Void Moon by Michael Connelly

Cassie Black is an ex-con hot prowler.  Eager to get away from a boring existence selling high-end automobiles while still on parole, she promised herself she would try her luck at taking another job for the last time ever so that she is able to live her dream of moving to a place "where the desert is the ocean."

Three seemingly unconnected clues popped up to make the plot highly suspenseful:

1)  a briefcase that has a built-in stun gun holding stacks of cash of high denomination

2)  a photo album full of photographs of a young girl apparently taken with a long-range camera and

3)  the bad luck of a void moon.

The bad luck of a void moon?  What have they got to do with Cassie Black and her getaway plans?

This book is Connelly's first book to feature a female protagonist and a criminal at that.  The protagonist later made a cameo appearance in The Narrows (published 2004, sequel to The Poet).  With a heart-wrenching ending which tugs at the heart, Void Moon (published 2000) is unarguably '100% Connelly and 100% addictive.' Overall, well-constructed but in my opinion, not in the same depth and quality as his Harry Bosch books.  For more information, click here for the Void Moon Interview, 14 June 1999 with the author.  More Connelly to come soon...

Rating:  3/5