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There's a joke that's been going around for a while now, involving a golfing foursome, each member of which is subtly attempting to outdo the other with displays of their acquisitions of advanced communication technology. One shows off a cellphone implanted into his hand; another demonstrates a cellphone surgically inserted into his mouth and inner ear. As each is in turn demonstrating these marvels, a third member falls to the green, screaming and writhing in pain. He, you see, has a fax coming in.
While the fax example is a bit over the top, we're not that far away from the cellphone implants. And other things as well. How about computers the size of a postage stamp, or smaller? Microchips are about as small as we are able to build them. But what...what if we didn't have to build them? What if we could grow them? And grow them really, really small?
Henry Pierce in Michael Connelly's CHASING THE DIME is involved in the pursuit of such a dream. And he's about to realize it with Proteus, which is his entry into the race to build the first molecular computer. His drive to attain his goal has cost him a relationship but he is (almost) too caught up in his quest to care. Pierce has an investor with more money than God lined up for a presentation in a few days, and he has reason to believe the guy is hooked. If Pierce can land him, Proteus will become a reality.
His attention, however, becomes diverted when he starts receiving calls for a woman named Lilly. Lilly, it seems, is an escort, and an extremely popular one. Pierce's new number is posted on her website, and he suddenly finds himself the beneficiary of unwanted popularity. Most people would call the telephone company, get another number, and forget about it. But there is something about Lilly that pushes some of Pierce's buttons --- the ones that are hardwired to a tragic event in his past. Rather than simply changing his number, Pierce tries to find Lilly, who rapidly becomes a possible key to his redemption for an act of omission from which he has never been able to recover.
Pierce, however, is way out of his element here. Respected in his field, his reputation and knowledge mean nothing in a world of vice where inquiries are not welcome and solutions to problems are simple and brutal. Pierce soon finds himself caught between the police and a shadowy underworld that does not welcome his intrusion. He comes to realize that he is being set up for...something. But why? And by whom?
CHASING THE DIME is obviously not a Bosch novel, although Connelly very deftly hooks it into Bosch's past and, more importantly, into the Los Angeles mythos which he has been methodically constructing for over a decade now. While Pierce's diversion from his work --- his goal --- is not entirely convincing, it's not much of a stretch either. Connelly is so skilled a craftsman that any suspension of disbelief the reader might require --- and some is required to accept that Pierce would get sidetracked before his investor meeting --- will readily kick in. While Connelly's Bosch fans may be initially disappointed that this is not a Harry Bosch novel, they will ultimately be pleased with what they find within.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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