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Content snapshot
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Violence
A lot
Murder investigation; unsolved cold case involving a teenage victim; crime scene detail
Language
Some
Moderate language in an LAPD register
Sexual Content
Barely any
Brief adult relationship in Ballard's backstory
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
A lot
A retired detective who can't stop working, a new detective building her own approach, a cold case that becomes very current
What this book is about
The first Ballard and Bosch crossover novel. Harry Bosch breaks into LAPD's Hollywood Division late at night — looking through cold case files — and runs into Detective Renée Ballard, who works the late shift. Rather than reporting him, she confronts him. What follows is an uneasy alliance as they work an unsolved murder of a teenage girl. Connelly introduces Ballard as Bosch's intellectual equal and sets up the series that will carry the franchise forward.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
unsolved murder of a teenage girl as central case
crime violence and disturbing imagery
introduces a new major character
Reader Verification
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