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The Waiting

By: Michael Connelly
Narrated by: Christine Lakin, Titus Welliver, Madison Lintz
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Publisher's summary

LAPD Detective Renée Ballard tracks a serial rapist whose trail has gone cold, and enlists a new volunteer to the Open-Unsolved Unit: Patrol Officer Maddie Bosch, Harry’s daughter.

Renée Ballard and the LAPD’s Open-Unsolved Unit get a hot shot DNA connection between a recently arrested man and a serial rapist and murderer who went quiet twenty years ago. The arrested man is only twenty-four, so the genetic link must be familial: His father was the Pillowcase Rapist, responsible for a five-year reign of terror in the city of angels. But when Ballard and her team move in on their suspect, they encounter a baffling web of secrets and legal hurdles.

Meanwhile, Ballard’s badge, gun, and ID are stolen—a theft she can’t report without giving her enemies in the department ammunition to end her career as a detective. She works the burglary alone, but her mission draws her into unexpected danger. With no choice but to go outside the department for help, she knocks on the door of Harry Bosch.

At the same time, Ballard takes on a new volunteer to the cold case unit: Bosch’s daughter Maddie, now a patrol officer. But Maddie has an ulterior motive for getting access to the city’s library of lost souls—a case that may be the most iconic in the city’s history. Complex, satisfying, and full of dexterous twists, The Waiting demonstrates once more that “you can’t do better than Michael Connelly” (Forbes).

©2024 Michael Connelly (P)2024 Little, Brown & Company
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Critic reviews

“A Hawaiian coda provides the best news of all: This distinguished series has plenty of miles to go. Aloha, and hooray.”—Kirkus Reviews

What listeners say about The Waiting

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Pretty good but too much Ballard, not enough Bosch.

I loved all of the Bosch books but have cooled since introducing Renee Ballard, who, to me, is a pretty flat character. Bosch has more nuance, more backstory, more dimension.

The plot line for The Waiting is intriguing and I appreciated the revisiting of the Black Dahlia but in a new way - more about her death than about her life, which has been the subject of countless (read Too Many) TV shows, books and movies.

The reader could follow the trail picked up on the outside edge of a spiral and watch as that thread marched slowly inward, closing on suspects, eliminating some and highlighting others. The character of Colleen was annoying - so annoying, in fact, you just knew she would play a significant role in the case’s outcome.

The hand-off from Harry to Maddie isn’t successful for me. Harry’s world-weary determination simply can’t be replaced by Maddie’s junior detective work. She’s fine in a minor role but has not got anywhere near enough gravitas to hold interest as a cop or investigator.

Connelly always sets the scene in a way you can smell, hear, see and even taste the characters and the ambience. Those details bring a richness which I love to his stories.

I liked the book quite well but I kept wishing Harry Bosch was front and center throughout and that didn’t happen. Having Titus Welliver do the narration is great. To me, he is the gravelly, wounded but ever-brilliant voice of Harry Bosch.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Ready for Maddie Bosch series

Ready for more books featuring Maddie and development of her character. Ballard is great character and can’t wait for her to cross-over with a Lincoln Lawyer story

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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The Waiting

For the first third to half of the book, I thought I had heard it, even though it’s newly released. Connelly is seemingly reaching back to his last novel for a lot of this. Readers were good, and ultimately there was an in tree wresting premise and follow through.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Great story

I love the developing relationship between Renee Ballard and Maddie Bosch. Great story well told by Michael Connolly once again.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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One of Connolly’s best

Outstanding in all phases of audio book listening. Couldn’t stop! Looking forward to more Ballard and Maddie stories. Narration was superb

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  • Overall
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Excellent

The angst behind a great police procedural is in the hands of a master storyteller.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

The Defender

A good read, well performed a little less convoluted than the "Bosch" books. Just for fun count the number of times Renee's "Defender" (Land Rover) is mentioned in what must be an epic product placement arrangement!!
PS. Connelly's take on the J6 knuckle-draggers is right on!!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Believable Story

Detective Ballard and Maddie Bosch make a wonderful pair. Harry Bosch is still and always will be My Man!

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  • Overall
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Better than usual.

There was a lot going on with the plot, and it was for the best. Rene was clearly in the forefront, and Maddie played a big supporting role. Some genuine surprises

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Love Ballard and Bosch combo

Great story. Twists and turns and well woven. Looking forward to more. Cannot wait for continued story line success.

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