9 DRAGONS (Harry Bosch #14), by Michael Connelly

This fourteenth novel in Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch series brings about some huge changes in the life of the titular detective, some of them quite momentous, and also sees him take his investigations outside of the usual hunting grounds in the city of Los Angeles, because part of the action in Nine Dragons happens in Hong Kong – the “Chinese Connection” being indeed the leading force in this story.

The novel starts with a somewhat bored Harry Bosch waiting for some intriguing case he can sink his proverbial teeth into, and at first fates seem to have heard his wish because what looks like the run-of-the-mill robbery/murder of a liquor store owner soon shows important connections with the triads, the powerful Chinese criminal syndicate.  As he searches for clues to solve the case, he’s in contact with his daughter Madeline – now a teenager and living in Hong Kong with her mother – who managed to move stubbornly analog Bosch into the digital age and the joys of video communication and email.  Soon after he asked her some innocent information about Chinese characters that turned out in the course of the investigation, Bosch receives first a warning about not delving too deeply into it, and then a video in which a bound and gagged Maddie has been abducted by elements of the triads and is being used as leverage against her father.

Driven in equal parts by fear and rage, Bosch flies to Hong Kong to find his daughter, this time putting all his unstoppable drive into a very personal, anguished quest which will bring unexpected allies and equally unexpected losses as his search for justice cuts far too close to home…

Throughout the book series, so far, Bosch has been depicted as an uncompromising individual who stops at nothing to obtain justice for the victims, someone who puts the needs of his chosen work before any other consideration – even personal ones.  There are several passages in 9 Dragons in which he’s disdainful toward his working partner’s less-than-total dedication to the job, since Detective Ferras is a family man with young children and he requires personal time to see to their needs, which is more than understandable – but not for Bosch.   Harry is a father, and a very devoted one, but not a full-time one, and he does not seem to understand the kind of commitment required by parenthood, so when Maddie is abducted it’s easy to see some form of poetic justice in the situation, one that he might have unconsciously anticipated 

He would be forever connected to the world in the way only a father would. But he would also be lost because he knew the dark forces he faced would one day find her

but still not completely realized. So, when the worst case scenario suddenly materialized, we can see how totally Harry Bosch unravels and launches in search of his missing daughter with no thoughts for consequences – and some of them will be tragic indeed…

9 Dragons is a very engrossing novel carried by an unrelenting pace, with the added bonus of being set in a different background from the usual seedier corners of L.A.: the Hong Kong in this book is a living, breathing city with its own lights and shadows and it’s interesting to see how Bosch reacts to these uncharted territories whose rules he’s not familiar with and where unknown dangers come from the most unexpected places.

My favorite side of this story comes from the relationship between Bosch and his daughter: as I mentioned often, I became familiar with this character through the TV series inspired by Connelly’s books – in there Maddie is already a teenager,  and the interactions between her and her father are among the highlights of the episodes, so seeing the first examples of that relationship here was a welcome addition. This novel also brings a pivotal change in Bosch’s life because at the end he finds himself in the role of a full-time father, so it will be interesting to see how this change will affect him both as a person and as a dedicated detective: where Bosch was able to dismiss previous emotional attachments if they interfered with his work, or his work ethics, now he can’t enjoy that luxury anymore. That’s why I spoke of poetic justice before: it would seem that fates finally got tired of his hubris and decided to give him a taste of the “medicine” he visited on others.

Once again Michael Connelly puts his character through life-changing experiences, which helps maintaining it fresh and compelling, and this new twist in the detective’s lifestyle promises to be one that will require him to perform some mental adjustments and some professional transitions as well: I can’t wait to see how the new responsibilities of fatherhood will affect his work ethics and how his relationship with his teenaged daughter will transform his personal and professional life.  One thing is certain: this series continues to be delightfully unpredictable and completely intriguing, so my expectations for future installments remain quite high.

My Rating: