Rating: 
Summary: Good read
Review: I was really into this book because it gives the readers a chance to look into Harry Bosch's past a little further. With him investigating his mothers murder, I was cheering him along the whole way. And in classic Connelly style, there are many twists, turns and surprises.
Rating: 
Summary: Clever Story Line
Review: In this one, Harry (being Harry), gets himself into one mess after another and one pull of the plot is to see how he is going to clear his name. I think Trunk Music was a little better, but this one has a lot to recommend it. Vivid characters, clever story line, and plenty of action. A fast easy read. Michael Connelly always leaves you wanting more.
Rating:
Summary: Very excellent mystery book
Review: It is one of the best mystery books I have read. A cop's mom is dead, and he had to find out who did it. The problem is that it happended in the 1960s, 30 or so years before.How would he solve it? Is the person who did it still alive today?
Rating:
Summary: Bosch gets cranky
Review: It's only been in the past couple of weeks that veteran L.A. homicide detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch pushed his boss's face through the plate glass window of the latter's office. You see, Lt. Pounds - the consummate desk jockey - had interfered with one of Harry's interrogations, which resulted in the (probably guilty) suspect walking free. Now, Bosch is on involuntary stress leave with orders to see the department head doctor. To kill time between appointments, Harry unofficially re-opens an unsolved 30+ year-old murder case, that of his mother, a Hollywood hooker. Then there's his Hollywood Hills home, damaged by a recent earthquake and subsequently earmarked for demolition, to worry about. It makes for angst that would cause testiness even in the Pope. And, when Pounds is tortured and murdered and Lt. Brockman of Internal Affairs brings Bosch in for the third degree, our hero loses it: "Bosch shoved the table toward Brockman ... and pinned Brockman against the wall ... as he went without air ... (Brockman's) eyes bugged." The fictional road to this book's conclusion is the well-travelled one through police and political chicanery, either of which I can read about in the daily newspaper if I feel the unlikely compulsion. Rather, since each of us perhaps occasionally feels that mad urge for self destruction, the fun of THE LAST COYOTE is watching Bosch be a bull in his own china shop and then clean up the shards. Even that would earn it only four stars, in my opinion, except that the completely unexpected plot twist in the last ten pages merits it the ultimate fifth. If you're still bothering to fly the nation's unfriendly skies, or you're just stuck in a long post office que, THE LAST COYOTE is the perfect distraction to numb the experience.
Rating:
Summary: A prostitute's murder-long ago-but it was Harry'mother!
Review: It's time in Bosch's life to blow the leaves off his mother's grave, loosen the dirt around it and dig deep for the answers not only to his mother's murder, but to many of his problems resulting from his insecure childhood. This is helped by the fact that he is suspended for pushing a superior through a plate glass window and sent to a police shrink. While he is on forced leave, he decides to resolve these problems, of course, against all company policy. But his view is "Everybody counts or nobody counts." As he unravels the mystery, it seems to him that the murder of his mother didn't count because she was just a woman of the streets. Both this theme and the theme of a reappearing coyote (lost, hungry and bewildered) occur again and again in this gripping, forceful novel. The coyote and Bosch are drawn together - like to like - and it seems to Bosch that both he and the coyote are a vanishing breed. I defy you to put Connelly's book down for more than a few hours, if at all. He is a master of twists, surprises and impeccable logic that carry you to the end in a whirlwind of pleasure and excitement.This one has a finish that is amazing and shocking.It's content will stay with you a lone time, perhaps forever,as you contemplate this world and those who live in it everyday. I maintain the best way to read Bosch is from the beginning with THE BLACK ICE - and follow in sequence. Michael Connelly has now won three awards for his novels. Everytime I think I have found my favorite another comes along to show me there cannnot be one favorite - only Michael Connelly himself, as a talented and intriguing artist. Angels Flight is the next in the series. His non-Bosch novels, The Poet and Blood Work are other extremely fine examples of his genius.
Rating:
Summary: The best of the bosch
Review: Its difficult to compare Michael Connelly's books because I don't know how anyone can read one and then not immediately want to read everything that he has ever written like I have. But if you are new to the series I would say start with this one or Angels Flight. The Last Coyote is a great mystery story with great characters. Harry Bosch has been suspended from the LAPD pending a psychiatric evaluation for throwing his supervisor through a plate glass window. He uses his time off to solve the mystery that has haunted him his whole life, the murder of his own mother in 1961 Los Angeles. He digs up the police report and soon discovers that it was not quite as thorough as it should have been. It is a great book.
Rating:
Summary: The best of the bosch
Review: Its difficult to compare Michael Connelly's books because I don't know how anyone can read one and then not immediately want to read everything that he has ever written like I have. But if you are new to the series I would say start with this one or Angels Flight. The Last Coyote is a great mystery story with great characters. Harry Bosch has been suspended from the LAPD pending a psychiatric evaluation for throwing his supervisor through a plate glass window. He uses his time off to solve the mystery that has haunted him his whole life, the murder of his own mother in 1961 Los Angeles. He digs up the police report and soon discovers that it was not quite as thorough as it should have been. It is a great book.
Rating:
Summary: Good To The Last Drop!
Review: Michael Connelly does not disappoint his faithful with this one. It was a great chance to learn a little bit more about a character that is close to my heart. During a leave from duty Bosch delves deep into his past to make sense of his mother's murder (and hopefully find the killer). While the action is quick and the writing is strong what really makes this Connelly book stand out is that we really learn what makes Bosch tick. The title is also great - it has a double meaning, it signifies how Harry sees himself as well as the earthquake ravaged LA neighborhood in which Bosch resides - he has a coyote that visits his hillside home from time to time. A very enjoyable read.
Rating:
Summary: Hard-boiled detective fiction lives!
Review: Michael Connelly has dusted off an increasingly rare gemstone in the crown jewels of American literature: the hard-boiled detective. Present in Connelly's pithy and believable prose is all of the wit and grit of Hammett, MacDonald, Stout, and Spillane. What he's brought us in Harry Bosch is a cop's cop. Bosch, an LAPD homicide detective, is a real-life hero for whom the principled drive to see justice done allows him to deal with the treacherous world of Los Angeles politics and some even more treacherous politicians (some of whom masquerade as police officials). While _The Last Coyote_ is the fourth Bosch novel, the plot and characters are so artfully developed that this novel could stand alone as a complete novel. At the same time, the writing is so compelling and captivating that it is a real pleasure to know that Bosch is a recurring character in Connelly's work. Although this is my first Connelly story, I am officially an addict, and I cannot wait to devour the rest of the titles in the Bosch series. _The Last Coyote_ opens with Bosch under suspension for assaulting his Commanding Officer, Harvey "98" Pounds. With his newfound freedom comes a mandatory psychiatric evaluation to determine his fitness as a police officer. The ensuing therapy sessions force Bosch to take a hard look at his options, should he later be kicked off the force for the assault on his CO. Faced with his ever-present personal demons, his suspension, and time on his hands, Bosch begins to investigate perhaps his greatest mystery: the unsolved 1961 murder of his call-girl mother. Though cautioned by his therapist that solving this mystery may remove his motivation to be a detective, Bosch dives into a mystery (and his personal story) that exposes the seedy underside of Los Angeles political corruption. The ride is taut, human, and utterly engrossing, and we are at once deeply satisfied and virtually winded when the dust settles. My introduction to Harry Bosch was one of those rare joys: a gifted writer spinning a fascinating tale with grace and skill. Perhaps equally enjoyable to me was the principled drive of the protagonist to get at the facts, despite the potential costs-to himself, his career, and his department. Bosch's belief that the truth shall set you free is more than a bromide. While freedom may not always bring redemption, it allows him to sleep at night.
Rating:
Summary: Early Bosch but still GREAT
Review: Michael Connelly is fast becoming the pre-eminent Mystery/Crime novelist and rightly so. Having read all his books I can't think of anyone who I've enjoyed more consistently. Whether his main character is the endearing Detective Hieronymous (Harry)Bosch, Retired FBI profiler Terry McCaleb, FBI agent Rachael Walling or none of the above, I've enjoyed every story, all fourteen of them.
Of course my favorite main character has to be the intractable Detective Bosch, offspring of a call girl whose murder in 1961 left young Harry orphaned at the age of twelve. The Last Coyote, Connelly's fourth novel, sees Bosch, placed on indefinite leave for putting his Lieutenant's head through a plate glass window and taking advantage of his new found free time to reopen the aged cold case of his mother's murder.
Everybody or Nobody
As far as Harry is concerned, everybody, no matter what their station in life, gets equal treatment under the law. That's why his personal motto is "Everybody or Nobody" and he lives by that creed. Is that a coincidence, I think not. It probably goes back to his childhood and his mother's unsolved murder.
Harry's Mother's name was Marjorie Lowe. After receiving a card five years previously from Marjorie's best friend, Merideth Roman, Harry pulled the murder file to try to reopen the case but he wasn't yet ready emotionally. So now he decided to try again. He had plenty of time between the three weekly visits to Carmen Hinojos, the departments anger management consultant (shrink), so he decided to give it another go. This time Harry got far enough into the murder book to decide that as he suspected, the investigation was whitewashed and some V.I.P.s were involved. Harry discovers Marjorie was seeing Arlo Conklin a former DA. Also possibly involved was Gordan Mittel, Conklin's former aid and now political kingmaker.
Harry has plenty of time but he has no authority and no gun, so when he starts nosing around it disturbs some people. He is still angry at Harvey Pounds, his lieutenant and he needs a badge so he steals Pound's, on the sly. He also throws Pounds name around and this turns out to be a mistake, as it ends badly.
Harry's an endearing character but he's certainly not delicate. Sometimes his investigating style is like a bull in a china shop. He gets results but some dishes get broken. In this case Harry's investigation leads to a couple more murders and almost Harry's demise. But let me tell you, I found the ending to be most surprising, even the second time around. If you can guess the ending before he gives it to you in the last fifteen or so pages, you're a better sleuth than me and I'm pretty good.
CONCLUSION
Bosch is a complex character who doesn't even seem to know himself. On one hand he is a resolutely honorable human being while being both difficult and uncompromising. This dichotomy is not appreciated among his superiors but because he is a extremely competent at his job, they cut him some slack. I think he is so popular a character because many of his readers identify with him in his travails against both bad guys, unfairness and bureaucracies.
Author Michael Connelly is/was a crime reporter for the LA Times for years, which seems to give him a special insight into the world of crime and crime fighters, which is evident in his books. Having been a writer before an author also gives him a concise, economical, smooth writing style that is user friendly, which this reader appreciates. I just finished reading this book for the second time - actually the first time was an audio book - and I'm still amazed how Connelly can jerk the reader around, in a good sense, continuously making the reader guess the wrong bad guy and the wrong outcome. He is a master at misdirection.
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