Another science fiction book that reads more like fantasy, with a mystery spine. There were a couple of things I didn't like--the copyediting in Chapter One almost made me put the book down, with all the plurals with apostrophes, and Bobby gets way too much gratuitous tail--but the plot itself kept my interest.

On the other hand, any book with a crackhead kitten gets bonus points for weirdness. I'd actually rate it 3 1/2 if I could. ( )

http://speculiction.blogspot.com/2015/07/review-of-9tail-fox-by-jon-courtenay.ht... ( )

Jon Courtenay Grimwood mixes genres blending a Hammett-style noir with Chinese mysticism and historical elements. With his intricate plots and engaging characters, after reading two of his books he is fast becoming one of my favourite writers. ( )

I can't say I enjoyed this very much at all. I know they say that it's good for characters to have flaws, but I felt Bobby was full of flaws that made him completely unlikable. The only quality he had was that he loved his daughter.

I found this very hard to get through and although quite an interesting plot line, I didn't think it was written all that well. It was hard to follow with all the POV changes and I didn't find any of the characters all that likable.

So much more could have been done with this. ( )

The fox was pure white and carried its tail high and curled like flame over its back. Its eyes were red as coals, fierce with anger. White canines showed on either side of its mouth.
'Jinwei hu,' said Bobby.
The fox nodded, even though Bobby had only said the name in his head. Somewhere on Grant Avenue a kid let off a string of firecrackers left over from the night before and the fox grinned.

Although both books have a police detective as a main character, "9tail Fox" is completely different from the only other book of this author's that I've read. "Lucifer's Dragon" is cyberpunk, while "9tail Fox" is more of a noir detective story and is set closer to the present day. That's a good thing, as I hate finding a new author only to discover that s/he writes the same book over and over again.

Bobby Zha is a policeman of Chinese descent who works for the SFPD in Chinatown. His career has stalled and his marriage is in tatters, but he has an affinity for children and street people, and his boss Lieutenant Que mostly leaves him to his own devices. After being shot while on duty he sees a nine-tailed white celestial fox as he is dying, and then wakes up in the body of a man who has been in a coma since he was a seven years old. Conveniently, Robert Vanberg had received a multi-million dollar settlement for his injuries, which means that Bobby has the resources to investigate the cases he was working on at the time of his murder, in an attempt to find out why he died and why he didn't. ( )