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Cover of Desert Star

Mystery · 2022 · R

Desert Star

by Michael Connelly

Bosch's last case: the murdered family who haunted him for decades — and Ballard by his side

LAPD detective Renée Ballard and Harry Bosch team up to hunt the brutal killer who is Bosch’s “white whale”—a man responsible for the murder of an entire family. A year has passed since LAPD detective Renée Ballard quit the force in the face of misogyny, demoralization, and endless red tape. But after the chief of police himself tells her she can write her own ticket within the department, Ballard takes back her badge, leaving “the Late Show” to rebuild and lead the cold case unit at the elite Robbery-Homicide Division. For years, Harry Bosch has been working a case that haunts him—the murder

For17+GenreMysteryLength400 pagesRead time~10 hours

This analysis was generated by AI from publicly available reader reviews, literary criticism, and book discussions. It has not been verified by a BookLens community reviewer and may contain errors. Be the first to verify →

Content snapshot

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What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.

Violence

A lot

Brutal cold-case murder of a family; crime scene details with significant intensity; thriller violence

Language

Some

Moderate language

Sexual Content

Barely any

No significant sexual content

Substance Use

Barely any

Minimal substance use

Emotional Intensity

A lot

Very strong psychological weight; Bosch's obsession and mortality; the weight of unsolved evil on a detective's soul

What this book is about

Harry Bosch, working with LAPD detective Renée Ballard at the Open-Unsolved Unit, finally turns his full attention to the cold case that has haunted him longest — a family of four brutally murdered in the Mojave desert, decades unsolved. As Bosch races against his own declining health, Ballard works a parallel case that may connect to Bosch's obsession. A deeply satisfying, elegiac entry that feels like a farewell to one of American crime fiction's greatest characters.

Notes for sensitive readers

Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.

Brutal family murder

Cold case trauma

Aging detective facing mortality

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