Alaska Employment Law

9 Dragons (2009), Michael Connelly

Whenever I need a really good police procedural, I turn to Mike Connelly and his wonderfully jaded LA Detective, Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch, who has dependably entertained me for years.  I have even been careful not to read all the Harry Bosch books (there are now 15 of them), so I will always have some in reserve when I need them.  They are, for the most part, insightful character studies of a man whose evolution from book to book has been a pleasure to read.  Alas, I am sorry to say that in 9 Dragons Connelly has for some reason decided to turn Harry Bosch into a Jack Bauer clone, and to move most of the action to Hong Kong.  So, if you like 24, I guess you’d like this book – I admit that the Hong Kong section of the novel is a real page turner.  Because I have read so many of the other books in the Harry Bosch series, however, this didn’t work for me at all.  I wanted Harry back, not this Jack Bauer-like imposter.

All too predictably, Connelly telegraphs early on that a murder at a liquor store in LA’s Chinatown is going to lead our hero to China, where Harry’s teenage daughter Maddie lives with his ex-wife.  Oops, Maddie’s been kidnapped!  Who ever would have guessed!  Harry, you better go to China!  Right away!  And when Harry returns from his exciting though fairly implausible adventure in Hong Kong, a sort of deus ex machina ending back in LA solves the murder that started the whole thing.  Everyone is safe, and the bad guys lose.  Snore.

Seriously, you can find a better Harry Bosch book than this.