Nine Dragons (Harry Bosch #14)

By Michael Connelly

Nine Dragons, certainly for me, is one the top five Harry Bosch books when it comes to looking more deeply into the protagonists soul. When I started the series I figured, though the writing was good, the stories would weaken. I mean, how much stuff can happen to one guy? In one lifetime? Really? But the way Connelly writes, the depth of his characters, the interactions between them is remarkable. I don't feel like I'm reading a novel, more like experiencing it. Another good Connelly, Bravo!

Synopsis

Detective Harry Bosch is called to investigate the murder of a store owner in a tough LA neighbourhood. For Harry, it's a trip down memory lane:he's been to Fortune Liquors before and remembers Mr Li - a man who offered him santuary during LA's notorious riots. Now the debt must be repaid.
Mr Li left a clue to his murderer's identity, a clue that leads Harry into a parallel criminal universe ruled by the Triads. But as he gets closer to this shady underworld, the Triads send Harry a devastating message - they have taken something of his, something he holds very dear. As Harry's life implodes, he must risk everything to track a killer who knows how to get under his skin...

Author 

Michael Connelly began writing for the Los Angeles on the Crime Beat. He turned out his first novel in 1992, Bill Clinton was spotted purchasing Michael’s third novel, Concrete Blonde, in 1994 and he never looked back. 26 novels later and he’s still going. On a personal note, with the title “The wrong side of goodbye” I’m a little nervous about reading the 2016 novel for fear of Harry dying off… no comments giving that away people, I’m hoping to address that demon over Christmas.

Books by the same author

There are so many novels he's written, a full list can be found here. But I'm going to focus on what I consider to be the most significant in terms of Harry Bosch's character development.

The Black Echo (1992)
The Last Coyote (1995)
A Darkness More Than Night (2001)
Nine Dragons (2009)
The Drop (2011)
Switchblade (2014)