In 1992, Michael Connelly, winner of this year’s ThrillerFest Silver Bullet Award, published his first Harry Bosch novel, The Black Echo, with, he says, “a lot of hope that I’d get a chance to do something else.”
“Something else” indeed: over the past 31 years, Connelly has published 37 novels and sold more than 85 million books. His best-known series (24 novels and counting) chronicles the indefatigable Bosch throughout his career as an LAPD detective and an investigator. He has also written three other successful series starring Jack McEvoy, a crime reporter; Renée Ballard, another LAPD detective; and Mickey Haller, aka the Lincoln Lawyer (Bosch also figures prominently in many of these novels). Rounding out his bibliography are several standalone novels, short stories, and novellas—and a nonfiction book.
Connelly’s 38th novel, Resurrection Walk, a Mickey Haller legal thriller that also features Bosch, will be published in November. And he strongly hinted that more Bosch novels are forthcoming—despite the reveal in 2022’s Desert Star (billed as a Ballard/Bosch novel) that his most enduring character was being treated for bone marrow cancer.
“I thought Bosch was going to die at the end of that book,” Connelly says. “But I just can’t say goodbye to him. I feel there’s a lot more for me to say about him, and there’s a window of opportunity for me to keep Harry Bosch going for a while.”
Connelly’s fan base has been substantially broadened by adaptations of his work for film and TV, most notably with three streaming series for which the author serves as executive producer. Bosch, the first drama series Amazon produced for its Prime Video streaming service, premiered in 2015 and lasted for seven seasons; the second season of another Amazon series, Bosch: Legacy, will be available for streaming this fall. An even bigger hit is the Netflix series The Lincoln Lawyer, based on the Mickey Haller legal thrillers. Season one became the most popular show on Netflix within weeks of its May 2022 debut. In fact, some 31 million Netflix accounts (which translates to more than 60 million viewers) watched the entire 10-part series in the first month. And the Connelly TV universe may be expanding, with two additional series in development.
While the author is actively involved with the TV adaptations, he says that he remains “a book writer at heart.” He adds, “I’m very lucky to have a standing readership”—and his fans remind him of the power of his characters and of his stories when he meets with them at face-to-face events. “There’s a kind of communion in talking with readers, and it’s rewarding for me to get into conversations with them.”
Clearly, Connelly has made the most of the “chance to do something else” after The Black Echo, and the character that launched his career continues to inspire him. “It’s unfathomable to me how long Bosch has been around in my imagination and the imaginations of readers,” he says. “The longevity of Bosch is such a gift. I don’t take it lightly. I hope as long I’m writing that I’m writing about Harry.”
Michael Connelly will be interviewed by Jeff Ayers on Saturday, June 3, 2–2:50 p.m.
