Michael Connelly: 9 Dragons

Are you saying in this book that being a father is Harry’s greatest vulnerability?

Nine Dragons is about Harry and his daughter. It’s about his hopes for her, his guilt over his poor performance as a father, and most of all it is about his vulnerability as a father. Putting this young person in Harry’s life was done with a lot of thought. Up until Bosch became a father, I had been creating a character who viewed himself as being on a mission. He was someone who was skilled enough and tough enough to go into the abyss and seek out human evil. To carry out this mission, he knew he had to be relentless and bulletproof. By bulletproof, I mean he had to be invulnerable. Nobody could get to him. It was the only way to be relentless. And this idea or belief bled into all aspects of his life. He lived alone, had no friends, and didn’t even know his neighbors. He built a solitary life so that no one could get to him. All that suddenly changed in one moment (one page) when he locked eyes with his daughter in Lost Light . Harry suddenly knew he could be gotten to.

Nine Dragonsopens with Bosch investigating the murder of the owner of Fortune Liquors, a small L.A. package store he’s known for years. He still carries in his pocket a matchbook he picked up there on a case years ago. Its motto inside- Happy is the man who finds refuge in himself -has been a guiding light through some of his darkest days. How did you come up with this “fortune?” Is it significant thematically to the novel?

What's weird is that I can't remember where that came from. I think it was an actual fortune I received in a Chinese fortune cookie and it sort of spoke to me and so I used it in Angels Flight , which is the book in which Harry first visits Fortune Liquours. So that's going back more than a decade and I can't remember the origin. But what I do remember is that I thought it sounded almost like an anthem for a loner like Harry. As somebody who feels he's on a solitary mission in life, this bromide or whatever you want to call it would speak to him and keep him on the path. I think he finds refuge in himself by believing in the cause and remaining relentlessly in pursuit of it. By believing that everybody should count or nobody should count. By believing that no one need know about his mission as long as he believes in it himself. I think that it is not only thematic to this book but to all of the Bosch books.

Do you think readers in Hong Kong will enjoy riding with Harry Bosch through their city?

I don't know. I think they might see a part of their city they haven't seen before. The nature of a crime novel is to explore all areas of a city, good and bad. In this story Harry is on a mission that literally takes him from the highest vistas of the city to some its darkest corners. I think Hong Kong is a vibrant and beautiful place that is full of intrigue. I hope I've gotten that into the book.

The day that Harry Bosch visits Hong Kong the city is in the middle of something called the Festival of Hungry Ghosts. People are burning sacrifices to ancestors all over the city. Is this fiction or does this festival exist?

Yes, it exists. One of the times I was in Hong Kong researching the ghost festival was going on and it was one of the things that linked this amazingly modern city with old ways and beliefs. I thought it was fascinating and something I could use in the book to sort of tilt Bosch's world, to be a constant reminder that he was not in any sort of comfort zone.

What’s next for Harry Bosch, and do you have plans for more Mickey Haller and Jack McEvoy books? Any other projects on the horizon?

I am excited by what Nine Dragons does for Harry and the series. It establishes a real relationship with his daughter and that can go in many directions. There is also the half-blood prince, Mickey Haller, out there and I am sure he and Harry will be crossing paths again. I am just starting to write the next book which is another Harry Bosch story, but I think it’s safe to assume all of these characters will be back.

Photos

As far back as September 2004, and perhaps even before that, Michael Connelly has known that he would send Harry Bosch to Hong Kong. Five years ago, in fact, the South China Morning Post caught up with Connelly when he was doing research in Hong Kong and wrote a story. Here are some photos from one of Michael’s recent trips to Hong Kong.

Chungking Mansion buildings (Photo credit: Steven Vascik)

This book could not have been written without the help of Steven -Vascik and Dennis Wojciechowski. Steve showed me whatever I needed in Hong Kong and Wojo found whatever I needed on the Internet. I will always be grateful.

Also of tremendous help to me were Asya Muchnick, Bill Massey, Michael Pietsch, Shannon Byrne, Jane Davis, Siu Wai Mai, Pamela Marshall, Rick Jackson, Tim Marcia, Michael Krikorian, Terrill Lee Lankford, Daniel Daly, Roger Mills, Philip Spitzer, John Houghton and Linda Connelly. Many thanks to you all.

Special thanks to William J. Bratton, LAPD chief of police -2002-2009, for opening so many doors for me and Harry Bosch.

Michael Connellyis a former journalist and the author of the #1 bestsellers The Scarecrow, The Brass Verdict, and The Lincoln Lawyer, the bestselling series of Harry Bosch novels, and the bestselling novels Chasing the Dime, Void Moon, Blood Work, and The Poet . Crime Beat, a collection of his journalism, was also a New York Times bestseller. He spends his time in California and Florida.