John Donohue (1)

Asian scholar and martial artist Connor Burke, who continues to labor under the stern tutelage of the master warrior Yamashita Sensei, is drawn into a murder investigation when the police discover a link between the victim and the mysterious Kita Takanobu-a prominent martial arts sensei who has created a powerful New Age synthesis of Tibetan mysticism and the lethal heritage of the samurai. Along the way, Burke also finds himself pulled into the strange orbit of the Lama Changpa, a Tibetan mystic and clairvoyant who sees the dark clouds drawing in around Kita but is helpless to prevent a tragedy. Burke follows a trail that ultimately leads to Kita's elite mountain temple, where he will face his most deadly challenge ever.

In this stunning follow-up to Sensei, John Donohue plunges us once again into the exotic world of Japanese martial arts, where honor must be preserved at all costs.

John Donohue holds black belts in both karatedo and kendo and has studied many Asian martial arts disciplines, such as judo, aikido, iaido, and taiji, over the past twenty-five years. A nationally recognized authority on the topic, he is an associate editor of the Journal of Asian Martial Arts and has written four nonfiction books on the marital arts. In addition, he has been a featured speaker at national and international conventions, as well as on television and radio. He is the author of Sensei.… (meer)

Donohue writes a very subdued and grounded adventure for martial artist Connor Burke and Sensei Yamashita. There are no super human feats of karate, no over the top fight scenes, no ninja acrobatics, just realistic, honest battles with all the bumps, bruises and indignities of a real for-your-life fight. In fact, Burke doesn't do a lot of hand-to-hand combat in this novel. A lot of the serious conflict comes from the relationships in Burke's life, and from within Burke himself.

There is a lot of gun play in this novel, a change from earlier books that were more focussed on the art of kendo and karate. Given the antagonists in this book, that makes a lot of sense, and keeps the story fully in the real world.

Well written with plenty of character and some good action, I think this is a solid entry in the series, and a natural progression for Connor Burke.… (meer)