Nine Dragons (Harry Bosch #15) by Michael Connelly

A "game changer" of a book for Harry Bosch

Nine Dragons is a foray into international crime for Harry Bosch. Previously he has traveled to Mexico, but now he travels to Hong Kong to find his daughter (not a spoiler - it's on the cover) who has been kidnapped.

Bosch and his ex-wife and ex-FBI agent Eleanor Wish team up to go after his daughter. But, as Eleanor notes in the very first Harry Bosch book, in these kinds of cases you are lucky if you just break even.

Bosch has always been an untouchable - incorruptible, focused and driven. This book focuses on Bosch's weakness - his family. "All his life Harry Bosch believed he has a mission. And to carry out that mission he needed to be bulletproof. He needed to build himself and his life so that he was invulnerable, so that nothing could get to him. All that changed on the day he was introduced to the daughter he didn't know he had. In that moment he was both saved and lost. He would be forever connected to the world in the way only a father knew. But he would also be lost because he knew the dark forces he faced would one day find her." (p. 173)

A relentless plot had me plowing through this book in about two days, near-record time for me.

Connelly delivers yet again.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Nine Dragons.

Reviewed on October 20, 2009.

Larry Bond's Red Dragon Rising: Shadows of War (Book 1) by Larry Bond & Jim DeFelice

A change of pace for Larry Bond

Published in 2009 by Forge Books.

Don't get worried, Larry Bond is still cranking out the war thrillers, but Larry Bond's Red Dragon Rising: Shadows of War is not the grand sweep of a worldwide battlefield that his previous books have featured. Instead, we focus in on four people swept up in the beginnings of World War III. Those four people are a climate scientist studying in northern Vietnam who happens to have video that proves that China is instigating World War III in his cell phone, a female CIA agent who is trying to rescue him, a military wargamer (and former special forces) who is helping map out America's strategy to combat China's aggression and a Chinese lieutenant in an elite commando squad who is trying to catch the climatologist.

I'll admit, it starts out slow but it builds and is a rollicking adventure by the end. This is the first of a four part series and I see it as the prologue to a much more sweeping war series that is sure to come. The stage is set for a worldwide war for food, water and other resources in a world beset by one environmental catastrophe after another. The weakest part of the book in my opinion is the lightning-fast climate changes that cause all of the troubles in the first place. In my mind, it would have been better to have terrorists choke off the oil supplies and cause a different kind of crisis but...

Still, it's a good start. The momentum built throughout the book and I look forward to more from this series.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Larry Bond's Red Dragon Rising: Shadows of War

Reviewed on October 20, 2009.

Fault Lines (Michael Stone #2) by Anna Salter

Great thriller

Published in 1999 by Pocket Star

Psychologist Michael Stone (a female, despite the name) has spent quite a bit of time interviewing Alex B. Willy, pedophile and sadist. When he gets out of prison due to a technicality, she knows he'll come after her because she is the only one who knows the twisted way his mind actually works, despite his charming demeanor. We follow Stone as she tries to work through her out-of-whack personal life, some demanding clients and the omni-present threat of Willy. Interestingly, Willy is not fleshed out much as a character. This works well, in that Willy becomes more of an unknown threat to the reader - a man capable of anything - but we don't know where he is likely to come from or what he is likely to do.

Fault Lines is surprisingly well-done, (I say surprising because a lot of thrillers featuring psychiatrists tend to get bogged down in jargon) and Stone is prickly but likable. Her world is peopled with interesting, but not terribly well-developed characters. This is a part of a series so I'd assume that the characters will be better developed as time goes on.

Salter is well-qualified to write about the life of a therapist as has co-authored a number of books about recovering from rape and child abuse and trauma.

All in all, a great little read.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Fault Lines by Anna Salter.

Reviewed on October 12, 2004.

Monte Walsh

More of a portrait, less of a traditional movie

Released in 2003.

Monte Walsh is not a plot-driven movie so much as it is a portrait of that moment in time when the Old West was disappearing and the men who made the Old West what it was had to adjust, die or just fade away.

It is beautifully shot and there is a lot of attention to detail. If one is looking for a ton of action, this is not the western you are looking for. But, if you love cowboy movies this one is a real treat. It would make the watcher wistful for those days when the horse ruled the west, except that you know that Monte Walsh would have none of that pointless sentiment.

No living actor looks more like a cowboy should than Tom Selleck and I'd be thrilled if he focused on those movies for the rest of his career.

I rate this movie 4 stars out of 5.

This movie can be found on Amazon.com here: Monte Walsh.

Reviewed on October 4, 2004.

Vespers (abridged)(audiobook) by Jeff Rovin

Good story - not terribly original, but fun nonetheless.

Published by Random House Audio in 1998.
Read by Boyd Gaines
Approximately 3 hours

Abridged.

I heard Vespers as an abridged audiobook and I will talk about that aspect at the end.

If you saw any of Hollywood's animal disaster B movies (Giant ants, snakes, bugs, etc. that attack humanity) than you get the idea behind this book. Normally placid bats are attacking people and gathering in a murderous swarm above New York City. Meanwhile, something else - something very large - is killing people in the subway tunnels. Will the animal expert and the rough cop be able to save the day?

Even though the plot is formulaic, I still found myself wanting to know what happened next. I couldn't wait to pop the tape in the player as soon as I got in the car!

The audiobook is read by Boyd Gaines who does a phenomenal job. Every character has a unique and distinct voice in accent. 5 stars for him, if I could.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Vespers by Boyd Gaines. 

Reviewed on September 29, 2004.

Lawless (Nikki Hill #4) by Christopher Darden and Dick Lochte

I admit it, I saw the name on the cover and picked it up...

Originally published in 2004.

...and after the first 50 pages I thought to myself, "Uh-oh. He's done it again and screwed up for all of the world to see." In case you were under a rock during the O.J. Simpson trial - Darden was the male prosecutor. And, it first it did seem that Lawless was floundering and going to be another bust for Darden.

Christopher Darden
during the
infamous O.J. trial.

However, what I mistook for floundering was actually the plot being carefully laid out - including intricate subplots, betrayals (lots of betrayals) and bizarre dead ends that mislead the reader to the very last page. When you finally get a handle on what the bad guys are up to you then wonder which guys are the bad guys, which are the good guys and who is just out for themselves. When this book finally played out, it was well worth the initial confusion.

I'll be looking for more of their books.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: LAWLESS by Christopher Darden and Dick Lochte.

Reviewed on September 29, 2004.

Rising Phoenix by Kyle Mills

An excellent, gripping, morally challenging novel.

Published by HarperAudio in 2000.
Read by Campbell Scott.
Duration: Approximately 3 hours.
Abridged.

I am reviewing Rising Phoenix as an abridged audiobook and will make specific comments on that aspect of it at the end of this review.

I have drudged and slogged my way through a number of books and books on tape lately and this one was like a bolt of lightning - it came out of nowhere and really was a welcome surprise for me. I won't go into many of the plot details - however, this is a great bit of writing. 

The premise is thought-provoking, to say the least. The main idea is that someone decides to poison the supply of illegal drugs in order to truly scare everyone straight. The idea of drugs killing you are no longer just an abstract possibility, it is an immediate reality.

In a nice twist, the antagonist is well-developed and the protagonists are not. The story is plot-driven and by that I mean we don't get bogged down in unnecessary details, such as focusing on weapons at great length, etc. - as can sometimes happen in a techno-thriller.

Really a top notch piece of work.

As for details concerning the book as an audiobook - it is read by Hollywood actor Campbell Scott (known for his work in Dying Young). He does a first-rate job - he reads the characters so differently that you really don't notice that the same man is reading all of the different parts.

Good work all around.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Rising Phoenix by Kyle Mills. 

Reviewed on September 23, 2004.