P o my first encounter with the world of detective Michael Connelly and his cop Harry Bosch, I picked the recent Nine Dragons , fifteenth and latest published in these series (the sixteenth being planned for October). Given that Harry Bosch has been created in 1992 by Connelly, one can say that I did not hurry to discover this author, this character and his universe.
The Nine Dragons gave me the eye because he had a little flavor of triads and I told myself that a police investigation into a spider web woven by a triad and written by someone with the reputation of a great writer of detective fiction, it might be worth his weight in peanuts. After reading this novel, I must note that between "it can be worth his weight in peanuts" and "it could assert its weighing peanuts, there is a difference that is not semantics. With
Year of the Dragon ( Year of the Dragon), Robert Daley had offered readers a novel dense, exciting. With Nine Dragons , I tell myself that the number of dragons is not the quality of the novel. Not that the plot itself is somewhat interesting, I would say it is rather thin, although the astute reader may suspect part of what lies behind the veil of mystery . No, what I left viewer not immersed, almost detached, the pace of the investigation. Even a little effort, and Harry Bosch dethrone Jack Bauer, who saves the world in 24 hours clock. With three pieces
skeletal index, Harry-the-fast is able to recover in just over a day, a person who disappeared in the heart of Hong Kong. Hong Kong to China, I say if some would think that this is another Hong Kong, less known and smaller. Yes, Hong Kong and its seven million inhabitants, more than 6,000 people per square mile (well, maybe you'll tell me that it is four times lower than the density of Manhattan, one point for you), a city Harry Bosch that speaks neither language or dialect which he is not really familiar. Harry Bosch, you give it a bad piece of photo reference and found it without the slightest error in the room when the photo was taken in Hong Kong. Incidentally, he made the big shots of household gun.
I acknowledge that I am a fan of detective novels, while Harry himself, is a police inspector in Los Angeles. Giving it probably better than I in the exploitation of skeletal evidence. So superior, even, they seem totally unrealistic.
So I read the first half of the novel (which takes place in Los Angeles) with pleasure, and I turned the pages of the second half in a feeling of disbelief that eventually lead me to boredom.
And then there are these little things that make me tired. For example, why some writers feel they have to make their hero a veteran of the Vietnam War? Admittedly, some 3 million Americans were mobilized throughout the duration of the Vietnam War (which does not mean they were all in action, far from it), and a quarter they returned with posttraumatic stress disorder. But why should they all be heroes of the pen? I understand that when it is the central subject of a work (I think the overwhelming The Deer Hunter / Voyage to the Deer Hunter Michael Cimino ), but when it runs almost to coquetry or the artifice of narrative, I pick up.
In summary, I am far from convinced by this novel Nine Dragons. And it does not give me the urge to try their luck with another novel of the same author. Frankly, if you want a good book with a dragon in the title, put his hand on Year of the Dragon by Robert Daley . But forget what Nine Dragons.
Year of the Dragon ( Year of the Dragon), Robert Daley had offered readers a novel dense, exciting. With Nine Dragons , I tell myself that the number of dragons is not the quality of the novel. Not that the plot itself is somewhat interesting, I would say it is rather thin, although the astute reader may suspect part of what lies behind the veil of mystery . No, what I left viewer not immersed, almost detached, the pace of the investigation. Even a little effort, and Harry Bosch dethrone Jack Bauer, who saves the world in 24 hours clock. With three pieces
skeletal index, Harry-the-fast is able to recover in just over a day, a person who disappeared in the heart of Hong Kong. Hong Kong to China, I say if some would think that this is another Hong Kong, less known and smaller. Yes, Hong Kong and its seven million inhabitants, more than 6,000 people per square mile (well, maybe you'll tell me that it is four times lower than the density of Manhattan, one point for you), a city Harry Bosch that speaks neither language or dialect which he is not really familiar. Harry Bosch, you give it a bad piece of photo reference and found it without the slightest error in the room when the photo was taken in Hong Kong. Incidentally, he made the big shots of household gun.
I acknowledge that I am a fan of detective novels, while Harry himself, is a police inspector in Los Angeles. Giving it probably better than I in the exploitation of skeletal evidence. So superior, even, they seem totally unrealistic.
So I read the first half of the novel (which takes place in Los Angeles) with pleasure, and I turned the pages of the second half in a feeling of disbelief that eventually lead me to boredom.
And then there are these little things that make me tired. For example, why some writers feel they have to make their hero a veteran of the Vietnam War? Admittedly, some 3 million Americans were mobilized throughout the duration of the Vietnam War (which does not mean they were all in action, far from it), and a quarter they returned with posttraumatic stress disorder. But why should they all be heroes of the pen? I understand that when it is the central subject of a work (I think the overwhelming The Deer Hunter / Voyage to the Deer Hunter Michael Cimino ), but when it runs almost to coquetry or the artifice of narrative, I pick up.
In summary, I am far from convinced by this novel Nine Dragons. And it does not give me the urge to try their luck with another novel of the same author. Frankly, if you want a good book with a dragon in the title, put his hand on Year of the Dragon by Robert Daley . But forget what Nine Dragons.
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By browsing the net looking for other reviews of this novel, I came across this one , which the author did not reach much lighter than the tell me in disappointment.
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