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Harry Bosch is one of my all-time favorite characters and The Brass Verdict is currently my all-time favorite Michael Connelly work. Connelly weaves a highly suspenseful and engaging story that includes Mickey Haller from The Lincoln Lawyer. The interplay between Bosch and Haller will delight Connelly fans and hook new readers. Connelly always leaves you wanting more and awaiting the newest intersection of his five reappearing protagonists (Rachel Walling, Jack McEvoy and Terry McCaleb are the other three). Thank goodness that we only have to wait until May 2009 for The Scarecrow.

Am I the only David Baldacci fan who thought the Camel Club was forever gone at the end of Stone Cold? I was elated with the group's return in Divine Justice despite the numerous moments when I wanted to shake some sense into the characters who wondered aloud about the "untimely" deaths in the little town of Divine. Had anyone kept count, they might have noticed that the Grim Reaper seemed to call on one out of every three residents.

Aravind Adiga won the Man Booker Prize for The White Tiger and I found myself reflecting back on this novel as I watched Slumdog Millionaire. Both works depict the horrific scale of poverty and classism in India in stark contrast with attempts to find a better life in highly westernized cities such as Bangalore. Adiga has been highly criticized within India for perpetuating stereotypes about Indian society, but thoughtful readers will recognize universal themes regarding power, wealth, and progress that comprise the shameful parts of any developed country's history.

Top of page April 28, 2010