The Drop by Michael Connelly

 The cover tells me that Michael Connelly is also the author of The Lincoln Lawyer which is a best seller. His name appears before the title, the font for his name is the largest print on the cover, also indicating he is a best seller.  It states that he is a master at building suspense. This leads me to believe Connelly is known for mystery/ suspense/ adult/ genres.  The jacket is red with silhouettes of birds and palm leaves. I am under the impression the story takes place somewhere tropical. The jacket has a masculine appearance. 

 There is a complete summary of the plot found in the jacket. It also refers to the main character, Harry Bosch, as being the main character in a  series of books by this author. Comments by other authors and reviews are included. There is a brief history about Connelly that lists the previous best sellers he has written. The bio again makes  a reference to his best seller The Lincoln Lawyer.  I am only familiar with the movie The Lincoln Lawyer, which is based on Connelly's book. I am not familiar with him as an author. Based on what I read in the jacket, I think I would recommend reading the first book in the Harry Bosch series. 

I opened the book to chapter 8, the first letter of the first word is in a  large point and a different font than the rest. The typeface is probably about a 14 point font making it easy to read and line spacing is about 1.5. This book is most likely intended for an older audience. There are no captions or illustrations. Only one type is used.

The book is of moderate weight. It is approximately 9 ½ by 6 inches. It could be carried in your hand or a backpack, it is an average sized hardcover book. It opens easily.

The first chapter is descriptive. It describes the scene at the police precinct, introduces the main character along with his partner and two other people working there. It sets up one of the two cases Bosch will be working on according to the information on the jacket. I opened the book to chapter 23. It describes a scene at a restaurant and Bosch is with a woman he has just met. There is some drama, the story is written from the main character's point of view. He is a tough police detective, this book is definitely intended for an adult male audience. 

The book is fast paced. The sentences and chapters are short. The chapters start out  describing the scene and then quickly get to the linear plot. The ending is open, there will be an investigation about the way he handled a case. I am led to believe that another book in this story line is in the future.

The story background is minimal, there are references to his former partner, other people pop up that gave me the impression they are characters in previous Bosch storys. He offers enough information so I can understand the plot without boring someone who has read the other books. 

 This is a serious drama that focuses on events and action but the psychological aspect is certainly present.I think the biggest appeal factor is the integrity of the main character and his drive to solve crimes and get criminals off the street.

This genre is male adult, most likely for someone more mature,but any gender or age could enjoy it. In 30 seconds- it is about a police detective who works cold cases. He has a lot of integrity which gets him in some hot water with politicians. There are parts of his personal life thrown in and it is full of action and intrigue. The book is part of a series, I think it would be best to read the first book first but there is some back story. From what I read it explains quite a bit about the characters past. I would say Bosch’s character is almost fully developed but not quite. 

From the little I read and based on the information in the chapter Readers Authority, I would say this book is a good read and would recommend it to a patron who is looking for a crime drama, or just a book by a popular author. 

I picked up a book I had never seen or heard of in the library’s fiction section (not classified by genre.) 

The cover has the title in large script letters in different tones of orange. In the background there is a black-and-white photo of two young women standing back to back between large windows and sheer curtains. (At first glance, I thought it was the same girl in a mirror, but after reading inside the jacket I realize they are two of the main characters.)

There are about ten quotes by other authors on the back cover, most of them titled “New York Times bestselling author," the most familiar name to me is Mary Kubica, who writes psychological thrillers.

From the quotes and the inside blurbs I can tell that this is a fast-paced read and a family-based thriller about lies and relationships. (Words used: “heartbreaking page-turner,” “psychologically complex,” “suspenseful,” and “family drama.”)

The typeface is soft on the eye, one of the last pages informs me it is called Bembo. The font is rather large for this kind of hardcover. The chapters are short, there is also a lot of blank space within the chapters, and it seems dialogue heavy. The book is about 350 pages long, not too heavy, and stays open easily on a flat surface.

The two girls on the cover are cousins, Arden and Rory, college students who end up unconscious in the hospital after a fire. The plot seems to revolve around how Arden’s mother Natalie and Rory’s father Vince are trying to puzzle together what happened during the girls’ freshman year, up until the fire. The short chapters are all captioned Natalie, Arden or Rory, and the novel seems to be written from these three perspectives.

Natalie is the narrator in the first chapter and Arden in the last. There are other characters named in both chapters, such as Vince (the brother-in-law,) Natalie’s husband, and other male children of this family. One of the middle chapters involves the two girls at college with two males, Hunter and D.D. and discussions about providing them with Adderall (probably one of many secrets.) It is unclear if either of these male characters are the third party in the “love triangle” mentioned in the blurb. Spoiler alert: the last chapter has Arden waking up and referring to her last conversation with Rory as “a good goodbye.”

The category is: psychological mystery/thriller/drama about what lies do to family relationships. It seems to be a quick read, where uncovering the truth is what drives the plot. Having three female narrators suggests that the book is focused on women’s relationships. The dialogue seems light-hearted, but probably peppered with lies. As the author has been awarded awards for both thrillers and fiction, and there are elements of romance and mystery, the title seems to be a mix of genres.