Book Review: The Kensei, A Lawson Vampire Novel. By Jon F. Merz

The back cover reads:
Meet Lawson, a cynical, quick-witted vampire chosen to be one of the elite:  A fixer, charged with protecting the Balance, the sacred secret existence of a race of vampires living and coexisting alongside humanity for millennia.  Part cop, part spy, and part commando—James Bond with fangs—he mixes shrewd cunning with unmatched lethality to get his job done and protect his people.  Lawson tries his best to dismantle conspiracies, dispatch bad guys, and live long enough to get home.

In The Kensei, a battle-weary Lawson heads to Japan for some much-needed rest and relaxation and some advanced ninja training.  But he no sooner steps of the plane and lands in the mist of a Yajuza turf war orchestrated by a shadowy figure know only as the Kensei.  With the help of former KGB assassin Talya, Lawson must put a stop to the Kensei’s organ-trafficking network, prevent the creation of an army of vampire human hybrids, and save his own skin in the process.

The Kensei iss a thrill ride of the first order, filled with exciting martial arts action and vibrant characters, set against the fascinating backdrop of the Tokyo underworld.

This is my first time reading Jon F. Merz.   The Kensei is written in the first person.  Although the book was really good and action packed.  I wish it was written in the third person.  So that we could have known what the other characters were thinking.   The author did a good job as letting us in, by the wonderful descriptions and witty dialogue.   I thoroughly enjoyed it.  As a person who is into martial arts and Zen, the fight scenes were good, the backdrop of Japan and Tokyo makes me want to fly there and see. Definitely a good read.

I probably will read the other book in the series.  This was the last one, which means I have to start at the beginning.  I knew I should have started at the beginning but sometimes when barrowing books at the Library a person gets what they can get.

More from Jon F. Merz:

The Fixer
The Invoker
The Destructor
The Syndicate

To find out more about Jon F. Merz see his website. www.jonfmerz.net.