Nine Dragons Reviews
“…the most wrenching Bosch novel yet. …The jagged intersection between a cop’s personal and professional lives is a recurring theme in many crime novels, but never has it been portrayed with the razor-edge sharpness and psychological acuity that Connelly brings to the subject.”
— Bill Ott, Booklist * Starred Review
“Nine 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.”
— Dave Callanan, Editor Review, Amazon.com, Best Books Of The Month
“the plot twists twice in the final pages to create an astonishing climax to a thriller not short of heart-in-the-mouth moments. Its hard to keep a long-running crime series fresh yet in Nine Dragons Michael Connelly not only takes heroic Bosch to new places but changes his life forever. He just gets better and better.”
— Mark Sanderson, Evening Standard (UK)
“Connelly manages to make Hong Kong every bit as vivid and dangerous as his depictions of LA. What’s more, with Bosch on personal overdrive, the tension and pace he builds has never been greater, or more pertinent.”
— Henry Sutton, The Mirror (UK)
“Tenacious as ever, Bosch is even more formidable in his role as a protective father.”
— Publishers Weekly
“Connelly unveils his most personal Bosch story yet with this fish-out-of-water story. …another Connelly masterpiece.”
— Jeff Ayers, Library Journal
“Overall, 9 Dragons is THE reason to begin your adventure in the Harry Bosch experience. Michael Connelly continues to write exciting stories that can not only engulf you in a compelling narrative, but with his most recent work the reader is left with a strong sense of choice and consequence. Rating: 10 out of 10! (highly recommended)”
— Bookologists
“An apparently everyday murder in South Los Angeles takes Harry Bosch further and deeper than a case has ever sent him before.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“There are few novelists out there who can produce such compelling fiction so consistently.”
— Michael Carlson, Crime Time
“In common with all gifted writers, Michael Connelly has created his own peculiar world. He knows its terrain and understands its people, their strengths and their shortcomings. From it, he harvests emotionally charged, entertaining, disquieting stories — of which this, his latest, is a prime example.”
— Robert Wade, San Diego Union Tribune
“No dash, no flash, no flair, no flights of rhetorical fancy. No extra words. No wasted motion. A Michael Connelly novel is a thing of cool beauty, meticulously plotted, rigorously controlled.”
— Julia Keller, Chicago Tribune
“The Bosch revealed in “9 Dragons” is vulnerable, a twist that makes him both deeper and more human… what remains most interesting is the new dimension added to the character — a man who has evolved over the series of 15 novels to become ever more interesting and real.”
—Robin Vidimos, Denver Post
“though Connelly remains a master at detailing the intricacies of “the job,” it is Harry’s longing for reunion and connection with his ex-wife and daughter, the overwhelming vulnerability he feels as a father, that makes “Nine Dragons” another standout in the series that should satisfy all readers, whether they are new to Boschworld, occasional visitors or devoted denizens.”
— Paula L. Woods, Los Angeles Times
“Michael Connelly serves up this fifteenth installment of his Harry Bosch series in superb fashion. You would think after writing a character for so long that Connelly might begin to lose his edge or run out of great story ideas. Thankfully, neither is true in this case. The Bosch we fell in love with so long ago is evident throughout these pages and we’re reminded once again why Michael Connelly consistently soars to the top of the bestseller lists.”
— Jake Chism, FictionAddict.com
“”Nine Dragons” is one of Michael Connelly’s best procedurals. Bosch fans will enjoy his latest outing, both in the L.A. setting and in a Hong Kong where the residents are celebrating the Festival of Hungry Ghosts, with people burning money and other sacrifices to their ancestors.”
— David M. Kinchen, Huntington News
“Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch character is back in one of his best, most tension-thick novels ever.”
— Vicki Rock, Daily American
“Nine Dragons, his latest, not only brings back popular Los Angeles homicide detective Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch, but also features an intricate, wide-ranging and utterly compelling story, to go with credible, sympathetic characters and exotic locations, unusual for Harry, who seldom leaves L.A.”
— H. J. (Jack) Kirchhoff, The Globe and Mail
“This latest appearance is a complex and meticulously crafted tale, five years in the making, and packed with jump and juice. …”9 Dragons” clamps onto thriller clichés and turns them upside down. What would be maudlin sentimentality in lesser hands is hammered down to steely human drama. This is Bosch at his sharpest and Connelly at his most engaging. High-voltage stuff.”
— Katherine Dunn, The Oregonian
“This is the first “fish-out-of-water” book in the series, the first time Connelly has allowed Bosch to venture far from Los Angeles. More important, it reveals a side of Bosch we’ve never seen. Some enduring detective characters, such as Robert B. Parker’s Spenser, have barely changed from book to book. Others, including Bosch and James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux, have evolved gradually, the evils they battle endangering their sanity and even their souls. But with “9 Dragons,” Connelly has taken a chance by transforming a character millions have come to know well. In doing so, he has made Harry Bosch more human and interesting than ever.”
— Bruce DeSilva, San Francisco Examiner
“Connelly is in top form with the Bosch tale, his 15th: The story unfolds with exquisite procedural details; unexpected violence; and increased insight into the stoic, jazz-loving, relentless, flawed detective who bears the burden of every case.”
— Nancy Gilson, The Columbus Dispatch
“I visited Hong Kong as a young sailor many years ago, and Connelly vividly describes the sights, sounds and smells that I remember so well. I especially like his descriptions of the Festival of Hungry Ghosts (a good name for a future novel). I also spent a year living in Southern California and many times visited Los Angeles, the city of Raymond Chandler’s mean streets and Joseph Wambaugh’s cops. Connelly, who worked as a crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times, follows in their footsteps and captures the city, its inhabitants and its crime scene well. Nine Dragons is a very good crime thriller.”
— Paul Davis, Philadelphia Inquirer
“But the center of the book is a breathless, bloody quest through a city Bosch barely knows, a teeming metropolis of skyscrapers and high finance in the midst of celebrating the ancient Festival of Hungry Ghosts. It’s a foray outside his usual haunts that works, and one that takes him into new emotional territory as well. But the implications of the two cases — the Hong Kong crimes and Li’s murder — inevitably circle back to Los Angeles and play out in ways that surprise both the reader and Bosch right to the last page.”
— Colette Bancroft, St. Petersburg Times
“Scary, shocking and sublimely suspenseful.”
— New York Daily News
“Each new book adds another string to Connelly’s bow, though Nine Dragons is a more straightforward adventure thriller than some recent work (despite Bosch’s very personal involvement). It’s none the worse for that. The globe-spanning element here expands the canvas, and there’s an appearance by Connelly’s other protagonist, sardonic Mickey Haller – plus some satisfying, out-of-the-blue narrative twists.”
— Barry Forshaw, The Independent (UK)
Nine Dragons is in:
Amazon’s Top 100 Customer Favorites for 2009
Strand Magazine’s Best of 2009
iTunes Best Fiction of 2009 (refers to the audiobook)
Seattle Times Best Crime Fiction of 2009
Best Mystery Novels of 2009, Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
Favorite Reads of 2009, BookReporter.com
Best Crime Books of 2009, JanuaryMagazine.com
Won the 2009 Strand Critics Awards for Best Novel
