A Darkness More Than Night by Michael Connelly is a team up novel of 3 of Michael Connelly’s characters that have had their own books, Harry Bosch who has had 6 books so far (The Black Echo, The Black Ice, The Concrete Blonde, The Last Coyote, Trunk Music, and Angels Flight), Terry McCaleb was previously in Blood Work, and Jack McEvoy from The Poet. This is more of a Terry McCaleb book than Harry Bosch who is more of a supporting cast or Jack McEvoy who is like a guest star. A Darkness More Than Night is part procedural and part court room drama. The book is an interesting team up between Mc Caleb who sees the world more black and white and Bosch who sees the world more grey. The morality of the two is tested when all signs point to Harry Bosch having stepped over the line, and murdered a horrible person that escaped justice based on a technicality. The pace of the book is a little slow Terry McCaleb is a very detailed investigator and goes over stuff more than Bosch which slows down the pace, once Harry Bosch is involved the story moves faster. The ending was fairly satisfying. There’s a really good reveal at the end with some of Connelly’s best writing. Since this book is a team up I would recommend reading The Last Coyote, The Poet, and Blood Work to get you caught up on the characters both instances in the books are brought up. A Darkness More Than Night’s plot was used in Season 3 of Bosch the TV show on Amazon Prime. A Darkness More Than Night by Michael Connelly was published on March 1 2002 by Warner Books.
Plot Summary: Three Years After Terry McCaleb solved his last case in Blood Work he has continued to retire from the FBI and to police work in Catolina Island and has a charter business with Buddy and has a brand new baby. Jaye Winston who was a big help in solving the blood work case is stuck on a new case the murder of Gunn and needs a second set of eyes. Terry agrees and is struck the sight of a stuffed owl in the crime scene photo, even more curiouser when he looks at the crime scene in person it is missing. In Terry’s work one of the last people to see the deceased was Harry Bosch a detective Terry has worked with years ago when he was in the FBI, he knows Bosch is a good detective but often skirts the rules. Harry has been perusing the victim Gunn for years, and believes he escaped justice years earlier. Terry find the Owl and finds it is an omen to justice in a famous painter work Hieronymus Bosch which is Harry’s real name. Has Bosch stepped over the line too far.
What I Liked: The Dynamic of Terry and Harry being opposites the of law and order. I liked the Climax both the action and the court room battle. I liked the court room scenes especially the cross examination. The final confrontation between Terry and Harry is one of the best scenes that Connelly has written so far, such a good character review of Bosch. I liked the connection Terry and Bosch have with the name of Terry’s new born. I thought the research on the painter Hieronymus Bosch was really interesting with how it fit with the case. I like Harry admitting to a murder he feels deeply responsible for in The Last Coyote another person that was not a lover. I liked where the title quote comes from “A Darkness More Than Night”.
What I Disliked: Jack McEvoy was really different from his character in The Poet a reporter that would go to extreme lengths to report the truth, hardly digs on this case just accepts too much. I think his character wasn’t even needed at all. The slow pace at the beginning was really slow for a Connelly book. I really don’t like the way Terry treats Buddy, a guy that has always been there for him.
Recommendation: This book started off slow but has a really strong finish. This book is a better of the series and really ask good questions to the reader about which justice is right, where the criminal gets arrested but goes free or the one where the criminal gets murdered just like the crime he committed. The series is so great and have not read a bad book so far. This is my 9th Connelly book, as I’m reading the the Harry Bosch Universe order, and the series is so intriguing and has such great moments where it exceed the mystery genre. I give the Harry Bosch Universe series a 4 star rating out of 5 so far. I rated A Darkness More Than Night By Michael Connelly 4 out of 5. Harry Bosch Universe Book reading book order so far 1) the Black Echo, 2) The Black Ice, 3) The Concrete Blonde, 4) The Last Coyote, 5) The Poet, 6) Trunk Music, 7) Angels Flight, 8) Blood Work and A Darkness More Than Night. The order in which I rank them from best to worst is 1) The Poet, 2) Angels Flight, 3)Concrete Blonde, 4) The Black Ice, 5) A Darkness More Than Night, 6) Trunk Music, 7) The Last Coyote, 8) Blood Work, and 9) The Black Echo.
Reading with My Eyes 
I started reading Connelly back in 2017 when he introduced Renée Ballard into his series who eventually was paired with Harry Bosch. I’m a fan now, and read have read all his books since then, but not sure if I’ll go back to the beginning to catch up.
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