Nine Dragons Reading Guide
Use these questions to help start a conversation about the book. SPOILER WARNING! These questions cover the entire book. Don’t read them unless you have read the book.
Happy Is The Man Who Finds Refuge In Himself
That is the fortune in the matchbook that Detective Harry Bosch carried for 12 years. Why was that fortune significant to Harry personally? What does it say about the kind of man he is or was?
“Maybe it’s you, Ignacio.”
Harry suspected his partner Iggy was stuck as a cop. That his fear from being shot had impacted his ability to be a good cop. What do you think? Knowing what happened to Harry and his loved ones in this novel, how do you predict Harry will handle his fears in the future? Will he be able to be the same cop as before or will he be stuck, like Iggy?
“What was it, Vietnam? You served in Vietnam, right?”
Detective David Chu seemed to think Harry carried some prejudice against Asians. Do you think that was true? Or was Harry’s attitude bad because he didn’t like having to rely on any one else for help? Did you see other examples of prejudice in the story? Have you ever thought of Harry Bosch as prejudiced in previous books?
“She did this once before.”
Harry’s daughter, Maddie, seemed to have had many issues with her mother, Eleanor Wish. She had disappeared once before in an attempt to teach her mom a lesson. Do you think this was typical teenage behavior or something deeper? Were her actions motivated by wanting to live in Los Angeles or was it something deeper regarding her parents? Do you think the arrival of Sun Yee into her mother’s life cause some of her behavior?
“Harry, what did you do?”
Were you surprised that Eleanor blamed Harry for what happened to their daughter? She was formally in law enforcement and would have understood the situation with his case.
“We all make mistakes.”
There is a lot of death in this book. And some new beginnings, too. Can you make any predictions about the future of Detective Harry Bosch? How will he change? Within the LAPD? With his loved ones? With himself?
