Michael Connelly - Angels Flight

RAVES FOR SUSPENSE MASTER

Michael Connelly AND

ANGELS FFlight

"Bosch is a terrific...wonderful,old-fashioned hero who isn't afraid to walk through the flames--and suffer the pain for the rest of us."

--New York Times Book Review

"High-voltage adventureConnelly is a whiz at both

cophouse politics and investigatory technique ... thoughtful, knowing ... spellbinding."

--Washington Post Book World

"A wonderful novel... fast paced, intricate and elegant tension.... Bosch is a magnetic character, and ... Michael Connelly is in the elite handful of contemporary authors creating first-rate hard-boiled detective novels." --Denver Post

"Bosch is one of the most compelling, complex protagonists in recent crime fiction.... Connelly is an elegant, insightful writer."

--Newsweek

"It is hard to top the best, and some of Connelly's thrillers have been gold-plated I Os. But he climbs to another level with ANGELS FLIGHT, a thriller that truly thrills." --Orlando Sentinel

"Among the many writers who have employed the City of Angels as their backdrop, none has captured its corrupt yet compelling ambience better than Michael Connelly... brings to life fallible human beings."

---Son Diego Union-Tribune

more... "Provocative ... the police work continues to fascinate." --Wall Street Journal

"Vivid, convincing ... the suspense buildsConnelly elevates the police procedural to a higher standard and moves to the top of the class of contemporary crime writers." --Playboy

"Explores the underbelly of the human soul with ... tight prose and swirling plot twists ... highly recommended." --Library Journal

"Engrossing, beautifully realized."

--Philadelphia Inquirer

"Another bestseller from a writer who has brought the crime novel to new heights."

--Providence Sunday Journal

"Engrossing and most satisfying... sharp dialogue wastes no time and moves the story along briskly." --Houston Chronicle

"Take it from a fan. ANGELS FLIGHT is the best Bosch yet. And that's saying quite a bit...The resolution is as credible as it is astonishing."

--Arizona Daily Star

"An intricate plot undergirded by strong character development ... a welcome addition to the series." --San Antonio Express-News "A first-rate purveyor of crime fiction ... Connelly has developed into a master of character studies ... covers fresh ground in the plot-intensive ANGELS FLIGHT ... has Twists and turns to keep the suspense high."

--Ft Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel

"Connelly is the reigning champ of the Los Angeles crime novel.... He makes the city and its tensions so palpable That the reader comes away convinced that when it comes to crime, LA is still the king."

--American Way

"A huge story handled perfectly."

--^St Petersburg Times

"Original and thought-provoking."

--Hartford Courant

"Recalls no one so much as Raymond Chandler.... Connell) puts his foot on the gas and doesn't let up." --Los Angeles Times

"Connelly is one of the best of die new breed of thriller writers.' --Son Francisco Examiner

"Connelly is one of those masters of structure who can keep driving the story forward, paragraph by paragraph, in runaway-locomotive style."

--USAToday

"Connelly is raising the hard-boiled detective novel to a nev level."

--Boston Globe Also by Michael Connelly

The Black Echo

The Black Ice

The Concrete Blonde

The Last Coyote

The Poet

Trunk Music

Bloodwork

ATIEffinOlifcSCIiOOlSANDCORPORAIIONS

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Michael Connelly

ANGELS FLIGHT

O

VMRNBI BOOKS

A Time Warner Company The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

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WARNER BOOKS EDITION

Copyright 1999 by Hieronymus, Inc.

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Cover design by Whitney Cookman Cover art by Andrew Newman

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|^| A Tune Warner Company Printed in the United States of America

Originally published in hardcover by Little, Brown and Company First International Paperback Printing: June 1999 First United States Paperback Printing: January 2000

10 987654321 This is for McCaleb Fane Connelly 1

The HE word sounded alien in his mouth, as if spoken by I someone else. There was an urgency in his own voice I that Bosch didn't recognize. The simple hello he had whispered into the telephone was full of hope, almost desperation. But the voice that came back to him was not the one he needed to hear.

"Detective Bosch?"

For a moment Bosch felt foolish. He wondered if the caller had recognized the faltering of his voice.

'This is Lieutenant Michael Tulin. Is this Bosch?"

The name meant nothing to Bosch and his momentary concern about how he sounded was ripped away as an awful dread entered his mind.

"This is Bosch. What is it? What's wrong?"

"Hold please for Deputy Chief Irving."

"What is--"

The caller clicked off and there was only silence. Bosch now remembered who Tulin was -- Irving's adjutant 2Michael Connelly

Bosch stood still and waited. He looked around the kitchen; only the dim oven light was on. With one hand he held the phone hard against his ear, the other he instinctively brought up to his stomach, where fear and dread were twisting together. He looked at the glowing numbers on the stove clock. It was almost two, five minutes past the last time he had looked at it. This isn't right, he thought as he waited. They don't do this by phone. They come to your door. They tell you this face-to-face.

Finally, Irving picked up on the other end of the line.

"Detective Bosch?"

"Where is she? What happened?"

Another moment of excruciating silence went by as Bosch waited. His eyes were closed now.

"Excuse me?"

"Just tell me, what happened to her? I mean ... is she alive?"

"Detective, I'm not sure what it is you are talking about. I'm calling because I need to muster your team as soon as possible. I need you for a special assignment."

Bosch opened his eyes. He looked through the kitchen window into the dark canyon below his house. His eyes followed the slope of the hill down toward the freeway and then up again to the slash of Hollywood lights he could see through the cut of the Cahuenga Pass. He wondered if each light meant someone awake and waiting for someone who wasn't going to come. Bosch saw his own reflection in the window. He looked weary. He could make out the deep circles etched beneath his eyes, even in the dark glass.

"I have an assignment, Detective," Irving repeated impatiently. "Are you able to work or are you --"

"I can work. I just was mixed up there for a moment." ANGELS FLIGHT3

"Well, I'm sorry if I woke you. But you should be used to it."

"Yes. It's no problem."

Bosch didn't tell him that he hadn't been awakened by the call. That he had been roaming around in his dark house waiting.