Dragnet

I love Michael Connolly's writing, how he puts certain possible, distantly related items/statements together, not necessarily at the end. His books flow, make sense. I love that he has created a strong female character, flawed, intelligent, independent. Although I enjoyed the story, it didn't seem like a Michael Connolly story. Not enough twist, turns and a bit slow and boring. It won't stop me from purchasing his books, this one just didn't do it for me.
I was trying to think what Katherine Moenning reading reminded me of and I thought, Dragnet! Her reading was so monotone, it literally put me to sleep and I don't fall asleep on the couch, my husband does that! I could identify the main character and that was it. The other characters, all sounded the same, I can't decide if they were boring or, it was Ms. Moenning that made them boring. The most excitement I experienced, was the last couple of sentences.
Mr. Connolly has to make this series, if it is to be a series, more energetic and get a different reader.
Ms. Moenning might read well for other authors, she doesn't have the power Connolly's stories require. Connolly usually weaves a great story but this isn't one of them.
Can't believe I'm writing this about Michael Connolly.

10 people found this helpful

Horrible Narration

I could hardly finish this book because poor narration made it impossible to distinguish one character from another, which rendered the book boring. I'm surprised Michael Connelly didn't veto releasing this audio version.

9 people found this helpful

10 minutes...

That’s how long I was able to listen to the narration. Her voice grated on my nerves, had a distinct lack of inflection and frankly, I just couldn’t listen to her. I’m sure it’s a great story - it deserves a great narrator.

7 people found this helpful

A timid debut for Connelly's new detective....

One can tell that this a Connelly’s book: high level of energy, plots very well structured, attention to detail, meaningful dialogues and growing suspense.…Connelly introduces a brand new character, Renee Ballard, who is a smart, tough and dedicated female cop operating in LA. However Renee has many (too many ?) similarities with Bosh : she is lonely by choice, seems to lack the capability to reach out emotionally to the (very few) people she likes and has plenty of enemies ”within” (i.e. in the police structure). So, it is up to Connelly to develop more the character of Renee, make her less of a female Harry Bosh and prove us that he is not like other male authors that had a harder time when writing about a female lead character.
All in all , my book rating of three stars (“worth reading”) may be severe, but the expectations with Connelly are always exceptionally high…

5 people found this helpful

Hated narration ... didn't finish book

the reader had no expression. no characterization. hard to know the difference between "what's that in the road ahead: and "what's that in the road? A head?"
Didn't get past Ch 4.

4 people found this helpful

Very Disappointed

What disappointed you about The Late Show?

My husband and I listen to books as we travel and really enjoy Michael Connelly books many times listening to them 2 or 3 times. But this one did not hold our interest at all. Not sure if it was the actual story or the narrator, a toss up there. But our advice would be stop and go back to Harry Bosch or Mickey Haller for the following stories. We actually returned the book not worth the points it cost us.

What could Michael Connelly have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Surely the main character does not always have to have trouble with authority at work.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Yes, the language was not quite as rough as some of the others. My husband was in the FBI and worked closely with the LA PD He never heard foul language as written and recorded in these books. We can get by it but you don't need to use the F word numerous times in one paragraph to get your point across.

Any additional comments?

Go back to Mickey Haller and Harry Bosch - you have a winning thing there. If you continue to write like this we will stop buying your books

4 people found this helpful

Loved it.

Excellent reading. Well done. Good mystery. I enjoyed it a lot. I recommend it to all fans of the author.

1 person found this helpful

Great new character and Connelly at his time tested best

Renee Ballard is tough as nails and as vulnerable but impregnable as Harry Bosch. A welcome new opening for Connelly fans. Narrator is also great and gets far too little exposure on Ray Donovan.

1 person found this helpful

The Twist

I really enjoyed the late show, and the portrayal of Ballard, who was as smart and witty as they come. Her skills are underestimated by many and Conley does a great job of masking that throughout the book he also does a great job of showing how she works through adversity to preserve herself, her job and her reputation. The turns that her investigative work take her why I titled this the twist, she never gives up. Great job.

Droaning voice.

The voice of this audiobook was not a great choice for this book. Made a very good storyline, torturous to listen to.