The Hollow Characters

Harry Bosch is the novel's central investigator, a homicide detective haunted by MacLaren and by old cases. He revisits Jennifer Talbot's murder, refuses his MacLaren settlement to pursue Charles Lamb's death, and joins both Renée Ballard's cold-case work and a federal task force targeting Novak. He is driven by a need to honor the dead and by his own history in the MacLaren system.

Arc: He moves from seeking the sealed MacLaren discovery to identifying Nick Stokely as Nikolai Novak, survives abduction, and helps expose Novak's stolen missiles. Though Cutler removes him from the task force, Bosch keeps pursuing the case and later confronts Novak at Lompoc.

• Gregory Talbot — suspect he confronts at Jennifer's grave and later helps arrest
• Jennifer Talbot — murder victim in the cold case he investigates
• Renée Ballard — LAPD colleague and cold-case collaborator
• Charles Lamb — friend from MacLaren whose death he investigates
• Mickey Haller — half brother and lawyer
• Carmen Hinojos — former therapist and romantic companion
• Maddie Bosch — his daughter
• Nikolai Novak — adversary and suspect in Charles Lamb's murder
• Anton Cerny — MacLaren director he investigates
• Vernon Bishop — former MacLaren probation officer he questions
• Gail Sears — memory-recovery collaborator
• Tomas Novotny — captive he confronts in the riverbed and later escorts to sheriffs
• Slobodan Marek — Novak associate who pursues him
• Sidewalls — Novak henchman who abducts him
• Topknot — Novak henchman he later disables
• Daniel Cutler — assistant US attorney who recruits and later removes him
• Agent Cavanaugh — FBI agent who distrusts him and is killed in the container explosion
• Steve Shear — task-force colleague and ally
• Natalia Dvorak Sjovald — witness he pressures into admitting Novak's alibi was false
• Lucia Soto — former LAPD partner who finds the brass pipe
• Robert Walker — squatter he finds at MacLaren and tries to protect
• Dave Tepps — sheriff's cold-case sergeant who gives him the murder books
• Lorna Taylor — Haller's office manager who helps him access discovery
• Russ Kuster — homicide supervisor who sends him to the Wonderland scene
• Phil Rickard — academy classmate and patrol officer at the scene
• Bechtel — MacLaren guard who chases him during his escape

Nikolai "Nicky" Novak is the head of the Spolu and a target of the federal task force, known at MacLaren as Nick Stokely. He is a bully and suspected killer of Charles Lamb, and he is suspected of involvement in the Wonderland murders. He is also tied to stolen Hellfire missiles and Hydra rockets.

Arc: He moves from a surveilled mobster to Bosch's captor, revealing the missile location under threat. He later pleads guilty under RICO to a forty-two-year sentence, admits killing Charles Lamb and being at Wonderland, and is arrested by Ballard for four first-degree murders.

• Harry Bosch — adversary who investigates his past and captures him
• Charles Lamb — boy he bullied at MacLaren and later admitted killing
• Anton Cerny — MacLaren director Bosch theorizes protected and placed him
• Mikhail Novak — adoptive father and Spolu founder
• Judita Novak — possible adoptive mother
• Slobodan Marek — longtime associate found dead in his garage van
• Sidewalls — subordinate who guards and abducts Bosch
• Topknot — subordinate who abducts Bosch
• Natalia Dvorak Sjovald — coerced her into providing his hotel alibi
• Daniel Cutler — prosecutor who negotiates his plea deal
• Renée Ballard — detective who arrests him for four murders

Gregory Talbot is Jennifer Talbot's estranged first husband and the suspect in her murder. He confronts Bosch at Jennifer's grave, blames her for laughing at him, and is recorded telling Gloria that Bosch has nothing and that they have done it before. He is arrested after the cemetery recording is played.

Arc: He moves from a suspect confronting Bosch at the grave to a defendant arrested for Jennifer's murder. His defense later tries to suppress the cemetery recording.

• Jennifer Talbot — his estranged first wife and murder victim
• Gloria Talbot — his wife and possible accomplice
• Harry Bosch — adversary who investigates and confronts him
• Renée Ballard — detective who arrests him
• Ted Garland — his attorney

Renée Ballard is an LAPD detective who runs the cold-case surveillance of Gregory Talbot and later works with Bosch on the Talbot and Novak cases. She gives Bosch sheriff's cold-case contacts, leads the Talbot search and arrest, and later updates Bosch on the suppression hearing. She is practical, protective of her team, and willing to use pressure to build a case.

Arc: She moves from building the Talbot cold-case prosecution to arresting the Talbots and later helping Bosch and the task force with search warrants and evidence. She continues to keep Bosch informed about the Talbot case and the brass pipe.

• Harry Bosch — LAPD colleague and cold-case collaborator
• Tom Laffont — volunteer on her cold-case unit
• John Osmond — tech-unit member on her surveillance
• Paul Masser — volunteer former prosecutor she consults
• Gregory Talbot — suspect she arrests
• Gloria Talbot — suspect she arrests and advises to get her own lawyer
• Nikolai Novak — suspect she later arrests for four murders
• Dave Tepps — sheriff's cold-case contact she recommends

Charles Lamb, called Chops, is a Black boy Bosch befriends at MacLaren in the 1960s. He works in the Mac kitchen with Harry and receives Harry's transistor radio before Harry leaves. His death in the hollow at MacLaren becomes the cold case Bosch investigates.

Arc: His death moves from a buried MacLaren case to a central murder investigation for Bosch. Novak later admits killing him, and his murder becomes part of the RICO plea and later state murder arrest.

• Harry Bosch — friend and kitchen co-worker at MacLaren
• Nikolai Novak — bully at MacLaren and admitted killer
• Vernon Bishop — probation officer who recalled moving his body
• Kevin Rance — other child named in his disciplinary reports
• Eaton — boy who tells him to sit at segregated tables
• Stokely — bully who slaps him at MacLaren

Mickey Haller is Bosch's half brother and lawyer. He handles Bosch's MacLaren lawsuit settlement, explains the tiered payouts, and agrees to give Bosch the sealed discovery before deletion if Bosch considers the money. He later resists revealing sealed juvenile and adoption records but helps Bosch trace names.

Arc: He moves from trying to persuade Bosch to take the MacLaren settlement to helping him access discovery and later searching MacLaren plaintiffs for Novak-related names.

• Harry Bosch — half brother and lawyer
• Lorna Taylor — office manager and second ex-wife
• Charles Lamb — refers to him as Chops in conversation with Bosch

Jennifer Talbot is the murder victim in the cold case Bosch revisits. She was found beaten to death twenty-five years earlier, with her apartment staged to look like an intruder attack and tulips left as misdirection. Her grave visit by Gregory Talbot triggers the surveillance and later arrest.

Arc: She remains a murder victim whose case moves from an old cold case to a renewed prosecution. Bosch repeatedly thinks of her waiting for justice.

• Gregory Talbot — her estranged first husband and suspected killer
• Gloria Talbot — Gregory's wife and former mistress
• Harry Bosch — investigator of her murder

Gloria Talbot is Gregory Talbot's wife and possible accomplice in Jennifer Talbot's murder. She is heard on the bugged call worrying that Bosch will not give up and telling Talbot not to speak ill of the dead. She is arrested after the recording is played.

Arc: She moves from a suspect in the cemetery surveillance to a co-defendant arrested with Gregory. The prosecution hopes she will flip and accept a deal before the suppression ruling.

• Gregory Talbot — her husband and co-defendant
• Jennifer Talbot — murder victim in the case against her
• Harry Bosch — fears him and is heard discussing him on the recording
• Renée Ballard — detective who arrests her
• Dylan Ross — her attorney

Carmen Hinojos is Bosch's former LAPD therapist and current romantic companion. She questions why he is investigating Lamb's death now, listens to his MacLaren account, and asks whether guilt is driving him. She also explains secondary nocturnal enuresis and how fear and bullying can cause bedwetting.

Arc: She remains a supportive but probing presence, helping Bosch interpret his past while maintaining her own boundaries. She agrees to join Bosch, his daughter, and her boyfriend at the Pacific Jazz Orchestra and later gives him a rain check on dinner.

• Harry Bosch — former therapist and romantic companion

Maddie Bosch is Harry Bosch's daughter, a patrol cop, and an Open-Unsolved Unit volunteer on the warehouse search team. She is warned by Bosch after Novak's security sees her photo in uniform. She later confirms she is safe after the container explosion and helps update Ballard.

Arc: She moves from being a daughter Bosch must warn about Novak to an active volunteer on the warehouse search. She remains concerned for her father and works alongside his colleagues.

• Harry Bosch — her father
• Renée Ballard — colleague she is with at Ahmanson
• Lucia Soto — search-team colleague
• Nikolai Novak — Novak's security saw her photo in uniform

Daniel Cutler is the assistant US attorney leading the federal task force against Nikolai Novak. He questions Bosch, reveals the investigation into Novak and the Spolu, and recruits Bosch as a non-sworn consultant. He later negotiates with Novak and tells Bosch he is out after the container explosion.

Arc: He moves from recruiting Bosch to control the Novak investigation to removing him after agents are lost. He continues negotiating Novak's plea deal and handling the missile threat.

• Harry Bosch — recruits him, later removes him, and negotiates confidentiality
• Agent Cavanaugh — FBI agent on his task force
• Nikolai Novak — defendant whose plea deal he negotiates

Agent Cavanaugh is an FBI agent on the Novak task force who distrusts Bosch and tries to keep him confined to the task force room. He objects to Bosch being on searches and warns against disseminating information from the investigation. He is killed when the cargo container explodes at the port.

Arc: He moves from opposing Bosch's involvement to being killed during the missile inspection. His death becomes part of the operation's scrutiny and blame.

• Harry Bosch — FBI agent who distrusts and opposes him
• Daniel Cutler — works with him on the Novak task force
• Agent Singer — FBI partner
• Tomas Novotny — Novotny's only L.A. contact

Steve Shear is an ATF/task-force colleague who briefs Bosch about the Prague shipping container and the stolen Hellfire missiles and Hydra rockets. He explains why the task force wants Bosch inside the operation and later defends Bosch's value to the investigation. He finds the dental-examination setup during the warehouse search.

Arc: He moves from briefing Bosch over a drink to working alongside him on the warehouse search. He calls Cavanaugh after Bosch connects the pressure tanks to the missile photo.

• Harry Bosch — task-force colleague and ally
• Agent Cavanaugh — task-force colleague
• Daniel Cutler — task-force colleague
• Maddie Bosch — takes over her search corner

Anton Cerny was MacLaren's longtime director and is alleged to have covered up Charles Lamb's murder. Under hypnosis, Vernon Bishop says Cerny ordered him to move Chops's body from the QR to a bed in the gym. Bosch also theorizes Cerny orchestrated Stokely's adoption into the Spolu.

Arc: He remains a dead figure whose past decisions explain MacLaren's cover-up and Novak's path. Bosch researches his obituary and Czech-community ties.

• Vernon Bishop — his subordinate at MacLaren
• Charles Lamb — ordered Bishop to move the dead child
• Nikolai Novak — MacLaren boy he allegedly protected and placed
• Mikhail Novak — likely knew him

Vernon Bishop is a former MacLaren probation officer now suffering stage-six dementia at the Memory Institute. He once slapped Bosch hard enough to leave a red imprint. Under hypnosis he recalls being hit by a plate and says he moved Chops's body on Cerny's order.

Arc: He moves from a dementia patient who cannot recall the past to a hypnotic witness who reveals MacLaren's cover-up. His memories give Bosch the link between Stokely, Chops, and Cerny.

• Harry Bosch — former MacLaren probation officer who once slapped Bosch
• Gail Sears — his therapist and lead memory subject
• Anton Cerny — his boss at MacLaren
• Charles Lamb — dead child whose body he says he moved
• Nikolai Novak — boy he says threw the plate and whom he put in the QR

Gail Sears is the therapist at the Memory Institute who treats Vernon Bishop and explains his stage-six dementia. She agrees to ask Bosch's questions during a hypnotherapy session if he supplies a MacLaren smell as a memory prompt. She conducts the session using the plate, Salisbury steak scent, and 1965 Muzak.

Arc: She moves from cautious gatekeeper to collaborator who helps recover Bishop's memories. She later offers to hypnotize Bosch to explore his own MacLaren memories.

• Vernon Bishop — her hypnotherapy patient
• Harry Bosch — collaborator and observer in the session
• Gina — receptionist who checks visitor approval with her

Tomas Novotny, cover name Ivanec Zednik, is the man Bosch knows as Zed. He is with the Czech Security Information Service and was infiltrating Novak's organization. He helps Bosch escape when he tackles Novak in the stripped MacLaren building.

Arc: He moves from Novak's apparent accomplice to an undercover Czech security officer. He is later taken to the Roybal for debriefing after Bosch holds him at gunpoint.

• Harry Bosch — held at gunpoint by Bosch, then escorted to the sheriffs
• Nikolai Novak — organization he infiltrated
• Slobodan Marek — Novak associate he hid from
• Agent Cavanaugh — his only L.A. contact, killed in the explosion

Slobodan Marek, called Slow, is a longtime Novak associate who has been with him since he was a teenager. He gives Novak Bosch's boot gun, investigates noise inside MacLaren, and pursues Bosch during his escape. He is later found dead in the white van in Novak's garage.

Arc: He moves from Novak's pursuing henchman to one of the three bodies Bosch finds in the garage van. His death is part of the evidence against Novak.

• Nikolai Novak — longtime associate and accomplice
• Sidewalls — fellow heavy
• Harry Bosch — captor who pursues him

Sidewalls is one of Novak's guards and henchmen. He punches Bosch, takes his wallet and phone, unlocks the phone, and brings Novak to question him. He later sits inside Bosch's house with a Glock and shoves Bosch onto the deck.

Arc: He remains a violent subordinate following Novak's orders through the abduction. He is present in the van and at MacLaren as Bosch is moved.

• Nikolai Novak — his boss
• Topknot — his partner
• Harry Bosch — assaults and abducts him
• Tomas Novotny — distrusts him

Topknot is one of Novak's guards and henchmen. He helps abduct Bosch, holds him in the garage, returns his binoculars, and searches him for weapons. He is later disabled by Bosch at the drop-off.

Arc: He remains a subordinate following Novak's orders until Bosch slaps his ears, knees him, and leaves in his car. He appears later with a broken nose and stitches.

• Nikolai Novak — his boss
• Sidewalls — his partner
• Harry Bosch — abducts him and is later attacked by him

Natalia Dvorak Sjovald is the woman who long provided Nicky Novak's hotel alibi. She initially repeats the story but admits under Bosch's pressure that she lied about room 902 and the sunset. She says her father and Nick forced her to lie and that Nick threatened to take her daughters.

Arc: She moves from a stubborn alibi witness to a coerced witness who admits the lie. Her admission exposes the weakness in Novak's alibi.

• Nikolai Novak — coerced her into providing his alibi
• Harry Bosch — interviews and pressures her
• Henrik Sjovald — her husband

Eddie Nash was a major drug trafficker robbed and humiliated by Ron Launius's gang. He was tried as the mastermind of the Wonderland massacre and later took responsibility for ordering it. He later took a federal fraud deal admitting culpability in the Wonderland murders and received a three-year sentence.

Arc: His lenient outcome distresses Bosch and sharpens Bosch's determination not to let Novak bargain away murder charges. His connection to the Novaks also links the Wonderland case to Nicky Novak.

• Ron Launius — man who robbed and humiliated him
• John Holmes — customer who betrayed him
• Mikhail Novak — business associate
• Nikolai Novak — possibly recruited through Mikhail Novak

Mikhail Novak was the founder of the Spolu in California in the 1950s and its leader for almost four decades. He died in prison in 1991 and was Nikolai Novak's adoptive father. Bosch also theorizes Anton Cerny knew Mikhail and orchestrated Stokely's adoption.

Arc: He remains a dead criminal patriarch whose organization and connections explain Nikolai's rise. His ties to Eddie Nash and Anton Cerny help link the MacLaren and Wonderland investigations.

• Nikolai Novak — adoptive son
• Anton Cerny — Bosch says Cerny likely knew him
• Eddie Nash — business associate

Judita Novak is named by Lorna Taylor as a possible adoptive parent of Nick Stokely, paired with Mikhail Novak. The notes give no further actions or details about her.

Arc: She does not appear directly; her name helps Bosch trace Stokely's possible adoption into the Novak family.

• Mikhail Novak — named with him as possible adoptive parent
• Nikolai Novak — possible adoptive mother

Tom Laffont is a volunteer on Ballard's cold-case unit who helps Bosch into the surveillance van and monitors Talbot. He urges arresting both Talbots and later rides with Bosch to the Van Nuys staging area. He offers to check old FBI records about a MacLaren whistleblower.

Arc: He moves from surveillance support to participating in the Talbot arrest and search. He remains a colleague who helps Bosch look for records connected to MacLaren.

• Renée Ballard — volunteer on her cold-case unit
• Harry Bosch — colleague in the surveillance van and ride-along

John "Ozzie" Osmond is the tech-unit member who operates the monitoring and recording equipment in Ballard's surveillance van. He worries about losing the two-hundred-dollar bug. He is later subpoenaed as part of the cemetery-caper team but is not called to testify.

Arc: He remains a technical support figure whose equipment captures the Talbot recording. His bug becomes central evidence in the suppression hearing.

• Renée Ballard — tech support on her surveillance
• Harry Bosch — tech on the cemetery-caper team

Paul Masser is a volunteer former prosecutor on Ballard's cold-case unit. He is consulted about whether the recorded Talbot conversation can support filing a case. He is present at the Talbot house operation.

Arc: He remains a legal adviser helping Ballard assess the Talbot evidence. His role supports the filing and arrest.

• Renée Ballard — volunteer former prosecutor on her cold-case unit

Lorna Taylor is Mickey Haller's office manager and second ex-wife. She greets Bosch at Haller's office, sets him up in the Faraday cage, and helps him search and print the MacLaren discovery. She later texts Bosch the names Mikhail and Judita Novak.

Arc: She moves from assisting Bosch with the Charles Lamb discovery to helping him trace Novak-related names. She remains a helpful, adept office contact.

• Mickey Haller — office manager and second ex-wife
• Harry Bosch — acquaintance who helps him access discovery

Dave Tepps is a sheriff's cold-case sergeant who meets Bosch at the homicide bureau. He gives Bosch the Charles Lamb murder book and says no copies are allowed. He later retrieves the Lorraine Henderson murder book and searches for another missing file.

Arc: He remains a cautious but helpful contact who gives Bosch access to cold-case files. His inability to find one file underscores the gaps in the MacLaren record.

• Renée Ballard — colleague who vouches for Bosch
• Harry Bosch — gives him access to sheriff's cold-case files

Lorraine Henderson was a fourteen-year-old found beaten to death next to a rec field wall at MacLaren on January 4, 1966. The autopsy concluded the fatal attack was part of an attempted rape that was not completed. Bosch reviews her murder book and suspects her killing may be by the same hands as Lamb's.

Arc: Her case remains a cold MacLaren murder that Bosch links to Lamb's death. Novak later admits being at Wonderland but the notes connect her case to the broader MacLaren violence.

• Harry Bosch — reviews her murder book and suspects a link to Lamb's killing
• Nikolai Novak — Bosch asks Novak about her at Lompoc

Robert Walker, called Bobby Walker, is found squatting in the hollow at the abandoned MacLaren complex. He tells Bosch he came back after Soledad and has nowhere else to go. He is later found inside MacLaren Hall executed with a contact wound to the forehead.

Arc: He moves from a homeless squatter Bosch encounters to the one casualty found inside MacLaren after the abduction. His death adds to the violence surrounding the case.

• Harry Bosch — squatter he encounters and tries to protect

Lucia Soto is Bosch's former LAPD partner who signs up for the warehouse search team at his urging. She finds the hidden brass pipe inside a PVC pipe and photographs it. She insists the pipe still must be connected to a crime.

Arc: She moves from a search-team volunteer to the discoverer of potential murder evidence. Her find links the warehouse to the Wonderland case.

• Harry Bosch — former LAPD partner who urged her to join the search team
• Maddie Bosch — colleague on the search team
• Steve Shear — fellow searcher

Ed Nachtrieb is a search-team member who uses an industrial-size bolt cutter to remove the warehouse padlocks. He helps open the Terminal Island warehouse for the task force search.

Arc: He remains a supporting searcher whose work allows the team to enter the warehouse.

• Harry Bosch — fellow search-team member

Bill Swerdlow is named as one of the original investigators on Charles Lamb's death. The thirty-day report concluded Lamb died elsewhere and his body was moved to the gym.

Arc: He remains part of the historical record showing the original investigation treated Lamb's death as a homicide with a moved body.

• Charles Lamb — original investigator on his death
• Richard Wyeth — fellow original investigator

Richard Wyeth is named as one of the original investigators on Charles Lamb's death. The thirty-day report concluded Lamb died elsewhere and his body was moved to the gym.

Arc: He remains part of the historical record showing the original investigation treated Lamb's death as a homicide with a moved body.

• Charles Lamb — original investigator on his death
• Bill Swerdlow — fellow original investigator

Franklin Gentry appears in an April 1, 1965 injury report as a probation officer treated for cuts and bruises suffered while breaking up a fight. Bosch later learns Gentry died in San Bernardino in 1993.

Arc: He remains a historical MacLaren staff figure whose injury report helps Bosch reconstruct the violence at MacLaren.

• Sheila Davies — fellow probation officer with a separate April 1 injury report

Sheila Davies appears in an April 1, 1965 injury report as a female probation officer knocked to the ground while breaking up a fight. She hit her head, reported dizziness, was kept for observation, and sent home. Bosch later learns she lives in Tampa, Florida.

Arc: She remains a historical MacLaren staff figure whose injury report helps Bosch reconstruct the violence at MacLaren.

• Franklin Gentry — fellow probation officer with a separate April 1 injury report

Kevin Rance is named in two handwritten disciplinary reports as the other child involved in fights with Charles Lamb. He appears only in the MacLaren records Bosch reads.

Arc: He remains a records figure whose name helps establish Lamb's history of conflict at MacLaren.

• Charles Lamb — named as the other combatant in disciplinary reports

Eaton is a boy at MacLaren who, with Stokely, tells Chops that the colored kids eat at the far tables. He helps enforce racial segregation in the dining hall.

Arc: He remains a minor antagonist in the MacLaren flashback, illustrating the institutional segregation Bosch remembers.

• Charles Lamb — antagonist in the dining hall
• Nikolai Novak — companion in enforcing segregation
• Harry Bosch — antagonist in the dining hall

Velvet is an older girl at the long table at MacLaren who warns Chops that he should not have been near Eaton and Stokely. She calls him little brother and helps Harry introduce him to the group.

Arc: She remains a protective figure in the MacLaren flashback, showing the social world Harry and Chops navigated.

• Charles Lamb — warns him at the long table
• Harry Bosch — knows her at MacLaren

Russ Kuster is the D-3 in charge of the homicide table and a homicide legend Bosch wants to work for. He calls the empty squad room and sends Bosch to secure the four-victim Wonderland murder scene. He instructs Bosch not to let anyone into the house until Robbery-Homicide arrives.

Arc: He remains a distant supervisor whose call gives Bosch his first direct exposure to a major homicide scene.

• Harry Bosch — his subordinate at the homicide table

Phil Rickard is a patrol officer and Bosch's academy classmate at the Wonderland scene. He guards the driveway and greets Bosch with old academy nicknames. He protests Bosch's orders but goes off to execute them.

Arc: He remains a minor patrol colleague whose interaction shows Bosch's rise from academy classmate to scene supervisor.

• Harry Bosch — academy classmate and patrol officer at the scene

Jonathan Chicquette is a former colleague who greets Bosch at the Talbot house with his K9 Si. He talks about retiring and moving to Seattle for executive-protection work. He is present for the Talbot search and arrest operation.

Arc: He remains a minor law-enforcement colleague at the Talbot operation.

• Harry Bosch — former colleague

Dr. Chaudry is the ER doctor who examines Bosch after he is punched and abducted. She reports no internal bleeding but a bruised spleen and kidney and discharges him with instructions. She later calls to check on his recovery.

Arc: She remains a treating physician whose calls mark Bosch's recovery after the Novak abduction.

• Harry Bosch — her patient

Andrea Soderberg is a hospital social worker who questions Bosch about his injury under hospital elder-abuse policy. She threatens a police report if he will not talk. Bosch refuses to name anyone to her.

Arc: She remains a minor hospital official whose questioning Bosch avoids.

• Harry Bosch — hospital social worker questioning him

Agent Singer is an FBI agent and Cavanaugh's partner. He approaches Bosch outside Cedars-Sinai and helps bring him in to Cutler. He later explains that the bomb expert may have closed the container doors and that Cavanaugh was divorced with two teenagers.

Arc: He remains a supporting FBI agent through the Novak investigation and the aftermath of the container explosion.

• Agent Cavanaugh — FBI partner
• Daniel Cutler — works with him on the Novak task force
• Harry Bosch — FBI agent who helps bring him in

Fedir is a Ukraine contact who calls Novak's satellite phone and asks for "Nikolai." He refuses to leave a message beyond telling him to call back and says he will tell only Novak.

Arc: He remains a brief phone contact whose call reveals the Ukraine link to Novak's weapons dealings.

• Nikolai Novak — asks for Nikolai and will speak only to him
• Harry Bosch — speaks briefly with Bosch when Bosch answers Novak's phone

Ermides is a lawn-maintenance worker Bosch hires for fifty dollars to retrieve his laptop from the slope below the deck. He asks how the laptop fell and does not look like he believes Bosch's explanation.

Arc: He remains a minor helper after the break-in at Bosch's home.

• Harry Bosch — man who hires him to retrieve the laptop

Edward R. Leibowitz is the judge who convenes the hearing on the defense motion to suppress the cemetery recording. He questions counsel, sustains and overrules objections, and calls the attorneys into chambers. He sets time limits for oral arguments and later rules the wire recording can be used as evidence.

Arc: He moves from presiding over the suppression hearing to ruling against the defense. His ruling keeps the Talbot recording in the case.

• Harry Bosch — judge presiding over a hearing involving Bosch as witness
• Ted Garland — defense attorney appearing before him
• Dylan Ross — defense attorney appearing before him
• Pam Winston — prosecutor appearing before him

Ted Garland is the lead defense attorney for Gregory Talbot. He argues the cemetery recording was illegally obtained without a warrant and should be suppressed as fruit of the poisonous tree. He cross-examines Bosch about his investigation and past conduct.

Arc: He remains the defense advocate trying to exclude the recording and later seeking bail reduction. His motion is ultimately rejected.

• Gregory Talbot — his client
• Dylan Ross — fellow defense attorney
• Harry Bosch — witness he cross-examines

Dylan Ross is Gloria Talbot's defense attorney who adds to Garland's argument that the recording was ill-gotten gains. He also adds an entrapment claim during oral argument. After the hearing he receives Winston's message that the offer to the wife remains good until the ruling.

Arc: He remains a defense attorney trying to suppress the recording and later conveying the prosecution's offer to Gloria.

• Gloria Talbot — his client
• Ted Garland — fellow defense attorney
• Pam Winston — opposing prosecutor

Pam Winston is the deputy district attorney handling the suppression hearing. She argues no warrant was required to record in a public cemetery and calls the entrapment argument laughable. She later explains that if Gloria flips, the Fourth Amendment issues become moot.

Arc: She moves from defending the recording against suppression to pressing the wife to accept a deal before the ruling. Her argument helps keep the evidence in the case.

• Harry Bosch — prosecutor cross-examining him
• Ted Garland — opposing defense counsel
• Dylan Ross — opposing defense counsel
• Edward R. Leibowitz — judge before whom she appears

Mr. Pierce is the foster parent whose house young Harry returns to in the 1965 flashback. He puts on a welcoming act in front of the police, then backhands Harry after they leave. He calls Harry's tattoo a sin, refuses to give him his money, and sends him back to MacLaren.

Arc: He remains a punitive foster parent whose rejection sends Harry back to MacLaren and deepens his distrust.

• Harry Bosch — boy in his house whom he punishes and sends back
• Mrs. Pierce — his wife

Mrs. Pierce is Mr. Pierce's wife and the woman whose kindness young Harry liked. She is at church when Harry returns to the house. Harry asks Mr. Pierce to tell her goodbye.

Arc: She remains a brief memory of kindness in Harry's MacLaren past.

• Mr. Pierce — her husband
• Harry Bosch — boy who liked her kindness

Spencer is a Poe at MacLaren who tells Harry that Chops, also called Lamb, is dead and that the sheriffs are handling the case. He provides the first news of Chops's death after Harry returns to MacLaren.

Arc: He remains a minor MacLaren staff figure whose news marks the loss that drives Bosch's later investigation.

• Harry Bosch — Poe at MacLaren who tells him about Chops

Bechtel is a MacLaren guard who sneaks into the supply truck to steal goods while guarding the open gate. Harry traps him inside, and Bechtel escapes through the front and chases Harry. He falls on the downslope into the water but stops the chase and raises his middle finger in a final salute.

Arc: He remains part of Harry's escape story, representing the pursuing authority Harry outruns.

• Harry Bosch — guard he chases after being trapped

Worthington is a dishwasher at MacLaren who accepts five dollars from Harry to tell Lester he is sick so Harry can work the Hobart machine. He helps enable Harry's kitchen duty.

Arc: He remains a minor figure in Harry's escape plan.

• Harry Bosch — dishwasher bribed by him
• Lester — kitchen manager he reports sick to

Lester is the MacLaren kitchen manager who allows Harry to work in the kitchen and brings the supplies list to the deliveryman. His routine helps Harry set up his escape.

Arc: He remains a minor figure in Harry's escape plan.

• Harry Bosch — kitchen manager who allows him to work
• Worthington — dishwasher who calls in sick

Gina is the receptionist at the Memory Institute where Vernon Bishop is cared for. She checks whether Bosch is on the family-approved visitor list and tells him Bishop might not remember him. She goes to check with Dr. Gail about Bosch's request.

Arc: She remains a minor facility gatekeeper who follows visitor approval procedure.

• Vernon Bishop — receptionist at his care facility
• Gail Sears — goes to get approval from her
• Harry Bosch — handles his visitor request

Ron Launius was a drug dealer, armed robber, murder suspect, and leader of the Laurel Canyon Gang. He was killed in the Wonderland massacre after his gang robbed and humiliated Eddie Nash. His robbery triggers the retaliation that becomes the Wonderland case.

Arc: He remains a historical figure in the Wonderland murder books Bosch reviews for leverage against Novak.

• Eddie Nash — robbed and humiliated him
• John Holmes — customer who suggested Nash as a target

John Holmes was a pornography star and addict who suggested Eddie Nash as a robbery target and left a door unlocked for the robbers. After Nash discovered his betrayal, Holmes was beaten and forced to lead killers to the Wonderland house. He remains part of the Wonderland background Bosch reads.

Arc: He remains a historical figure whose betrayal helps explain the Wonderland massacre.

• Eddie Nash — drug supplier he betrayed
• Ron Launius — drug supplier and associate he suggested the robbery to

Paul Callan is an ex-cop and longtime friend of Bosch who died five months before the events. Bosch uses his name as a cover when Novak questions him about why he is near the house. Novak checks the contact in Bosch's phone and accepts the story.

Arc: He does not appear; his name serves as Bosch's cover and is checked in Novak's phone.

• Harry Bosch — dead friend whose name Bosch uses as cover
• Nikolai Novak — name checked as Bosch's cover story