Hieronymus Bosch

The novel's 40-years-old, graying, droopy-mustached, constantly smoking protagonist, standing just under six feet tall, wiry, with dark, emotionless eyes, Harry Bosch is "in the barrel" when a dead body is reported in a pipe at the Mulholland Dam. He recognizes the DB as a fellow "tunnel rat" from the First Infantry Division during Vietnam, and, unlike lazier colleagues, Bosch smells murder and uses his superior investigative skills to pursue the case.

Named for a famous 15th-century Dutch painter of the same name, Bosch goes into foster care when his mother is murdered. He enlists in the Army and serves in Vietnam, partnering with the now murder victim, William Meadows. Bosch loses his ability to fight underground and finishes his tour in Saigon as an MP. Returning to civilian life in 1975, Bosch receives VA counseling for post-traumatic stress (PTS), insomnia, and claustrophobia, and wavers between crime and justice...