Dragonfish by Vu Tran

Dragonfish by Vu Tran
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis:

A thrilling work of sophisticated suspense set amid the Vietnamese underworld in Las Vegas.

Robert, an Oakland cop, still can't let go of Suzy, the enigmatic Vietnamese wife who left him two years ago. Now she's disappeared from her new husband, Sonny, a violent Vietnamese smuggler and gambler who's blackmailing Robert into finding her for him. As he pursues her through the sleek and seamy gambling dens of Las Vegas, shadowed by Sonny's sadistic son, "Junior," and assisted by unexpected and reluctant allies, Robert learns more about his ex-wife than he ever did during their marriage. He finds himself chasing the ghosts of her past, one that reaches back to a refugee camp in Malaysia after the fall of Saigon, as his investigation soon uncovers the existence of an elusive packet of her secret letters to someone she left behind long ago. Although Robert starts illuminating the dark corners of Suzy’s life, the legacy of her sins threatens to immolate them all.

Vu Tran has written a thrilling and cinematic work of sophisticated suspense and haunting lyricism, set in motion by characters who can neither trust each other nor trust themselves. This remarkable debut is a noir page-turner resonant with the lasting reverberations of lives lost and lives remade a generation ago.

My Review:

Update, one day after review was written → I am dropping my rating down to 2 ★'s because I'm still fuming at the ending!

Original Review ↓

Well, now I have mixed feelings about this story. You'll see why in a bit. This review may contain some spoilers, just an FYI.

This story was told by two different points of view. The first, from Bob's standpoint, was told in the present. This part of the story had the feel of The Junior Bender Series by Timothy Halligan. It was felt quick paced without being so. The second, from Suzy's, told the past in the form of letters. This reminded me of the grandfather from Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. It gave me a sense of nostalgia.

Although this story was decent enough, I couldn't quite feel much for the main characters, well except contempt for Suzy. I did not like her. Sadly, the action didn't quite pick up until the middle of the story. At that point, I was thinking, hell yea, now we are getting somewhere, but although the pace picked, we never gained momentum. The ending? What the hell was that? They left everything suspended in the air. Nothing was wrapped up to my satisfaction. This story might have earned 4 ★'s had the ending not been so disappointing.

Admittedly, I was drawn to this book because of it's cover. It was nowhere on my radar, but when I saw it at the library, and it fit my need to read a Suspense for a monthly challenge, I picked it up. I am rarely as disappointed by my reads based on cover, but this time I was. If you liked either book mentioned above, or if you like open-ended books, give it a try, otherwise, choose for yourself.

Read from January 05 to 06, 2016

Top 5 Genres*: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Mystery/Noir, Literary Fiction
*According to Goodreads
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★★★★★ - I absolutely loved it
★★★★ - Good book and would recommend
★★★ - Decent book, but wasn't spectacular
★★ - Not good, but was able to finish it
★ - Did not finish (DNF) and I don't usually rate a book I haven't finished (just to be fair to the author)

View all my reviews