I can never sleep on planes. So if I have a long distance flight-more than four to six hours- it is essential to have book that can keep my interest! Recently on my return flight from Italy, I began reading The Waiting by Michael Connelly and from page one I was hooked! I like Connelly’s books to begin with but this book was especially captivating as it had several plot lines that kept intersecting throughout the book which it made it especially intriguing.

Renèe Ballard has been working at the LAPD’s Open-Unsolved Unit where they have been using genetic testing as one means of solving some of the most problematic unsolved cases. When a recent arrest of a 24 year old man triggers a DNA connection to an old crime that terrorized LA by the Pillowcase Rapist, it is clear that the DNA must be a familial connection and likely to be the father of the young man who was  arrested. But when Ballard and her team try to move in on the suspect they become mired in a web of lies, and some significant legal challenges.

To make things even more difficult, Ballard’s badge, gun and ID are stolen on the beach while she is surfing. Unable to report the theft because of in house politics and the inter agency jealousy that threatens her job, she calls on Harry Bosch, a former LAPD officer and her mentor  to help her find the culprits. Together they begin to suspect that a group of beach thieves is targeting surfers, but when they begin tracing some of the stolen goods, they stumble on to something even more sinister and dangerous.

Ballard also takes on a new volunteer- Harry’s daughter, Maddie Bosch, who is now a parol officer to her team. Maddie brings with her a new clue to one of the most iconic murders in LA history- the Black Dahlia murders, and Ballard, knowing how important a high profile arrest in such a case might be in proving her worth and the importance of the Open Unsolved Unit, puts her full team on the case.

Full of surprising twist and turns and layers of complexity, this is one of the most engrossing Connelly books I have read in a long time!

Brenda’s Rating: ***** (5 Out of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to Marian. Sharon and Ken

Book Study Worthy? Yes

Read in ebook format.