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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780446609142
ISBN number: 0446609145
Label: Vision
Manufacturer: Vision
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 480
Printing Date: January 01, 2001
Publishing house: Vision
Sale Popularity Level: 63662
Studio: Vision
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Product Description:
There seems to be an unspoken rule among mystery writers that once the author has created a successful character, the obligation to fans demands regular installments in the hero's life history, whatever the author's literary aspirations. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was famously unsuccessful at killing off Sherlock Holmes and resurrected his detective in response to public outcry. Michael Connelly's police procedural series featuring Harry Bosch has garnered numerous top mystery awards, including the coveted Edgar. But, strangely, it is his deviations from Bosch, including The Poet and Blood Work, that have drawn the biggest readerships--and have won awards of their own to boot (The Poet was honored with the 1997 Anthony Award). Now, once again, Connelly follows up the sucess of a Bosch book, Angels Flight, with a non-series tale that pushes Connelly's already impressive body of work into new territory.Void Moon traces the path of Cassie Black, a gifted thief who struggles with the temptation of 'outlaw juice' (the burning desire to live the fast life of crime and payoffs) even while she regularly attends her probation meetings. It's not that hawking Porsches to newly flush young Hollywood males isn't satisfying, but... well, it isn't. After years away, she returns to her old striking grounds in Las Vegas for one last big mark hoping to pave her way into a new life. But Cassie discovers that her old Las Vegas is a new town with a new skyline and new (and more deadly) bad guys; it is also a place haunted by the ghost of her lover-partner Max. When her take proves to be 10 times larger than she imagined, her road to freedom runs afoul of the Mob while a morally questionable--and openly vicious--PI sniffs her trail.With its attractive central character, meticulous plot, and glitzy packaging, Void Moon seems perfectly poised for the New York Times bestsellers list. That is not to say, however, that Connelly has 'dumbed down' his usual presentation. The novel displays Connelly's stunning ability to breathe reality into his fiction with the subtle details that can only come from careful research and his years of experience reporting on crime for the L.A. Times. What other author has so lovingly described the aftermath of crime? The jail sentence, recidivism, thenumbing visits to the parole officer where 'she held the plastic cup she would have to squat over and fill while an office trainee, dubbed the wizard because of the nature of her monitoring duty, watched to make sure it was her own urine going into the container.' While we Connelly fans are always eager to read the subsequent Bosch, once again we're not disappointed with Connelly's 'vacation.' --Patrick O'Kelley
Amazon.com Review:
There seems to be an unspoken rule among mystery writers that once the author has created a successful character, the obligation to fans demands regular installments in the hero's life history, whatever the author's literary aspirations. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was famously unsuccessful at killing off Sherlock Holmes and resurrected his detective in response to public outcry. Michael Connelly's police procedural series featuring Harry Bosch has garnered numerous top mystery awards, including the coveted Edgar. But, strangely, it is his deviations from Bosch, including The Poet and Blood Work, that have drawn the biggest readerships--and have won awards of their own to boot (The Poet was honored with the 1997 Anthony Award). Now, once again, Connelly follows up the sucess of a Bosch book, Angels Flight, with a non-series tale that pushes Connelly's already impressive body of work into new territory.
Void Moon traces the path of Cassie Black, a gifted thief who struggles with the temptation of 'outlaw juice' (the burning desire to live the fast life of crime and payoffs) even while she regularly attends her probation meetings. It's not that hawking Porsches to newly flush young Hollywood males isn't satisfying, but... well, it isn't. After years away, she returns to her old striking grounds in Las Vegas for one last big mark hoping to pave her way into a new life. But Cassie discovers that her old Las Vegas is a new town with a new skyline and new (and more deadly) bad guys; it is also a place haunted by the ghost of her lover-partner Max. When her take proves to be 10 times larger than she imagined, her road to freedom runs afoul of the Mob while a morally questionable--and openly vicious--PI sniffs her trail.
With its attractive central character, meticulous plot, and glitzy packaging, Void Moon seems perfectly poised for the New York Times bestsellers list. That is not to say, however, that Connelly has 'dumbed down' his usual presentation. The novel displays Connelly's stunning ability to breathe reality into his fiction with the subtle details that can only come from careful research and his years of experience reporting on crime for the L.A. Times. What other author has so lovingly described the aftermath of crime? The jail sentence, recidivism, the numbing visits to the parole officer where 'she held the plastic cup she would have to squat over and fill while an office trainee, dubbed the wizard because of the nature of her monitoring duty, watched to make sure it was her own urine going into the container.' While we Connelly fans are always eager to read the subsequent Bosch, once again we're not disappointed with Connelly's 'vacation.' --Patrick O'Kelley
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Rated by buyers -
Cassie Black is a thief and an ex-con, currently on parole, working at a car dealership selling Porsches to the heavy wallet brigade in Los Angeles. To say more about Cassie is to chance spoiling the novel because Cassie's history and the background story is the driving force behind what she has become. Michael Connelly is stingy with the details as he masterfully holds the suspense at unbearably high levels and feeds the reader only enough bits and pieces of Cassie's background for her current behaviour to make sense. Suffice it to say, that she can't handle the straight life and needs one more score -a monster payday that will allow her to retire and disappear to parts unknown.
Her target is a high roller at The Cleopatra, a Las Vegas casino that has seen better days. The ninja style high-tech caper is wildly successful but Black is aghast when she realizes that her haul is easily ten times what she was expecting. "It is possible to steal too much!" Clearly she has stepped into the middle of a mob transaction and she knows that the Cuban mafia will pursue her to the very ends of the earth to recover their money and to kill her as an example to all who might presume to get in their way.
"Void Moon" is a fabulous diversion from Connelly's wildly successful Harry Bosch series and works magnificently as a stand-alone novel. Connelly's description of Black's outrageous theft right under the noses of the casino and hotel security safeguards is positively breathtaking. You'll never sleep well at night in a hotel again! Her characters are thrilling - Thelma Kibble, the corpulent, grey parole officer with a heart made of a wonderful combination of soft, warm putty and ice, cold steel; Jack Karch, the ruthless, psychopathic investigator who's on the casino's payroll but will do anything to take the money for himself; Vincent Grimaldi, the self-centered casino director whose neck is in a very tight noose unless he recovers the stolen money; and, of course, Jodie Shaw, the beautiful little girl around whom Cassie's life and the entire plot ultimately revolves.
As usual, Connelly's dialogue positively sings with hi-fi clarity and realism! His characters leap off the page with depth and believability! And the plot sizzles from one page to the subsequent through the entire length of the novel. I was grateful to reach the end of the novel so that I could actually take a breath. I think I was turning purple! Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
Rated by buyers 
-
This is another fast paced, well written crime novel from Michael Connelly. In this story about a Las Vegas casino scam gone bad, Connelly tells the main story while he gradually fills the reader in on "the rest of the story" (to quote Paul Harvey). This technique really adds to the effect.
One of the most interesting aspects of this crime drama is that virtually everyone is "bad." Only one law enforcement officer appears in the entire book, and that is almost a cameo. It is literally bad guy v bad guy all the way with lots of bloodshed and plot twists throughout. Of course, some of the bad folks (Cassie and Leo) are actually quite likeable, and the reader tends to pull for them and forget that they too are criminals. But then again, when a thief robs a thief, is it really a crime?
Anyway, I thought this was an excellent story masterfully told. "Lincoln Lawyer" is still my favorite Connelly novel, but this is right up there.
Rated by buyers 
-
Unless you feel like you have to read every novel by Michael Connelly, this one you can skip.
Void Moon is a crime story that will teach you more than ever wanted to know about how to do a hot prowl (steal from someone who is sleeping in the room). Detailed sections explain how to take a lock apart so that it doesn't lock (but seems to be locked), crawl through the HVAC conduits, and install remote cameras to steal the combination to a safe. I know you've always wanted to know those things. As a bonus, you'll also learn how to do some simple sleight-of-hand magic tricks. Just to be sure you don't get bored, Mr. Connelly also teaches you about astrology (the "void moon" reference). Have you got all that?
All those details aside, Void Moon is a story about parolee Cassie Black who sells expensive sports cars for a living by playing up to "overnight geniuses" who have just signed with the studios for big bucks. She used to do hot prowls and misses the excitement. Suddenly, something shifts in her life, and she decides it's time to make a big score. The rest of the book describes her pursuit of that score and what results. Along the way, the plot deals heavily in synchronicity to reinforce the theme of "fate" in our lives.
Cassie Black is an appealing character is a story that has more unpleasant parts than pleasant ones. This story is perfect for those who like to be pessimistic by expecting bad things to happen. Her nemesis turns out to be an unusually unappealing psychopath. Here's where the story becomes drenched in unnecessary evil and gore. Yuck!
Rated by buyers -
Although somewhat entertaining to read, this story by highly recommended Michael Connelly just misses success. A narrative slow in progression with a weak background story. Nice to see a female lead in a caper. Interesting note- one of the characters in Void Moon is mentioned in Michael Connelly's excellent book "City of Bones".
Rated by buyers -
to please. Everyone LOVES Harry Bosch and we can NEVER get enough of him and his adventures. This takes us away from Harry and the result is just as pleasing. Cassie Black is an ex-con trying to go straight. She is lured back into a final caper and things go very bad. Character development is good and the plot gets your blood pumping. We will all have more Harry soon enough. Great Summer Read!!
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