Things have never brought any kind of happiness for Harry Bosch in his life. He has saved many yet many have gone to the gallows in front of him so life as a whole has not been very pretty for him. Though he has tried to save innocent people all the time and has done a lot of effort to bring criminals to justice he hasn’t been with a hundred percent success rate.
Well being human there is always a margin for error but Harry Bosch does not believe in this thing. He thinks that the life of the innocent depends on his performance and that failing in a mission means compromising the life of an innocent.
Thirteen years ago he failed to save the twenty two year old Marie Gesto who was never found after being abducted. Till the present day, Harry carries her file with him or keeps that file on his desk because he does not consider that the case is solved or closed. Now a killer gets caught and Harry is asked to take his confession because he is the one who killed Marie Gesto as well.
For Harry, this is a nightmare because he finally realizes what he missed thirteen years ago and it resulted in nine more murders. Author Michael Connelly gives Harry the guilt which eats him up from the inside. The Poet and Desert Star showed the strong side of Harry Bosch but here Len Cariou narrates the character of a man who feels broken from the inside. He thinks that he is the reason behind everything and because of his mistake the criminal was able to commit such crimes.