Fed up with the hypocrisy of the LAPD, Harry Bosch has resigned and is forced to find a new way of life. But retirement doesn't suit him. He has always devoted himself to justice and is still drawn toward protecting—or avenging—those whom the law has failed.

When he left the LAPD, Bosch took a file with him, the case of a murder on a movie set during a two million dollar robbery four years earlier. The LAPD—now operating under post 9/11 rules—believe the stolen money was used to finance a terrorist training camp. Thoughts of the original murder victim are lost in the federal zeal, and when it seems the killer will be set free to aid the feds' terrorist hunt, Bosch quickly finds himself in conflict with both his old colleagues and the FBI. He cannot rest until he finds the killer—with or without a badge.

Michael Connelly received the Maltese Falcon Award from the Maltese Falcon Society of Japan for Lost Light, which was judged the best private eye novel published in Japan in the previous year. This is Michael Connelly's second Falcon Award, his first being for The Black Ice.