Nine Dragons (Harry Bosch)
by Michael Connelly
List Price:
Our Price: $2.99
You Save: $25.00 (89%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Michael ConnellyEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-10-13
ISBN: 0316166316
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Book Reviews of Nine Dragons (Harry Bosch)
Book Review: Bosch Returns---A Connelly Classic!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Nine Dragons is Connelly's best book since The Poet.
If you are a follower of his, you know the depth of that statement. If you're not, then get busy.
The last 'real' Harry Bosch novel was The Overlook, written over 2 years ago, itself an extension of a serialization he did for the New York Times, and was pretty much a place-holder. Granted, Connelly's place-holders are better than the great majority of what gets passed for quality fiction these days, but still.
Then, Bosch was a co-star in The Brass Verdict, primarily a Mickey Haller book, and a vehicle for establishing an interesting connection between Connelly's two most popular characters.
And now, Nine Dragons. Connelly leaves nothing on the table with this one, folks. It's all Harry, all the time, and we're telling you now, you'd best have a few hours to spare once you get to the halfway point, because you're not going to be able to stop.
As we begin, Harry is called in to investigate the murder of a shop keeper that he by chance has some history with. As the case progresses, we find that his partnership with Iggy Ferras, first set up in The Overlook, is strained to the point of dysfunction. Dysfunction is a big part of what seems to be on Connelly's mind here, and it's explored on many levels.
We also gain insight into Harry's life as a father. You'll remember from Lost Light that Harry found out about his then 4-year-old daughter, Madeline, born in Vegas after he and Eleanor Wish ended their short-but-productive marriage. Turns out, he's been making regular trips to Hong Kong, where Eleanor had moved with Madeline to be a Casino's 'celebrity gambler' there.
The investigation progresses, and evidence leads Harry to the murky world of the Triads, the organized criminals that control much of the commerce of Hong Kong emigres in Los Angeles, and their enforcer, one Bo-Jing Chang. Harry brings all of his famous certainty to bear on Chang, with lots of circumstance, but lacking in hard evidence. In an attempt to get a quick translation on some Chinese writing, he picture-messages his daughter with that writing.
Following a thinly-veiled telephone threat to back off the case--which of course convinces Harry he's on the right track--he then receives a shocking video-message from Madeline, showing her bound and gagged, a clear victim of kidnapping.
That stunning development sends Harry on a knight's-errand to Hong Kong to rescue his daughter. He's certain his transmission of those Chinese characters is responsible for her capture, and that Bo-Jing Chang is behind the whole thing.
Connelly's skill at ratcheting up the tension with each successive event is at its peak in Nine Dragons and he knits the inter-continental developments together with precision. In Hong Kong, he is re-united with Eleanor Wish and her bodyguard Sun Yee, and the action reaches a fever-pitch. The body-count is both high and significant, intensifying the importance of the stakes involved.
So far, we really haven't told you anything you won't read on the book flap, and we're gonna stop there. Because NONE of that will prepare you for what is about to happen.
But there's still a lot to talk about. Like, for instance, Connelly's development of Bosch as a character. After nearly 20 years and more than a dozen Bosch novels, we think we know Harry. Guess what? We're wrong. We see sides of him here that are totally logical and completely unexpected. Emotions revealed in Nine Dragons will both shock and please, as the author brings depth to shades that we sometimes found even annoying at times. That's something that can only be done with forethought, as if Connelly's been planting these seeds for years, and is now ready to harvest the crop. The result is a novel that has an effect on Harry's status quo beyond expectation.
Besides dysfunction, family matters are also clearly on his mind. Bosch's reflections, related in third person by Connelly's eloquent prose, will hit nerves with any parent. We all know that parenting is an art of love, not a science of fact, and that all the best intentions in the world do not guarantee success. Or even love returned. Connelly gives a full flushing to these ideas, and the result is without a doubt the most gripping crime fiction of the year.
Summary of Nine Dragons (Harry Bosch)
LAPD Detective Harry Bosch is off the chain in the fastest, fiercest, and highest-stakes case of his life.Fortune Liquors is a small shop in a tough South L.A. neighborhood, a store Bosch has known for years. The murder of John Li, the store's owner, hits Bosch hard, and he promises Li's family that he'll find the killer.
The world Bosch steps into next is unknown territory. He brings in a detective from the Asian Gang Unit for help with translation--not just of languages but also of the cultural norms and expectations that guided Li's life. He uncovers a link to a Hong Kong triad, a lethal and far-reaching crime ring that follows many immigrants to their new lives in the U.S.
And instantly his world explodes. The one good thing in Bosch's life, the person he holds most dear, is taken from him and Bosch travels to Hong Kong in an all-or-nothing bid to regain what he's lost. In a place known as Nine Dragons, as the city's Hungry Ghosts festival burns around him, Bosch puts aside everything he knows and risks everything he has in a desperate bid to outmatch the triad's ferocity.
Amazon Best of the Month, October 2009: An investigation into a cold-blooded murder introduces Detective Harry Bosch to a Chinese underworld lurking in the dark recesses of the City of Angels. Its tentacles are far reaching, yet it remains shrouded in secrecy due to time-honored cultural traditions that keep the exploited from speaking out. To the victim's family, Bosch promises revenge, but when his own daughter suddenly becomes a target, he promises blood. However, working a case with leads on both sides of the Pacific provides little room (or time) for error. 9 Dragons is a gritty, coffee-and-cigarettes crime thriller full of smart twists and generous helpings of suspense. Fans of Michael Connelly can expect another exceptional thrill ride, while newcomers will be immediately engaged by the tortured and unrelenting Bosch. "He knew one day it would come to this, that the darkness would find [his daughter] and that she would be used to get him," writes Connelly. "That day was now." --Dave Callanan
Literature & Fiction Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Literature & Fiction Books
Little Womenby Louisa May Alcott
Scribner; Published: 1986-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops:
The Killing Groundby JACK HIGGINS
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS LTD; Published: 2007; Hardcover; Book
Saving Fish from Drowningby Amy Tan
4th Estate; Published: 2005; Paperback; Book
Life Expectancyby Dean Koontz
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2005-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Constant Princessby Philippa Gregory
Touchstone/Simon & Schuster; Published: 2005; Hardcover; Book
Wolf of the Plains (Conqueror, Book 1)by Conn Iggulden
Harper; Published: 2007; Paperback; Book
Saharaby Clive Cussler
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2005-03-21; Paperback; Book
Perelandra (Cosmic Trilogy)by C. S. Lewis
Voyager; Published: 2005-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.92
Price in other shops:
The Lord Of The Rings: Part 2 The Two Towersby J. R. R. Tolkien
Harper Collins Publishers; Published: 2001; Paperback; Book
Red Marsby Kim Stanley Robinson
Trafalgar Square; Published: 2001-06; Paperback; Book
Similar Books and other products
The Poetby Michael Connelly
Little Brown & Co (T); Published: 1996-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $18.00
Price in other shops:
Void Moonby Michael Connelly
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 1999-12-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.80
Price in other shops:
A Darkness More Than Night (Harry Bosch)by Michael Connelly
Vision; Published: 2002-03-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.32
Price in other shops:
The Closers (Harry Bosch)by Michael Connelly
Little, Brown; Published: 2005-05-16; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $29.95
Price in other shops:
Echo Parkby Michael Connelly
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2006-10-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.68
Price in other shops:
The Brass Verdict (Harry Bosch, Book 14)by Michael Connelly
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2008-10-14; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.47
Price in other shops:
The Fifth Witnessby Michael Connelly
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2011-04-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.45
Price in other shops:
The Scarecrowby Michael Connelly
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2009-05-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.85
Price in other shops:
The Overlook (Harry Bosch)by Michael Connelly
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2007-05-22; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.77
Price in other shops:
The Reversalby Michael Connelly
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2010-10-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.44
Price in other shops: