Grimwood Jon Courtenay 09

Reviews & Overviews by Rod Cameron

9Tail Fox – Jon Courtenay Grimwood

9Tail Fox is the latest novel from Jon Courtenay Grimwood. His novels are all well written, and this is no exception. Most of his earlier work sits comfortably under the umbrella of science fiction. However, despite elements of Chinese mythology, and the fact that the hero is dead for most of the story, it will become clear towards the end of the book that there is no reason why this should be considered a work of Science Fiction or even Fantasy. It could and should be read as an American crime novel. Jon reportedly spent some time with the San Francisco police doing research for this book. It would be interesting to know what they make of it, particularly as the hero is dead!

The hero is Bobby Zha a San Francisco policeman, who does his job his way. He is the grandson of a Chinese mafia boss, and has a network of tramps, junkies and petty criminals who he is concerned about. Most of the time, his boss doesn’t know what he is doing. It is not really surprising that when he is gunned down and killed he sees a 9Tail Celestial Fox, a nine tailed albino fox straight out of Chinese folklore. What is more surprising is that he wakes up in a hospital in New York wearing the body of a brain-dead man who is being kept alive by a very large trust fund.
It will not come as a shock to find out that he is very annoyed and desperate to find out who killed him. And he is soon back in San Francisco trying to find out did the deed. The rest of the story is a very engaging murder mystery. The characterisations are excellent. The story is fast paced and compelling. All in all, Jon Courtenay Grimwood at his best. Read it as soon as you can.

Publisher: Gollancz
Date: 2005
Pages: 326 Pages
Price: £12.99
ISBN: 0-575-07615-1
Format: Hardback
Reviewed by: Rod Cameron
Date Reviewed: November 2005

*9Tail Fox* – Jon Courtenay Grimwood
9Tail Fox is the latest novel from Jon Courtenay Grimwood. His novels are all well written, and this is no exception. Most of his earlier work sits comfortably under the umbrella of science fiction. However, despite elements of Chinese mythology, and the fact that the hero is dead for most of the story, it will become clear towards the end of the book that there is no reason why this should be considered a work of Science Fiction or even Fantasy. It could and should be read as an American crime novel. Jon reportedly spent some time with the San Francisco police doing research for this book. It would be interesting to know what they make of it, particularly as the hero is dead! The hero is Bobby Zha a San Francisco policeman, who does his job his way. He is the grandson of a Chinese mafia boss, and has a network of tramps, junkies and petty criminals who he is concerned about. Most of the time, his boss doesn’t know what he is doing. It is not really surprising that when he is gunned down and killed he sees a 9Tail Celestial Fox, a nine tailed albino fox straight out of Chinese folklore. What is more surprising is that he wakes up in a hospital in New York wearing the body of a brain-dead man who is being kept alive by a very large trust fund. It will not come as a shock to find out that he is very annoyed and desperate to find out who killed him. And he is soon back in San Francisco trying to find out did the deed. The rest of the story is a very engaging murder mystery. The characterisations are excellent. The story is fast paced and compelling. All in all, Jon Courtenay Grimwood at his best. Read it as soon as you can.
Publisher: Gollancz Date: 2005 Pages: 326 Pages Price: £12.99 ISBN: 0-575-07615-1 Format: Hardback Reviewed by: Rod Cameron Date Reviewed: November 2005