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Connelly's new Harry Bosch police procedural begins as a routine South Los Angeles liquor store robbery gone wrong. Li, a hard-working Chinese immigrant, appears to have been killed in a rundown neighborhood for the contents of his cash register. Even Li's family had fruitlessly begged him to close the store and open another branch of Fortune Fine Foods and Liquors in the more prosperous valley where his son, Robert, operates a more successful store. To Bosch, the killing doesn't appear to be a simple robbery. No liquor was taken, Li didn't try to defend himself with a handgun he kept under the counter, the spent rounds were removed from the crime scene, and Li's ankles have tattoos that represent affiliation with a Chinese Triad, which bears some similarities to organized crime in that the Triads extract weekly payments and lifelong allegiance. As Bosch zeros in on the gunman, the tables turn when his daughter, Madeleine, is kidnapped in Hong Kong, where she is living with her mother, Eleanor, a former FBI agent turned professional poker player in nearby Macao. Bosch is warned to back off the case; instead, he takes the next plane to Hong Kong. There, the plot takes many twists and turns as Bosch and Eleanor desperately seek clues to their daughter's location. Connelly has done credible research into Hong Kong's various neighborhoods and communities. The fast-paced resolution and the focus on Bosch's family make NINE DRAGONS one of Connelly's most interesting and poignant works. There are also some details that point to future developments. Bosch's partner, Ignacio, still hasn't regained his self-confidence after being wounded two years earlier. Bosch is forced to rely on Chu from the L.A. Asian Gangs Unit as a translator not only of witness statements but of the cultural meaning of what they uncover. Initially suspicious of Chu and of Soon Yi—Eleanor's romantic interest--Bosch is forced to reconsider some of his stubborn prejudices. Bosch is more human, more vulnerable, and more fully human than in previous novels. Cariou, who has narrated other Bosch novels, reads at a slow and careful pace, which will please some while others may find it turgid. His gruff voice sounds older than Bosch's supposed age. He has greater vocal range in depicting this large cast and he doesn't stereotype the voices of the numerous Asian characters. For Connelly fans this is a great addition to the series, and new readers/listeners will find NINE DRAGONS a good place to make Connelley's acquaintance..
Reviewed by Karla Jay, December 2009
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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