Nine Dragons

Nine Dragons
by Michael Connelly
Little, Brown, 2009. 374 pgs. Mystery

When Harry Bosch draws a case in South L. A. apparently involving the triads, an ancient and pervasive Chinese criminal organization, he pursues his usual methodical but intense search for the perpetrators. But when he receives a message from his daughter, held hostage in Hong Kong, he goes ballistic and speeds to Kowloon to take on the triads in their den. Many surprises, not to mention a pile of red herrings and lots of gunplay greet Harry in the Orient. His relentless, breakneck, sometimes wrongheaded pursuit of his daughter and her captors leads to multiple tragedies on either side of the Pacific and irony piled on irony. But the ultimate thoughtfulness of the narrative doesn't slow the action in the slightest and one can hardly turn the pages fast enough. One final shooting along with a kicker ending seem a bit much, but Connelly and Bosch are close to unbeatable in the police procedural division and Nine Dragons is no exception with the bonus of an exotic locale.

LW