Michael Connelly cranks out one to two mysteries per year and they are some of the best detective/police procedurals being written today. I’ve read everything he’s written and it is almost always a fun ride following along behind Connelly’s protagonists. His longest standing and most popular character is LA Police detective Heironymous (Harry) Bosch. If you take Amazon Prime then you will note that several seasons of Harry Bosch serials are available for your viewing, and they are done very well…
I usually wait about a year after the book is published so I can get a good deal buying one used off of Amazon and snatched this one up a few weeks ago… the problem I have is that because Connelly’s books are usually such page turners they do not last long on the nightstand so while I read them I fret about what to read next. In my house I have a queue of books waiting, but it’s the choice I wrestle with… Sometimes a book that I’ve acquired will be read right away, but others may languish for months or years before they are gotten to. The Connelly books never wait very long… like excellent customers, they move to the front of the line…
Having zoomed through the Harry Bosch story pictured above in short order, I am now involved with Caleb Carr’s The Angel of Darkness, which is a sequel to The Alienist. Both books take place in the late 1800’s and involve Lazlo Kreizler psychologist & criminal profiler who hunts serial killers. I read The Alienist several years ago, really enjoyed it and while reading it grabbed a used copy of the The Angel of Darkness; however for whatever reason, the second book languished on a shelf for years. Perhaps I was saving it because I knew that there were no more Lazlo Kreizler books in the works.
Nevertheless, two things occurred that led me to pick up and start reading The Angel of Darkness. First, I discovered that Caleb Carr was indeed planning to publish a new Kreizler story! And secondly, I started watching the TNT TV series based on The Alienist.
I was aware that there was a TV treatment of The Alienist; however, I did not have access to a streaming version of it and I find watching a fixed scheduled TV series anathema nowadays; however, the television landscape has changed much for the better in my home as of last week.
First a bit of background. As you are all aware, Cable TV subscriptions are terribly expensive and the ONLY reason I subscribe to Cable TV is to watch my beloved UNC Tar Heels basketball team during the season. Well, much to my despair, I learned that the new ACC Network that would carry UNC games in the future would not be supported by my Cable supplier Mediacom and when I queried them about this, they were a combination of oblivious and unapologetic!
So, I dumped cable, purchased an Apple TV and a subscription to Hulu+ and now have access to the Tar Heels again. The transition away from cable went incredibly smooth and is saving money too! I am wondering why it took me so long to do this!
I also have access to a bunch of other stuff on Hulu, including a streaming version of The Alienist and after watching an episode or two, I decided it was time to dust off The Angel of Darkness and read it… so there you have it…
PS… Caleb Carr is an excellent writer and I look forward to The Alienist at Armageddon!
It might move to the front of the line…