Product Description

The shooting of a Chinese liquor store owner in LA brings Harry Bosch back to the Rodney King riots and the moment a stranger gave a young cop sanctuary. Now the debt must be repaid, and Harry soon discovers the old man's death was no ordinary holdup. Homing in on clues disregarded by the cops on the scene, Harry builds a picture of corruption and intimidation, with the local Triads at the heart of it. But as he tries to build a case and breach the impenetrable wall of silence in the local community, he finds he is taking a dragon by the tail - a dragon whose talons reach well beyond LA, and even the States. Suddenly the most precious thing in Harry's life is under threat, and he will need to leave the familiarity of his home turf, alone and without backup, if he is going to stop his worst nightmare from happening.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #113 in Books
• Published on: 2009-10-01
• Released on: 2009-10-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
If you're an admirer of American crime writing, have you ever stopped to realise just how lucky you are at present? Although the Grim Reaper has recently taken such great names in the field as James Crumley and Donald Westlake, there are (happily) several major talents still at work producing some marvellous work. There is, of course, the holy trinity of James Lee Burke, Elmore Leonard and James Ellroy. But let's not forget Robert Crais. And let’s certainly not forget the subject of this piece, Michael Connelly. Via his remarkable series of novels featuring tough L.A. cop Harry Bosch, Connelly has been quietly delivering one of the most accomplished sequences of crime novels in any country -- achievement enough for any writer, one would have thought. But then Connelly wrote The Lincoln Lawyer, which turned out to be his breakthrough book. This was the novel that introduced low-rent lawyer Mickey Haller -- a man who could hardly be said to have been at the top of his profession, but who has already proved to be a firm reader favourite

Nine Dragons marks the return of Harry Bosch, but this is not quite the character we have encountered in recent books -- because of a particularly personal involvement here, Harry finds himself acting as he did in his immediate post-Vietnam days and behaving like a force of chaos. But the reasons are easy to see. In Los Angeles, a Chinese liquor store owner is killed in what appears to be a shakedown for the triads (the retailer, Mr Li, was under the thumb of a protection racket). Harry Bosch realises that the case is not quite as straightforward as it initially seemed, and finds himself taking on some very dangerous opponents. However, he has an area of vulnerability has not taken into consideration. Harry's estranged wife lives in Hong Kong with her new Chinese lover -- and Harry’s daughter. To his horror, Harry discovers that his daughter has been kidnapped, and takes the first plane to Hong Kong. His problems there are threefold: to save the life of his child as the sands of time run out, to deal with conflict with the local force (and its Asian Gangs Unit) and (perhaps his most difficult challenge) to come to terms with the ways in which he has abdicated from his duties as a father.

Despite the globe-hopping scenario, this is not as complex a Michael Connelly novel as some we have enjoyed recently, but we are in the presence of a writer whose professionalism and skill is never in any doubt. If Nine Dragons is not quite Connelly firing on all cylinders, it’s still streets ahead of most of his competition. --Barry Forshaw

Review
'a corker ... Nine Dragons resorts to his most famous and enduring creation, LAPD detective Harry Bosch. This time the stakes have never been more compelling, or personal. .... Connelly manages to make Hong Kong every bit as vivid and dangerous as his depictions of LA. What's more, with Bosch on personal overdrive, the tension and pace he builds has never been greater, or more pertinent.' (Henry Sutton THE MIRROR )

'the plot twists twice in the final pages to create an astonishing climax to a thriller not short of heart-in-the-mouth moments. Its hard to keep a long-running crime series fresh yet in Nine Dragons Michael Connelly not only takes heroic Bosch ot new places but changes his life forever. He just gets better and better.' (Mark Sanderson EVENING STANDARD )

'One day HBO will make a TV series of Bosch and the wider world will wake up to Connelly's talent' (GQ )

'Each new book adds another string to Connelly's bow' (THE INDEPENDENT )

About the Author
A former police reporter for the LOS ANGELES TIMES, Michael Connelly is the author of the acclaimed Harry Bosch thriller series and several other bestselling novels. He lives in Tampa, Florida, with his wife and daughter.

Customer Reviews

Connelly Delivers a Very Good Harry Bosch Novel
I've been counting down the days until the appearance of this latest instalment in the Harry Bosch series from one of the biggest guns in the genre, Michael Connelly. I was halfway through `City of Lies' by R J Ellory when Connelly came-a-calling and he's one of the few writers for whom I'd have no question in laying down another author's work to finish later. Such was the case here; few crime writers are as dependable as Michael Connelly at providing a top-class read; he very rarely disappoints.

In `Nine Dragons', LAPD detective Harry Bosch and his partner Ignacio Ferras cover for another unit by investigating the shooting of an elderly Chinese store owner in a predominantly black neighbourhood. Bosch however reads the clues and susses out that there's a triad angle (sorry!) to the killing. Once again Ferras is a mostly ineffectual presence and Bosch acquires a new de facto partner for the case - David Chu from the force's Asian Gang Unit.

After arresting a triad extortionist there appear to be leaks in the investigation and Bosch is advised by unknown persons to back off from the case. Then he's knocked sideways when a video is sent to his cell phone; his daughter Madeline has been abducted in Hong Kong where she lives with her mother, and Bosch's ex-wife, Eleanor Wish. The biggest section of the book involves Bosch flying to Hong Kong (specifically Kowloon) to get her back. Here he steps into a strange world of bizarre customs where a sinister omnipotent force (the triads) holds sway.

This section has obvious parallels with the recent thriller movie `Taken' starring Liam Neeson. I don't wish to underline and belabour the similarities, but those who've seen the movie will take my point.

There are less internal politics in 'Nine Dragons': Bosch both gets on well (or at least as well as Harry ever gets on with ANYONE!) and respects his immediate boss Lieutenant Gandle, and the feeling is mutual. He's finally appreciated - long gone are the days where Bosch was a loose cannon within LAPD, railing against the superiors whom he held in utter contempt.

Harry Bosch is a magnetic presence within the pages of a novel; he has very view quirks, other than his obsessive love of jazz and while he has a past-life killing tunnel rats in Vietnam, Connelly never overplays this. Although he's psychologically damaged, he's a straight-shooting, dependable, no-nonsense character who always likes to keep an investigation moving, while his acute mind often keeps him a step ahead of everyone else. He does get things wrong at times - he is human after all - but he usually comes good in the end. He doesn't do humour, and there's not much place for sentimentality in his life. Here he is accused of racism at one point, but he quickly slaps this down and admonishes his accuser.

`Nine Dragons', delivers a good double whammy twist ending and there's also a nice appearance by an old friend that all adds to the enjoyment. However, it follows hot on the heels of his last novel `The Scarecrow' and occasionally shows some signs of hasty writing; there are a few passages where there are repetitions of common words in close proximity when there are perfectly adequate synonyms available. The plot is also a little underdeveloped in places.

Connelly's prose is as always spare and functional; above all else he's a master story-teller, rather than a writing stylist. Yet he is capable of being poetic at times, and the juxtaposition of these passages next to the pragmatic prose makes them hit home harder.

'Nine Dragons' is a very good read, but for me it doesn't resonate with the same power as, say `The Last Coyote' or `Lost Light' or ........... (insert your own favourite Bosch novel here). I've knocked my rating down a star, because Connelly has set the bar so high, but I imagine `Nine Dragons' will satisfy most fans of the writer, and do a lot more than that for others.

It's in line with his earlier Bosch tales
The setting is half in the US and half in Hong Kong. He shows us an americans superficial if geographically correct view of HK. If Italy is all 'Pasta and Mafia' then HK must be 'fried food and Triads'. He makes a serious mistake of saying that they speak Mandarin in HK and not Cantonese. Other than these criticisms it's entertaining, well constructed and well worth a read if you liked the Bosch character and have read some earlier ones.

Bosch in unfamiliar territory
I'm a little unsure about how to rate this latest Harry Bosch story. On one hand you have lots of classic Harry Bosch moments, which should keep long time fans happy, and there's the change of environment which keep things interesting and fresh. However, there's also the worrying aspects of Connolly's recent books in evidence here, the plot which seems a little predictable at times, the recycling of previous books and the formulaic writing style.

Taking Harry off home turf and into Hong Kong provides the opportunity for some new challenges. He's also on emotionally unfamiliar ground. In previous novels his relationship with his daughter has been incidental, and it's now centre stage, driving the plot and shifting what at first appears to be a routine crime into another gear, and Harry's character into another dimension. Without wishing to give away the the story it's difficult to say too much, but it's here where plot and character are not always as solid as you might wish, and elements of each strain credibility at times - at least for this reader.

If I appear over critical it's because Connolly has set his standards so high. New readers should find this a satisfying tale, among the best that Crime fiction has to offer, and I would bet a fair number of those new readers will explore the earlier books, to find out more about Harry. However long term Bosch addicts, who view this as part of series may find that doubts intrude. For that reason it's 4 stars.