How To Read The Harry Bosch Books In Order

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For a certain group, there is nobody out there quite like Harry Bosch. The brainchild of author Michael Connelly, Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch made his debut in 1922 in the pages of "The Black Echo" and, before long, became a staple of bookstores all around the world. While Connelly has written quite a few other novels, including the "Lincoln Lawyer" series, the lion's share of the astounding 89 million books (and counting) he's sold center on Mr. Bosch. 

"I was a journalist for 14 years, and I covered the police. I was smart enough to say, 'This is what I have that maybe other writers don't have,' so I'd be a fool not to use that authenticity in my book," Connelly explained to the Associated Press in 2023. "So, Harry Bosch started out as a cop, and he was an outsider."

Many people probably know the character from the Amazon series "Bosch" starring Titus Welliver, which became a huge hit and spawned several spin-offs, including "Bosch: Legacy" and, most recently, "Ballard," which became another hit for Prime Video. It all started in the pages of these books, of which there have been 25 to date. But where should new fans begin? Where is the most logical starting point in this seemingly bottomless pit of cop drama? We're here to make that very easy, going over the proper, easy-to-follow reading order for the Harry Bosch novels. Let's get into it.

The good news for fans of the "Bosch" show who want to get into the books, or however one is coming to the series, is that it's all pretty straightforward. It's not like getting into "Star Trek" and trying to figure out how to watch it all in order. It's mercifully cut and dry. Essentially, the release order is the way to go, beginning with "The Black Echo." More or less, the books take place around the year they were published. There's not a lot of jumping around time periods or anything of that nature. It's a straight line from 1992 to the here and now. With that said, the order is as follows...

• "The Black Echo" (1992)

• "The Black Ice" (1993)

• "The Concrete Blonde" (1994)

• "The Last Coyote" (1995)

• "Trunk Music" (1997)

• "Angels Flight" (1999)

• "A Darkness More Than Night" (2001)

• "City Of Bones" (2002)

• "Lost Light" (2003)

• "The Narrows" (2004)

• "The Closers" (2005)

• "Echo Park" (2006)

• "The Overlook" (2007)

• "Nine Dragons" (2009)

• "The Drop" (2011)

• "The Black Box" (2012)

• "The Burning Room" (2014)

• "The Crossing" (2015)

• "The Wrong Side Of Goodbye" (2016)

• "Two Kinds Of Truth" (2017)

• "Dark Sacred Night" (2018)

• "The Night Fire" (2019)

• "The Dark Hours" (2021)

• "Desert Star" (2022)

• "The Waiting" (2024)

This isn't to say that anyone getting into the Harry Bosch novels needs to read every single one of them or anything like that, but this should give some idea of where to start. They're basically police procedurals, so one can pick up one of these books at random and, more or less, get what they need out of it. Yes, there is a character evolution and changes in Bosch's career, but again, the books largely speak for themselves.

It's sort of like old-school, episodic television in that way. You can pretty much turn on any episode of "Law & Order" and get what you need from it, but you might get more if you've been following along week-to-week for years. The books aren't serialized to the point that one would be lost if they just decided to pick up "City of Bones" because they liked the title.

Connelly is also behind the Mickey Haller novels. The character inspired the 2011 "The Lincoln Lawyer," oft-considered one of Matthew McConaughey's best movies. More recently, Netflix used these novels as inspiration for a "Lincoln Lawyer" TV series starring Manuel Garcia-Rulfo in the lead role. It turns out, these books share a universe with the Harry Bosch books. The characters are even half-brothers! Feels like a cinematic universe just waiting to happen, doesn't it? 

While readers shouldn't necessarily hold their breath hoping to see Titus Welliver coming face-to-face with Manuel Garcia-Rulfo in what would surely be an epic crossover event for dads all around the world, the two have crossed paths several times in the books. Below, for completionists out there, is a list of "Lincoln Lawyer" books in which Bosch has appeared. As an added note, his appearances in "The Fifth Witness" and "The Gods of Guilt" are very brief. That aside, the list is as follows:

• "The Brass Verdict" (2008)

• "The Reversal" (2010)

• "The Law Of Innocence" (2020)

• "Resurrection Walk" (2023)

• "The Fifth Witness" (2011)

• "The Gods of Guilt" (2013)

You can grab your Harry Bosch book of choice from Amazon.