Michael Connelly's new novel, "The Waiting," is about (you guessed it) waiting. The novel alludes to the Tom Petty song:
The waiting is the hardest part;
Every day you see one more card.
You take it on faith; you take it to the heart.
The waiting is the hardest part.
A family has lost its pride and joy to a serial killer. Maddie Bosch seems to identify the serial killer (through luck). But the killer also happens to be the man responsible for the death of the Black Dahlia--the victim who ranks Number One among LA's famous victims. The DA can't stand the head of Maddie's division, for petty political reasons. If the DA gave Maddie "the win," this would really "smart." So the DA falsely claims that the evidence "isn't there." And a grieving family is wounded by this silliness.
At the same time, Maddie's colleague, Renee Ballard, is doing some waiting of her own. She knows that her mother abandoned her years ago. She doesn't know if her mother is now dead. (The mother may have been killed in Hawaii's recent fires.) Renee deploys a friend to research the whereabouts of Mystery Mom. As Renee anticipates the delivery of a news bulletin, she wonders if she ought to feel so invested, if this particular search is going to be "healthy" for her.
Michael Connelly is setting up Ballard to replace Harry Bosch (who also has a mythic "origin" story). It's amazing that Connelly is still generating exciting ideas; he has written so many novels, and yet he still has "quality control" in mind. What I love about Ballard is just that she is a worker, assessing personalities, trying to do her job in impossible situations. Connelly seems to have insider knowledge about police work. (For example, Connelly includes a fascinating digression about "ear comparison" studies, and whether or not these studies are valid.) It's fun to learn about another person's job; whatever field we're in, we're all making judgment calls and questioning our own decisions. I don't carry Renee Ballard's stress, but I feel like I know and understand her.
Two thumbs up.
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