2020 has been a dark year for the LAPD, as Covid and the public’s waning trust in the police have affected morale.  As midnight strikes to close out the year. Detective Renée Ballard is out on patrol, waiting for the latest attack from the Midnight Men, a duo who use the excitement of a holiday as a cover to rape an unsuspecting woman.  While waiting, she gets called to a murder scene, a former banger who bought his way out years ago.  Working both cases solo, with help from former detective Harry Bosch, she finds the only thing bigger than her desire to close the cases is her desire to leave the department, and its bullshit, behind.

In the fourth entry of his Renée Ballard series, The Dark Hours, Michael Connelly continues to team her up with his old Harry Bosch character, first introduced in 1992’s The Black Echo.  The two seem likely to continue working together, so I imagine any future entries in the series (of which there are currently two more) will continue the pairing.  The next entry, Desert Star, is the basis for the first season of the Ballard series on Amazon Prime, which I am two episodes into as of this writing.  Hopefully that isn’t a mistake on my part.