Michael Connelly is the man behind some of the most compelling detectives in fiction, especially in Los Angeles, but the man is such a good writer that you can still take one of his characters, plop them onto a scenic island 22 miles off the coast of the City of Angels, surrounded by tourists, hiking trails, and enough ocean to make you think “well, there won’t be any trouble here” and somehow under a palm tree, you find a dead body and a criminal conspiracy.
That is very much the case in Ironwood, the latest novel in Connelly’s growing Catalina series. The new book brings back Detective Sergeant Stilwell, who was first introduced in Nightshade, as he tries to keep Catalina Island from becoming an extension of the worst of Los Angeles County’s criminal world. But when a late-night drug drop at the island’s Airport in the Sky goes violently wrong, Stilwell finds himself caught up in an internal inquiry that leaves him sidelined just when he needs to get his boots on the ground.
So, determined to find out who’s behind the violence on this calm and chill island, Stilwell goes rogue and launches his own off-the-books investigation. That search soon leads him to a long-unclaimed backpack connected to a woman who vanished while hiking on the island four years earlier, and eventually to a very familiar face.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Renée Ballard Joins the Catalina Series
Ironwood brings Renée Ballard into the story when Stilwell’s investigation leads him to the LAPD’s Open-Unsolved Unit. Working from opposite sides of the channel, Ballard and Stilwell uncover a case involving a criminal who seems to enjoy taunting the authorities just as much as avoiding them. The official synopsis states:
“Sworn to protect a scenic island meant to be far from the evils of the mainland, Detective Sergeant Stilwell can feel danger closing in. Stilwell knows that his posting on Catalina Island is no paradise, but to most residents, it seems blissfully separated—by twenty-two miles of ocean—from the troubles of Los Angeles County. But now a threat is coming to his safe haven.”
Ironwood is the second book in Connelly’s Catalina series, following Nightshade. HBO Max is also developing Nightshade as a new police drama titled Welcome to Catalina, with David E. Kelley attached to adapt the series.
The book is available now in print, eBook, and audiobook formats, with Will Damron narrating the audio edition. Stay tuned to Collider for more Bosch updates.
