel let down having burbled on to everyone I know about how wonderful Michael Connelly is.
It's not wrist-slittingly bad, but it just soooo inferior to any other Harry Bosch novel that I would think very seriously about buying the next Bosch opus.
I see this started life as a newspaper serial. It should have stayed there.
Not what we were used to but still very readable - By: J. Potter, 28 Feb 2008 
Michael Connelly used to write intricately detailed crime novels. But these days he seems to be producing paint by numbers thrillers. That is not to say his books are not very readable, they are just not the experience they used to be.
Take for instance Bosch: Connelly's defining character. Bosch used to be soulful & driven in a way that leapt off the page - with his deliberation & dilemma of life appealing to the reader as much as the intricate weaving of plot. But these days Bosch starts at the beginning & heads straight for the finish line, hitting key markers along the way, but not giving us what we have previously come to love as a Bosch novel - we don't get soulful.
Here Bosch freshly reinstated to homicide gets an eagerly anticipated calll in the middle of the night. Which seems to be about a bunch of Islamic terrorists stealing radioactive material with which to fuel a war on terror. And onwards Bosch goes relentlessly chasing down the murder at the investigations core while local FBI, media & bureaucracy tarry at the coalface of terror.
Which is the welcome angle to this novel as Connelly takes a rare opportunity to turn Americana in on itself. Revealing the frustration many Americans now have with being fed sound bytes in the name of war. But that is where the appeal ends I am afraid. For an author that is generallly considered to have written the best opening sentence to any crime novel - ever (The Poet) this is entertaining, but a longways short of what we were used to.
Give this book a break. - By: noggy1810, 27 Feb 2008 
I am a big fan of Michael Connelly & Harry Bosch & was expecting this book to be dreadful from the reviews on this site. This is a very good crime fiction novel with a fast pace, great dialogue & plenty of twists & turns. Perhaps it is not as good as other Connelly novels but that is comparing it to the very best. If you like the Bosch series then this will not disappoint. Entertainment from start to finish.
Another Connelly Masterpiece... - By: Sarah Gooding, 07 Feb 2008 I've just finished reading The Overlook, & found it an extremely riveting story with a believable plot & charactors. While writing this review, I would also highly recommend The Constantine Legacy by Andrew Towning.
