Sensei: A Connor Burke Martial Arts Thriller (A Connor Burke Martial Arts Thriller, 1)

First off, any serious student of traditional Japanese martial arts will totally understand the student/teacher relationship the main character has with his sensei. The action is well done and supports the story rather than the story just being an excuse to write fight scenes (well done and rather refreshing, especially in this genre). You don't have to have ever stepped into a dojo to appreciate the story, however. Donohue explains things well enough to have fellow martial artists nodding their heads and either smiling or wincing in sympathy, but also so that the casual reader will have no trouble understanding what is going on. Also, hey, any author that correctly uses the modern English spelling of (Japanese) Jujutsu deserves five stars just for that. Talk about street cred! ;) Arigato gozaimasu, Donohue-san! Yoku dekimashita!

One of my many lifetime passions has been the martial arts. I have read and reviewed numerous books and martial arts products over the years. I recently discovered a new series (for me anyway) of martial art action novels by John Donohue. The first book I read of his was Tengu: the mountain goblin, which I loved.This is the second book (Sensei by John Donohue) I have read by this author and I also loved this one. As a lifetime student and instructor of numerous martial arts (Judo, Jujitsu, Karate-Do, Kendo, Kenjutsu, Wakizashi-Jutsu and Tanto-Jutsu) I related to the dialogue referring to many Japanese martial art systems.This novel is about an assassin who seems to be killing only well-respected and well known martial art masters. The main characters in this suspenseful story include Connor Burke, who is a serious martial artist who trains under Master Yamashita and his brother, Micky Burke who is a New York City Detective. This mystery assassin leaves a message saying “Ronin.” Ronin were master less Samurai because they did not belong to any Lord or Shogun and had to wander around seeking jobs such as assassin.I never like to give away too much information when reviewing a novel because it spoils it for those who might want to read the book. If you are into well-written suspenseful and action packed martial art novels, this book is for you.This book was so good that I intend to read all the books in this series by John Donohue, when they can be purchased for a bargain price on Amazon.Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Shotokan Karate: Practical combat karate for the street)

John Donohue skillfully uses metaphor and allegory to artfully tell his tale of ancient Japanese martial culture in a modern Manhattan crime thriller. Those wanting to add to their Japanese vocabulary and understanding won't be disappointed as Donohue uses his story to deepen our understanding of Japanese constructs. It would be a wonderful world in Kindle books if all the Japanese words were hyper linked to an audio pronunciation guides. The conclusion is a little predictable when the American hero kills the Japanese-American assassin in a Gainjin versus Gainjin duel using a number of different weapons and martial arts, and leaving us believing that the hero "Professor's" pure Japanese Sensei could have prevailed over the evil mongrel Ronin with a lot less fuss and effort than was required by his top American student. Thus, Donohue preserves the mystique of true Asian masters who are eternally progressing towards enlightenment of the spirit. I'll read more Donohue, and may even read all Donhue if all his writing continues as good a Sensei. I know fiction is good writing when I find myself frequently underlining passages so they are easy to find to read again.

Steeped as it is in imparting the existential essence fueling the true study of The Way of The Warrior. Rather than just portraying students of Bushido as simply spending all their time knocking the whoop out of one another, the author takes his time and presents the complete package. That means that this is not a book for the average action/murder mystery fan. It moves too slowly. The author has given the book two lines of focus. The major emphasis is on the transformation of Connor Burke ( gaijin) from a talented, emotionally vacillating, advanced student of martial arts into a centered and functional warrior of The Way. The minor focus of the story is the hunt for the serial murderer of recognized masters/teachers ( Sensei) of various aspects of the martial arts. The character pulling this track along is Connor's brother Michael ( Mick) an NYPD Homicide detective. Connor's emotional and spiritual growth in his Path takes up perhaps 90% of the book. The last 10% is where the actual action happens and the killer is finally found and dealt with. For myself, alone, I would give the book 4.5 stars. But considering fandom of action mysteries as a whole, the GENERAL audience appeal is lower.

This is a surprisingly good book. I've bought it quite a while ago, I think it was free or in a Kindle Daily Deal and I left it one of my "unread" virtual piles of books.I decided to give it a try and I've been surprised from the very beginning. I didn't expect the level of insight displayed by the author. Throughout the book, everything related to martial arts was exceptionally well done. But, and there is a "but", at times it seemed like a child wrote some of the dialogues or scenes. The main character is supposed to be an intelligent guy, and he is. He displays a keen ability to judge people's actions and motivations. Yet his powers of deductions are simply laughable. In almost every instance where he tries to play Sherlock, his trail of thought is so dumb that it makes you want to scream. And that is true for almost all of the other characters, even if some are less affected by this plague. The author simply seems to want his characters to think analytically at the level of a 3rd-grader.That aside, the book is enjoyable. We get some valuable info about the world of the martial arts, and also some fighting action. Seeing that this is only the debut of the author, I will read his next books, hoping for some improvement.

I’ve got a nerve writing a review here when I’ve only read 40 pages of it so far. However, on the strength of that 40 pages, I am going to order Mr Donohue’s other books. I am just so grateful to have discovered this. The martial arts attract a wide variety of people, including a large number of quality human beings, intelligent, educated, and honourable. Martial arts entertainment, on the other hand, has a most unfortunate tendency to dumb down, to appeal to the lowest common denominator. (I suspect that the artistic approach, e.g. in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, is by far the exception rather than the rule. I am aware of the increase in quality in martial arts movies in recent years, encouragingly – some Donnie Yen stuff, for instance, is hundreds of times better than what was acceptable back in the seventies.) Mr Donohue is not only genuinely martial-arts knowledgeable, he is intelligent and articulate, and he can write. I’m looking forward to the rest of his Connor Burke thrillers already.

As a long standing Martial Artist it is perhaps suprising that I haven't delved into the MA fiction before, but I was very happy to discover this author. I would recommend it not only to Martial Artists but also to fans of crime fiction/murder mysteries, as the books are a refreshing cross over between the two genres. It is told almost exclusively from the perspective of an Irish American academic Connor Burke, who is a long standing student of Yamashita - a old school Japanese Sensei - and is also brother to a Homicide detective.

A surprisingly well written book for a genre of this nature. He captures the atmosphere of New York very well from my tourist viewpoint, I can feel the sweat of a scorching summer heatwave in the city that never sleeps. The cultural and spiritual understanding of Japanese martial arts is first class, I guarantee you will learn a few things even if you know Japan! Overall excellent Martial Arts fiction, if your a martial artist especially of Japanese styles then try reading something completely different, you will not go wrong with this book!

I have just finished the second book. I believe someone could read this first book and enjoy it without committing to the series. Its not too deep or intense, a good easy read. It gives a hint as to the style of the following book which I enjoyed, but regardless, I believe if you have had a basic interest in martial arts you might enjoy it. If you just want a crime story I would mark it as 3 stars.

Ok I liked this book, I liked the characters and the interactions especially those moments between Burke and his Sensei. The story flowed and was a good idea. But not enough action for me not enough martial arts! I realise the subtlety of it all but I needed a bit more slam bang action as in those 70's Kung fu thrillers.Still a very good read by an author who knows his stuff and its place today's world.