By
[The author of twenty-five books, Connelly's latest is The Black Box, one of Amazon's Best of the Month mystery & thriller picks. The Black Box features Connelly's world-weary, crime-fighting hero Harry Bosch, whom he introduced twenty years ago in his award winning first novel, The Black Echo.]
What's the elevator pitch for The Black Box?
Harry Bosch returns to an unsolved murder he tried to close twenty years ago during the riots that followed the Rodney King police brutality trial in Los Angeles.
Harry Bosch has now been with us for twenty years "“ can you describe him in 20 words?
Harry Bosch knows how to make every case deeply personal, giving him the internal fire that makes him absolutely relentless.
If the real Harry was sitting across from you, what would you say to him?
I'd tell him I am sorry to have put him through such difficult times. I'd explain that I never thought he would be around so long so I did not realize that these constant tests of character would add up to twenty years of such difficulties. My bad.
After 20 years, what's your relationship with Harry? A friend? A brother? A burden?
Certainly not a burden. Always an opportunity. Through him I get to say anything, explore anything. I like the idea of calling the relationship a brotherhood.
What's on your nightstand/bedside table/Kindle?
The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers.
Top 3-5 favorite books of all time?
The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- The Black Marble by Joseph Wambaugh
- One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey
- Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
Book that changed your life and/or made you want to become a writer?
The Long Goodbye introduced me to Raymond Chandler. Reading Chandler made me want to change directions and become a writer.
What's your most memorable author moment?
Being in a bookstore in Paris and hearing a reader say through a translator that she was very worried about Harry Bosch.
What talent or superpower would you like to have (not including flight or invisibility)?
Xray vision
What are you obsessed with now?
Pop Words on my iPhone (thanks to Brad Meltzer)
What are you stressed about now?
Getting off Pop Words cold turkey
What are you psyched about now?
The book I am writing, with an all star cast of Harry Bosch, Mickey Haller and Maddie Bosch.
What's your most prized/treasured possession?
Physical possession: inscribed copy of To Kill a Mockingbird.
Pen Envy - Book you wish you'd written?
The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
Favorite line?
Death is my beat.
What's favorite method of procrastination?
Pop Words!
What do you collect?
Challenge coins.
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>See all of Michael Connelly's books
