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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Some
Moderate violence — a child's murder; the investigation; some confrontations
Language
Some
Moderate profanity
Sexual Content
Barely any
Mild — some adult situations
Substance Use
Barely any
Mild — Bosch's drinking
Emotional Intensity
A lot
A child no one protected — the boy's story and who failed him; the cold case investigation and what it cost; Bosch's emotional response to child victims
What this book is about
A dog leads its owner to bones on a hillside in Laurel Canyon. The bones are a child's — a boy murdered more than twenty years ago. Harry Bosch investigates both the historical crime and the family it destroyed. City of Bones is the eighth Harry Bosch novel — quieter than some of the earlier books; the emotional center is a child no one protected.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
A child murdered twenty years ago — the emotional weight persists
A cold case investigation — tracing what happened and who knew
Bosch's personal investment in child victims
Eighth in the Harry Bosch series
Reader Verification
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