Nine Dragons Quotes

“All his life Harry Bosch believed he had 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 and no one could ever get to him.

All of that changed on the day he was introduced to the daughter he didn’t know he had. In that moment he knew he was both saved and lost. He would be forever connected to the world in the way only a father knew.

- "Nine Dragons" by Michael Connelly”
― Michael Connelly, Nine Dragons

“Steps to Heaven” off Ron Carter’s Dear Miles album.”
― Michael Connelly, Nine Dragons

“smuggled”
― Michael Connelly, Nine Dragons

“He knew that first-class passengers were accorded special status that moved them quickly through security checks and first onto planes. Airport and airline staff and security were less likely to concern themselves with first-class travelers, even if they were a disheveled man with blood on his jacket and a thirteen-year-old girl who couldn't seem to keep tears off her cheeks.”
― Michael Connelly, Nine Dragons

“Bosch dropped the carton to the floor of the car and held the pistol in his left hand. There was no brand name or marking on the bluing. Just serial and model numbers, but the five-point star stamped into the grip told Bosch the weapon was a Black Star pistol manu factured by the government of China. He had seen them on occasion in L.A. They were made by the tens of thousands for the Chinese military and a growing number ended up being stolen and smuggled across the ocean. Many of them obviously stayed in China and were smuggled into Hong Kong.”
― Michael Connelly, Nine Dragons

“Bosch held the pistol down between his knees and ejected the magazine. It was double-stacked with fif teen 9-millimeter Parabellum rounds. He thumbed them out and put them into a cup holder in the arm rest. He then ejected a sixteenth round from the cham ber and put it in the cup holder with the others.

Bosch looked down the sight to focus his aim. He peered into the chamber, looking for any sign of rust, and then studied the firing pin and extractor. He checked the gun's action and trigger several times. The weapon seemed to be functioning properly. He then studied each bullet as he reloaded the magazine, look ing for corrosion or any other indication that the am munition was old or suspect. He found nothing.”
― Michael Connelly, Nine Dragons

“Coffee's in the cabinet over the sink. I won't take
long."

"Good. You want a cup?"
"No, I'm good. I had some at the airport."

They entered the apartment and Eleanor split off to go to her bedroom while Bosch found the kitchen and went to work on the coffee. He found a mug that said World's Best Mom on its side and used that. It had been hand-painted a long time before and the words had faded with each cycle the mug had gone through in the dishwasher.”
― Michael Connelly, Nine Dragons

“The weapon was a showpiece with a blade that was only five inches long and a handle made of carved bone. The carving was a depiction of a one-sided battle in which men with knives and arrows and axes slaughtered unarmed men who appeared to be praying instead of fighting. Bosch assumed this was the massacre of the Shaolin monks that Chu had told him was the origin of the triads. The shape of the knife was very much like the shape of the tattoo on the inside of Chang's arm.”
― Michael Connelly, Nine Dragons

“I'm not convinced," Dodds said.

It was Thursday morning, just six hours after Bosch and Chu had ended their surveillance of Chang, with the suspect going to an apartment in Monterey Park and apparently retiring for the night.

"Well, Cap, you shouldn't be convinced yet," Bosch said. "That's why we want to continue the surveillance and get the wire."

"What I mean is, I'm not convinced it's the way to go," Dodds said, "Surveillance is fine. But a wire is a lot of work and effort for long-shot results."

Bosch understood. Dodds had an excellent repu tation as a detective, but he was now an administrator and about as far removed from the detective work in his division as a Houston oil executive is from the gas pump, He now worked with personnel numbers and budgets, He had to find ways of doing more with less and never allowing a dip in the statistics of arrests made and cases closed. That made him a realist and the reality was that electronic surveillance was very expensive. Not only did it take double-digit man hours to carefully draft a fifty plus-page affidavit secking court permission, but once permission was granted, a wiretap room had to be staffed twenty-four hours a day with a detective monitoring the line. Often a single-number tap led to other numbers needing to be tapped and under the law each line had to have its own monitor. Such an operation quickly sucked up overtime like a giant sponge. With the RHD's OT budget seriously down because of economic constraints on the department, Dodds was reluctant to give any of it up for what amounted to an investigation of the mur der of a South Side liquor store clerk. He would rather save it for a rainy day-a big-time media case that might come up and that would demand it.”
― Michael Connelly, Nine Dragons

“Bosch knew that the possibility of there being fingerprints on the casing were negligible, anyway. The explosion of gases when a bullet was fired almost always vaporized fingerprints on the casing.”
― Michael Connelly, Nine Dragons

“The creation of the triads goes back to the seven teenth century in China. There were one hundred thirteen monks in the Shaolin monastery, Buddhist monks, Manchu invaders attacked and killed all but five of the monks. Those remaining five monks created the secret societies with the goal of overthrowing the invaders. The triads were born. But over the centuries, they changed. They dropped politics and patriotism and became criminal organizations. Much like the Italian and Russian mafias, they engage in extortion and protection rackets. To honor the ghosts of the slaughtered monks, the extortion amounts are usually a multiple of one hundred eight.”
― Michael Connelly, Nine Dragons

“She watched the clock like the owner of a candy store watches the fat kids.”
― Michael Connelly, Nine Dragons

“danger”
― Michael Connelly, Nine Dragons

“Bosch remembered that they had driven out to Malibu to eat breakfast at a place called Marmalade and afterward had watched the surfers at a nearby beach.”
― Michael Connelly, Nine Dragons

“back.” “Did you talk to somebody?” “Uh, no, I left a message with my guy over there.”
― Michael Connelly, Nine Dragons

“triad?” “No,” Tao said indignantly. “We noted his tattoo and the ownership of”
― Michael Connelly, Nine Dragons

“within reach, especially if the shooter had to lean over or go around the counter to grab bullet casings. Why not take”
― Michael Connelly, Nine Dragons

“I’m going to go have a talk with Detective Chu.” “You think he held something back on us?” “That’s what I’m going to find out.”
― Michael Connelly, Nine Dragons

“Bosch nodded. Ferras was good.”
― Michael Connelly, Nine Dragons

“elite squad that went after the tough cases with the relentless skill of a boar rooting in the mud for a truffle.”
― Michael Connelly, Nine Dragons

“anticipated doing, anyway. But for now he was”
― Michael Connelly, Nine Dragons

“the next time.”
― Michael Connelly, Nine Dragons