Nine Dragons
by Michael Connelly
Published by Little, Brown And Company
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Reviewed by Julie Failla Earhart
In his latest Harry Bosch novel, 9 Dragons, author Michael Connelly gives readers a thrill ride and throws up some surprises along the way. Despite what some readers have said on blogs and in book reviews, Connelly lets Bosch get personal in this outing, and it’s probably one of the best Bosch novels to date.
The story starts with a routine homicide in South L. A. John Li, a Chinese immigrant, is the owner and operator of Fortune’s Liquors located in the middle of gangland. Li is shot for no apparent reason, but as Bosch arrives on the scene, he quickly realizes that the shooting is personal. Li has taken three slugs to the chest. If the motive was random, Bosch’s experience tells him that there would have been at least one shot to the head.
As Bosch and his partner, Ignacio Ferras, begin their investigation, it is ratcheted up a notch when Bosch learns that the triad (a Chinese version of the Mafia) is heavily involved. As Ferras, wounded in the line of duty two years earlier, edges out of the case, Harry calls in David Chu with the Asian Gang Unit.
Meanwhile in Hong Kong, Bosch’s daughter is living with his ex-wife. Harry and Maddie talk daily, sometimes several times a day. As the U.S. investigation gets more and more complicated and it looks like the prime suspect will walk, Maddie is abducted. All he has to go on is the video Maddie’s kidnapper sent him. With a forensics lab to help, Harry joins Maddie’s mother in a desperate search for their daughter.
9 Dragons is another fine job by Connelly. Each time I thought I knew how the plot would turn, Connelly turned the other way to make this a great read.
Armchair Interviews agrees.
Author’s Web site: http://www.MichaelConnelly.com