Harry Bosch is so identified with Los Angeles that when he does venture outside the City of Angels it is quite an event. And in this novel, he travels thousands of miles away from the City of Angels, to Hong Kong for a short but turbulent 39 hours in an effort to find and rescue his 13-year-old daughter who was presumably kidnapped in an effort to have him release a triad member he has arrested (or, at least, that’s what he thinks a telephone threat means).
The plot begins with the murder of a liquor store owner in southern Los Angeles. In his investigation, Bosch determines that a triad had been collecting weekly protection money and the owner was shot when he refused to pay. From that point, the case becomes more complicated, but stalls. And then Bosch takes off in a frenzy to Hong Kong in an effort to find and save his daughter. The effort results in all kinds of consequences.
The novel is, perhaps, one of the best in this long-running series, and exhibits Bosch’s inner self more deeply and humanly as it juxtaposes him in relation to his daughter. Can the rough and tumble Harry Bosch succeed as the father of a young girl? It appears we will in the future find out. Meanwhile, this reader, at least, is indebted to the author for among other things teaching him the Chinese translation of “9 dragons:” Kowloon, the famous Hong Kong district.
Highly recommended.
