In reading (or listening to) the books in Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch series, Void Moon is depicted as the ninth book in the series. However, there’s no appearance by Los Angeles police detective Harry Bosch in the book. I would surmise that the book was originally intended to be his story as he investigates a particular murder committed in this book, but the backstory surrounding it ended up being much better. I think Connelly made a good choice, as Void Moon is a great book that depicts the story of a contract robbery gone wrong.

Cassie Black lives in Los Angeles and works at a Porsche dealer. She spent a number of years in jail as an accessory to murder, although the person murdered was the man she loved, and losing him was devastating. The problem was, he died during the commission of a crime they were both participants in, which made her an accessory.

What she has kept to herself all these years is that when she was sent away, she was pregnant. She gave birth to the child, a daughter, in jail and signed away her parental rights because she didn’t want the child raised in prison. Now that she’s out, though, she’s tracked her down and watches the child from afar in her new home. However, that will soon be coming to an end as the family is moving to Paris.

Cassie dreams of reclaiming her child and visits her former contact, Leo Renfro, to score one high-paying job so she can take the girl and disappear. Leo comes up with a job back in Las Vegas, at the same casino where the previous job went wrong. There’s a lot that bothers Cassie about the job, but more than anything, she wants a life with her daughter, who is her only connection on earth to Max, the man she loves.

The details in Void Moon are really good as Cassie prepares for the job. The background came out during the story, so it’s not like it was an overwhelming information dump. The book follows Cassie as she assembles what she needs and prepares for it. Things go wrong multiple times, but she perseveres in her mission. However, she ends up with much more than she was expecting and soon has a crazed enforcer from Las Vegas hot on her tail.

As a stand-alone book, Void Moon is an excellent offering from Connelly. The characters are all new, and we see the opposite side of a police procedural, which is what he usually writes. It shows how much thought and preparation goes into a job by a professional criminal. There are a lot of details depicted, but it’s necessary to get the full scope of what Cassie is capable of. She also is shown to have a great heart, not just for the child she lost but also for other people who suffer due to her choices.

As an adoptee, the first time I read this, I dreaded where it was going. Cassie is looking to abduct the child she gave up six years before. She doesn’t even know if the child has been told she was adopted (she should have been, but that’s not important to the story itself) and just thinks she’ll take her to Tahiti and live happily ever after. In the end, Cassie shows a mother’s love by doing what she thinks is best. Sometimes, there are no “right” choices. Cassie is thinking more of herself than what’s in the best interest of the child, and eventually she grasps that. I could understand her and sympathize with her quite a bit. If she’d made a different choice early on, perhaps she could have had a relationship with her daughter, but she chooses to do what she knows, which is crime.

The audiobook was narrated by L.J. Ganser, who I thought did a great job. I’ve listened to audiobooks read by him before and he’s a good orator. He manages to convey the different characters without getting into silly voices that don’t always work and take away from how my own imagination sees the character.

If you’re not into Connelly’s Bosch series, I’d recommend you try Void Moon and see how you feel about his writing in this book. He’s great with characters and pacing. Cassie is both sympathetic and infuriating at times. I’d love to see more of her, but her story is really finished at the end of the book. An author has done a great job when you care about characters enough to want to know what happens to them afterward.