The Overlook
A Novel
by Michael Connelly

List Price: $7.99
Pages: 304
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780446401302
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

A body has been found on the overlook near Mulholland Drive. The victim, identified as Dr. Stanley Kent, has two bullet holes in the back of his head from what looks like an execution-style shooting. LAPD detective Harry Bosch is called out to investigate. It is the case he has been waiting for, his first since being recruited to the city's Homicide Special squad.

As soon as Bosch begins retracing Dr. Kent's steps, contradictions emerge. While Kent doesn't seem to have had ties to organized crime, he did have access to dangerous radioactive substances from just about every hospital in Los Angeles County. What begins as a routine homicide investigation opens up before Bosch into something much larger, more dangerous - and much more urgent.

Breaking in a new rookie partner and chasing his first fresh case in years, Bosch is soon in conflict not just with the LAPD brass but also with FBI hotshots who are convinced that the case is too important for the likes of the LAPD. Harry's onetime lover Rachel Walling is among the federal agents frantically working the case, making Bosch's job all the more complicated. Guarding one slim advantage, he relentlessly follows his own instincts, hoping they are still true enough to solve the crime - and to save all of Los Angeles from a deadly hazard.

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1. At the beginning of The Overlook, we discover that Detective Harry Bosch is now in Homicide Special, a part of the prestigious Robbery Homicide Division within the LAPD. Harry had been working open-unsolved cases in the last two books, The Closers and Echo Park. Given his motto, that everybody counts or nobody counts, does it really matter what division Harry is in?

2. In The Overlook, Harry is working with a new partner, Iggy Ferras. This was their first case together and it did not go smoothly. Do you think Harry is a good partner for a young detective to have? Do you believe that Iggy will stick it out with Harry?

3. Harry didn’t want to call his new partner by his nickname because he didn’t think the name matched the weight of the assignment and mission. What do you make of Harry’s reasoning? Did you notice when he finally called him Iggy?

4. Before working with him, FBI Agent Jack Brenner made a few calls about Harry Bosch. What do you think Rachel Walling would say about Harry if asked? What would his former partner, Jerry Edgar, say? Or Kizmin Rider? Or the Chief of Police? Or Irvin Irving? Or Eleanor Wish?

5. Harry kept some secrets from the FBI investigators in order to stay involved in the case. Did Harry’s attitude about working with the FBI help or hinder the solving of this case?

6. In The Overlook, the FBI believed that dangerous radioactive material was in the hands of terrorists who would use it against the city of Los Angeles—all based on the information and evidence provided by Alicia Kent. And Captain Hadley, of the Office of Homeland Security, stormed the home of a suspected terrorist sympathizer and killed him based on evidence that had been planted at the scene. Do you believe that the current climate of fear of terrorism in our country could be manipulated in this way by criminals?

7. The killers almost got away with the perfect crime. They assumed that the threat of a terrorist act would easily overwhelm the truth—that this murder was a classic case of a spouse killing a spouse over sex and money. Do you believe the killers would have successfully gotten away with the murder if the cesium had never been found in the Dumpster by Digoberto Gonzalves?

8. Harry Bosch’s relationship with FBI Agent Rachel Walling is strained at the beginning of The Overlook because of the incidents that occurred in Echo Park. She doesn’t seem to trust him to do the right thing. He had to work hard to earn her trust back. Where does their relationship stand at the end of this book?

9. Harry Bosch was exposed to radiation on this case and was having some physical problems at the end of the book. What are your predictions for Harry’s health in the future?

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