Nine Dragons: Harry Bosch, Book 15

I never got into this one. I was really eager to start it and the story was interesting but something was gone from the old Harry Bosch. He actually gets along with his boss in this book which is the first time I believe. THe Chinese dialogue by the narrator was not very good. That I believe was the main problem I had with the book. Since it is Connelly and Bosch I would recommend it, but to me it was not the usual Connelly "couldn't put down" quality.

Connelly is just going through the motions here. I think he wrote this one while concentrating on something else. Barely held my interest. Not bad enough to stop listening but I was happy to hear it end.

This audible book was as entertaining as it was preposterous. Harry outwitting Hong Kong in a day? I think not, even with his triad toughened, eyeball-missing sidekick along for the ride. The book was not the problem for me in this case. It was the narrator. Len Cariou doesn't cut is as Harry. Not broody enough, even wimpy, and he sould not attempt to sound female.
He made Harry sound NORMAL, and that is just WRONG!

I thought I had read or listened to the entire Bosch series, but having just finished seasons 1 & 2 of the TV series (via Amazon Video, a must see for Bosch lovers), I realized had skipped this one.

The reason I skipped it was the narrator. I couldn't finish it. Actually when Connelly came to Greensboro promoting The Overlook, I asked him if he had any input of who narrates his novels. "A little", he answered and asked why. Cariou reads with no emotion and his voice doesn't have the tone and range to distinguish between characters. His feminine voices are just awful. If you doubt me, listen to Burt Reynolds read Angels Flight or Titus Welliver's work on more recent novels.

Having said that, 9 Dragons is a fascinating and suspenseful novel on its own. It is also an essential edition to the Bosch series. It represents a key turning point in Bosch's personal life.

A couple of other fascinating tidbits from the Connelly visit... After the success of the first few Bosch novels Connelly noticed from book signings at least half of his readers were women. This was contrary to his publisher's opinion. Connelly wanted covers that would attract both sexes. The publsher insisted on masculine covers and simply would not be convinced otherwise. It was only after his series became so successful they had to listen to him that Connelly got the covers he desired.

About the jazz fetish Bosch is so consumed with, Connelly said that came from his writing habits. He said he was always more of a rock and blues fan, but those genres were distracting his writing. So he listens to jazz as he writes and his jazz knowledge grew from that.

Should you purchase this? Only if you don't have the time to read it for yourself.

I've read others in the Harry Bosch series and enjoyed them. He's never perfect, but solid, well-intentioned, and very committed to solving the case. But in this one, he just seemed too... blustery, or overbearing, i guess. And worse yet, he made stupid mistakes that even a civilian would know not to make, let alone a cop. I'll probably stop with this series after this one.

I've listened to Bosch books by Cariou and by others. I've enjoyed them all, but for some reason the Harry Bosch I know and love seemed to be missing. I thought it might have been the narration that put such a different spin on the character, but I'm not so sure. Bosch has always been headstrong and independent. He gets results with his no nonsense approach, but all of his redeeming characteristics were missing. Before I was halfway through the book I was ready to stop listening because Harry was just coming across as a racist, conceited overly self-involved jerk.

I was very disappointed with him. The story was interesting enough for me to actually finish it. It was a great story, with the exception of Harry.

The one true bright spot of the book was a cameo by one of our favorite lawyers. I'd love to hear more from him and the REAL Harry.

It seems to me that this is a transition book to enable Connelly to continue his story line now that Harry is getting older. The addition of his daughter to the plot line, and the comments by Mickey Haller lead me to believe a new series of books are on the way. This is not Connelly's best, but it is still better than most. I love the China aspect. The ending is a bit abrupt.

The ONLY bad thing about this book is that it had to come to an end eventually. I love the character, the narrator, and the author is amazingly wonderful at his craft. Don't miss this one. Wow!!

In my opinion, a very poor Bosch outing; Harry came out looking his worst. I love Harry, warts and all, but this was just not up to standard.

Connolly's mastery of the genre and his lean, energetic writing render one heckuva book. He doesn't waste time with extensive scenic descriptions and there's not much "he said she said I said" either. The story is told in the first person by its protagonist, Detective Harry Bosch.

I've read other reviews saying Harry, usually the model of sang froi, comes totally undone. He does indeed fall out of his tree, in a totally believable manner that is consistent with the character.

There are plenty of plot twists and I didn't see the ending coming at all. Pay attention, and if you think you missed something, rewind. I repeated a few minutes here and there to make sure that I didn't miss a thing.

Grab this book and settle in for a rocking good read.