The Overlook

I don't expect to do much book reviewing on this blog. It is too much like the day job. However every now and then I hope to comment on individual books as good or bad examples of publishing or commissioning.

First of all I have to say that I am a big fan of Michael Connelly and in particular his Harry Bosch books. However I was sorely disappointed when I read The Overlook. The story itself was OK. Not one of Connelly's best but an adequate read and a must for any Harry Bosch fan. However it is short. The story itself is 290 odd pages which may seem a reasonable length but, according to my in-house design expert, it is set 10/14, basically line spacing of 1.5, thus stretching out the story over many more pages than necessary. The rest of the 337 pages are taken up with a 14 page 'interview' of Harry Bosch the protagonist by Connelly the author, and 30 odd pages of the next Bosch novel. i.e an advert.

I have since discovered that the book was written as a serial for the New York Times. This explains why it is so short and perhaps why it isn't up to Michael Connelly's usual standard. It doesn't though excuse what I think is a terrible bit of book publishing. I don't blame Connelly – he was commissioned to write the serial and did so and presumably got paid for both serial and book. However I really don't think any book publisher should have just taken the serial and published it as a book. Connelly should have been commissioned to re-write and expand the book to turn it into a proper novel. He may well have felt this unnecessary but I believe his agent and publisher should have persuaded him that it was necessary to protect his reputation.

As it is, I feel ripped off. I get a much shorter story than I expect having read the previous 12 Harry Bosch novels. I also get the Harry Bosch interview. What a piece of self-indulgent nonsense. The whole piece could appear in Private Eye's Pseuds Corner. Finally I get to pay for 30 pages of the next novel, The Brass Verdict – which I'll probably read anyway. I am not against these trailers for future books. But this one was as long as 10% of the book I had just read. Making your customers feel ripped off is not a good plan for publishers and that's why I think this was bad publishing.

p.s I see from Michael Connelly's website that he has 'interviewed' Harry Bosch on 2 other occasions. This is perhaps beyond self-indulgent bordering on the weird.