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Dragonfish
Dragonfish | Vu Tran
7 posts | 12 read | 14 to read
Robert, a rugged Oakland cop, still can't let go of Suzy, the mysterious Vietnamese wife who left him. Now she's disappeared from her new husband, Sonny, a violent Vietnamese smuggler and gambler who blackmails Robert into finding her for him. Pursuing Suzy through the glitzy, sleazy gambling dens of Las Vegas, Robert finds himself chasing the past that haunts Suzyone that extends back to a refugee camp in Malaysia after the fall of Saigon. Her daughter, abandoned long ago, is now a steely professional poker player. The dangerous legacy of Suzy's guilt threatens to immolate them all, including Happy, her best friend.Taut, cinematic storytelling, vivid dialogue, and mesmerizing atmosphere combine here with beautiful, original prose. Based on his work chosen for The Best American Mystery Stories, Vu Tran's debut is a noir page-turner resonant with the lasting reverberations of lives lost and lives remade a generation ago.
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quote
Tex2Flo
Dragonfish | Vu Tran
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“...my father used to tell me—usually after one of my mother‘s fits throwing dishes or books or whatever—that women lose control when they‘re afraid and me lose control when they‘re in love.”

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Matilda
Dragonfish | Vu Tran
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57 likes2 stack adds
blurb
rachellayown
Dragonfish | Vu Tran
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Have I mentioned that I *LOVE* my library?

EvieBee Nice!! 7y
Julsmarshall So nice to have a good library! ❤️📚 7y
rachellayown Yes, I agree @Julsmarshall ! 7y
70 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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ReadingGrrl
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"America, Mr Robert, is not the melting pot you Americans like to say it is. It's oil and water. Things get stirred, sure but they eventually separate and settle, and the like things always go back to each other. " - this quote felt a little too much like the conservative right these days

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Jokila
Dragonfish | Vu Tran
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Mehso-so

A Vietnamese refugee loses her husband to war and, unable to escape the ghosts of her past, abandons their daughter. New marriages, homes and names can't erase her trauma and again and again, she disappears from people's lives. Tran plays deftly with our genre expectations but, I never felt a connection to the work on a nonclinical level. I never cared about Robert or Suzy and the thriller aspects of the story felt underdeveloped & unentertaining.

Megabooks Great review! 8y
Jokila Thank you so much! @Ebooksandcooks 8y
2 likes2 comments
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HardcoverHearts
Dragonfish | Vu Tran
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This audiobook is grabbing me in immediately!! I think thrillers are a great thing to listen to on audio format.

ReadingEnvy Thrillers are great in audio I agree! My favorite was You by Kepnes. Creepy perfect narrator. 8y
squibblesreads dang I NEEEED this! 😍 8y
HardcoverHearts @ReadingEnvy : thanks for the recommendation! I'll add it to my wish list at the library. And yes, @squibblesreads - you do!! 😉 8y
17 likes7 stack adds3 comments
review
DocBrown
Dragonfish | Vu Tran
Pickpick

Haunting love story well written. Works on several levels, not least as a tightly wound mystery. But it is so much more. It reveals the long-term impact of trauma, loss, bonding, and memory. I appreciated lucid prose, intercutting plot threads, and straightforward exposition. Highly recommended.