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Connor Burke and Yamashita Sensei #5
Enzan: The Far Mountain
Chie Miyazaki is wild and spoiled—the pampered child of a cadet line of the Imperial House of Japan. When she disappears in the United States accompanied by a slick Korean boyfriend, it sets off alarms among elite officials in Japan’s security apparatus.
The Japanese want the problem solved quietly, so they seek out Connor Burke, prize student of Sensei Yamashita. Burke suspects that he’s being used, but he accepts the assignment out of honor for his revered sensei.
A covert search and rescue operation turns into a confrontation with a North Korean sleeper cell, and Burke finally discovers the secret that drove Yamashita from Japan so many years ago and the power behind the decades-old connections that pull Yamashita back into danger in the service of the imperial family.
The Japanese want the problem solved quietly, so they seek out Connor Burke, prize student of Sensei Yamashita. Burke suspects that he’s being used, but he accepts the assignment out of honor for his revered sensei.
A covert search and rescue operation turns into a confrontation with a North Korean sleeper cell, and Burke finally discovers the secret that drove Yamashita from Japan so many years ago and the power behind the decades-old connections that pull Yamashita back into danger in the service of the imperial family.
296 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2014
About the author
John Donohue
36 books88 followersJohn Donohue is a novelist and martial artist whose novels in the Burke Yamashita series, Sensei, Deshi, Tengu and the forthcoming (July 2011) Kage all explore the world of elite martial arts training and the implications of a life of action
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 17, 2018
This is the latest, and possibly the last book in the Connor Burke series.
Yamashita is at a resort in upstate New York, healing up from the last couple of books. Connor is teaching at the dojo, when some powerful Japanese businessmen ask him to find a wild young daughter of the clan. Connor takes them up on it so they won't bother Yamashita. Bad choice.
In way over his head from the very beginning, Connor uses all of his resources to find the daughter, only to find she isn't in any real danger.
It all comes to a climax at the resort upstate.
Connor seems almost competent in this one, which is a nice change.
Yamashita is at a resort in upstate New York, healing up from the last couple of books. Connor is teaching at the dojo, when some powerful Japanese businessmen ask him to find a wild young daughter of the clan. Connor takes them up on it so they won't bother Yamashita. Bad choice.
In way over his head from the very beginning, Connor uses all of his resources to find the daughter, only to find she isn't in any real danger.
It all comes to a climax at the resort upstate.
Connor seems almost competent in this one, which is a nice change.
April 2, 2015
Connor Burke is a martial arts teacher. When he is asked by a wealthy and prominent Japanese family known as the Miyazakis to retrieve their daughter Chie from a Korean drug dealer named Lim, Connor reluctantly accepts not knowing the dangers of doing so. He accepts the mission to protect his old Sensei from harm. Can he find their daughter and outwit the Korean gangsters before he gets hurt? Read on and find out for yourself.
This was a pretty good martial arts thriller that I had received as a prize at my local library for participating in their winter reading program. Even though it was the 5th book of a series, I enjoyed it. If I ever find the other books in the series, I'll read it. The book was very action-packed and fans of martial arts books will enjoy it. Look for this book at your local library and wherever books are sold.
This was a pretty good martial arts thriller that I had received as a prize at my local library for participating in their winter reading program. Even though it was the 5th book of a series, I enjoyed it. If I ever find the other books in the series, I'll read it. The book was very action-packed and fans of martial arts books will enjoy it. Look for this book at your local library and wherever books are sold.
January 28, 2014
In this fifth book in the Connor Burke martial arts thriller series, John Donohue breaks some new ground. Throughout Burke’s newest adventure, Donohue weaves the story of Burke’s sensei, Yamashita, as a young man. He looks at issues of loyalty, obedience and impetuousness while telling an edge-of-your-seat story involving kidnapping and the Korean mafia. As always Donohue gives us a meaty story that can be read as a darn good thriller, or as a study in human nature, or as a commentary on the traditions and inner workings of the martial art. Pick it up on Friday night when you don’t have to be at work Saturday morning. If you’re like me, you’ll be up half the night reading “just one more chapter.”
August 5, 2014
http://koeur.wordpress.com/2014/08/05...
Publisher: YMMAA Publication Center
Publishing Date: July 2014
ISBN: 9781594392818
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Rating: 4.2/5
Publisher Description: The Plot:
Chie Miyazaki is wild and spoiled—the pampered child of a cadet line of the imperial House of Japan. When she disappears in the United States accompanied by a slick Korean boyfriend, it sets off alarm bells among people in Japan’s security apparatus.
Review: Nice calming cover art…..
I really enjoyed the various characters within this novel. The author did a really good job in developing even the bit players. This is my first foray into this author’s work as I tend to avoid fiction with a martial arts theme. Usually the fight scenes are unrealistic or the hero is this indefatigable/unstoppable force that can break you with a glance etc. From experience (Shodan Isshinryu) I can fully relate to the dojo life with all the physical pain, fleeting insights and commraderie that barely describes a life long experience. The author touches on these experiences and brings them to life through Connor, albeit with a sometimes metaphysical twist.
At one point in the story, Mori’s journal is given to Yamashita and we discover the truths of Yamashita’s past life. The voice used in the journal iterates a story to Yamashita. Why tell someone a story of their life unless the intent is for the benefit of a different reader? The story should have been a past account by Mori in the first person and not a direct dialogue with Yamashita.
The Enzan or warning to keep focus on important things, to not be distracted seems to me contradictory. The author speaks of ego and a mindless state or being in the moment yet Connor embraces the idea of Enzan and says that it is easier said than done.
I like that Connor gets abducted and the crap beat out him. He is a man that knows his limitations and is wholly fallible and human. Too often we seem to reach our pinnacles of achievement and progress no further, only protecting the fragile ego in the process. The author reveals these contradictions where the choice to do martial arts, for instance, implies ego yet the practice of martial arts is the implementation and/or attainment of a mindless state. I think there is both. The mind, as long as it does not become your complete identity and you are AWARE of those limitations, specifically that you are not your mind, then it is used as it should be, as a tool. The idea, that in our formative society that we can become ascethitc hermits vying for enlightenment is ridiculous. We interact, we think, we do. This begets use of the mind. Yet the ability to embrace an awareness of who you really are while working through the minds endless limitations is a poignant daily exercise.
I had a good time reading this novel. I identified with a large part of this novel, but others that do not have that background will find the authors writing talent/creativeness more than compensates in other subject areas within the novel.
Publisher: YMMAA Publication Center
Publishing Date: July 2014
ISBN: 9781594392818
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Rating: 4.2/5
Publisher Description: The Plot:
Chie Miyazaki is wild and spoiled—the pampered child of a cadet line of the imperial House of Japan. When she disappears in the United States accompanied by a slick Korean boyfriend, it sets off alarm bells among people in Japan’s security apparatus.
Review: Nice calming cover art…..
I really enjoyed the various characters within this novel. The author did a really good job in developing even the bit players. This is my first foray into this author’s work as I tend to avoid fiction with a martial arts theme. Usually the fight scenes are unrealistic or the hero is this indefatigable/unstoppable force that can break you with a glance etc. From experience (Shodan Isshinryu) I can fully relate to the dojo life with all the physical pain, fleeting insights and commraderie that barely describes a life long experience. The author touches on these experiences and brings them to life through Connor, albeit with a sometimes metaphysical twist.
At one point in the story, Mori’s journal is given to Yamashita and we discover the truths of Yamashita’s past life. The voice used in the journal iterates a story to Yamashita. Why tell someone a story of their life unless the intent is for the benefit of a different reader? The story should have been a past account by Mori in the first person and not a direct dialogue with Yamashita.
The Enzan or warning to keep focus on important things, to not be distracted seems to me contradictory. The author speaks of ego and a mindless state or being in the moment yet Connor embraces the idea of Enzan and says that it is easier said than done.
I like that Connor gets abducted and the crap beat out him. He is a man that knows his limitations and is wholly fallible and human. Too often we seem to reach our pinnacles of achievement and progress no further, only protecting the fragile ego in the process. The author reveals these contradictions where the choice to do martial arts, for instance, implies ego yet the practice of martial arts is the implementation and/or attainment of a mindless state. I think there is both. The mind, as long as it does not become your complete identity and you are AWARE of those limitations, specifically that you are not your mind, then it is used as it should be, as a tool. The idea, that in our formative society that we can become ascethitc hermits vying for enlightenment is ridiculous. We interact, we think, we do. This begets use of the mind. Yet the ability to embrace an awareness of who you really are while working through the minds endless limitations is a poignant daily exercise.
I had a good time reading this novel. I identified with a large part of this novel, but others that do not have that background will find the authors writing talent/creativeness more than compensates in other subject areas within the novel.
September 17, 2014
I loved every minute of this book! I've been a fan of this series since Donahue published the first one, and now I need to go back and make sure I didn't miss a couple of them. This one is pleasing on so many levels--the story, the lessons, the culture, the history, and the humanity of the characters. I'm looking forward to the next one and seeing how Burke develops. A hard road ahead, but I think he is up to it! Oh--stayed up all night reading it. I could not put it down! But I am a hardcore Japanophile and a martial artist so this was like candy for me!
March 31, 2019
Another awesome book from an author who knows and has experienced the inner world of the dojo and martial arts. I’m reading them all.
September 9, 2017
Full review to follow.
April 22, 2018
The books in this series keep improving with this last one being the best of the five. Highly recommended.
October 22, 2015
By choosing this book, I told myself that it was not a big risk, as this is the fifth book in the series... As... if the first 4 had not been good, the series would not have been so far! I also liked the cover that goes very well with the Japanese martial arts theme.
So, inevitably, when you begin a series in the 5th volume, there is always the concern of whether you'll feel like you've missed some important things to better understand the book. About that book, I can tell: yes, but not... Because yes, there are some allusions to past adventures, some understanding that regular readers will appreciate, but for novices like me, it goes very well anyway!
I enjoyed learning more about martial arts, you'll understand very quickly that the author really knows them and knows how to explain the concepts and context of his art while making it interesting. I never felt like reading an essay on Japanese martial art but rather found that the explanations about the "way of the warrior" brought a very zen touch to a very violent history. It's a contrast that makes a special note to this book.
The characters, mostly Burke and his Sensei, are very well written, we can feel the respect of the student to the master and the amused tenderness of Yamashita for his pupil. I appreciated that there are in this book no superheroes or nor villains able to get up after eating a hail of bullets, it's more realistic.
And the story? Burke is investigating alone, with no means at hand and sometimes with a few sleazy accomplices, which does not always bring happy results but have the merit of making a well-paced story. We follow him from adventure to misadventure in a sometimes Zen atmosphere and sometimes rock n'roll one.
In a nutshell
A good book, well written, a well-paced story, a sometimes troubled zen. In a nutshell, a book that reads quickly, entertaining and that'll make you want to go treading along a tatami. It is a 4/5 for me.
Disclaimer: An e-galley of this title was provided to me by the publisher. No review was promised and the above is an unbiased review of the novel.
(Originally posted at http://vanessa-s-bookshelves.blogspot...)
So, inevitably, when you begin a series in the 5th volume, there is always the concern of whether you'll feel like you've missed some important things to better understand the book. About that book, I can tell: yes, but not... Because yes, there are some allusions to past adventures, some understanding that regular readers will appreciate, but for novices like me, it goes very well anyway!
I enjoyed learning more about martial arts, you'll understand very quickly that the author really knows them and knows how to explain the concepts and context of his art while making it interesting. I never felt like reading an essay on Japanese martial art but rather found that the explanations about the "way of the warrior" brought a very zen touch to a very violent history. It's a contrast that makes a special note to this book.
The characters, mostly Burke and his Sensei, are very well written, we can feel the respect of the student to the master and the amused tenderness of Yamashita for his pupil. I appreciated that there are in this book no superheroes or nor villains able to get up after eating a hail of bullets, it's more realistic.
And the story? Burke is investigating alone, with no means at hand and sometimes with a few sleazy accomplices, which does not always bring happy results but have the merit of making a well-paced story. We follow him from adventure to misadventure in a sometimes Zen atmosphere and sometimes rock n'roll one.
In a nutshell
A good book, well written, a well-paced story, a sometimes troubled zen. In a nutshell, a book that reads quickly, entertaining and that'll make you want to go treading along a tatami. It is a 4/5 for me.
Disclaimer: An e-galley of this title was provided to me by the publisher. No review was promised and the above is an unbiased review of the novel.
(Originally posted at http://vanessa-s-bookshelves.blogspot...)
January 31, 2015
A story about a martial artist in Noo Yawk who is hired to “retrieve” a rich Japanese girl from a bad guy who supposedly got her hooked on drugs and sex. But of course it’s never that simple, as North Koreans, a huge snowstorm, his angry brother, a victim who might be suffering from Stockholm Syndrome or might not, and the past of his sensei complicate matters tremendously. As would be expected, there’s plenty of fight scenes; people get beaten up, killed, or almost killed; I found the descriptions of the various martial arts moves fascinating, but the results of the blows not so much. My only annoyance was the hero not thinking things through when he goes to rescue her and gets bopped on the head; shoulda seen that coming, bro. 3.5/5 pushed to 4.
August 11, 2014
Enzan is book #5 in the Connor Burke series. . Much to chagrin of Connor’s brother he goes in over his head to rescue a Japanese princess and winds up tangling with a North Korean cell. There are many layers to the story which ties up very neatly in the end. This book has plenty of action and the narration in between I found highly informative.
May 16, 2015
So very good, after a dip with the last book I was worried that this series had run it's course, well I need not have because Enzan was a true return to form, exploring the concepts of loyalty, honour and perception, we have two stories here with one from the past very much affecting the present. The end was breathtakingly hard and filled with pathos...... Left me wondering 'What next?'
June 11, 2015
The main part of the book deserves 4 stars. It's as good as the first three in the series when it comes to action, character development, intrigue, inter-woven plots and descriptive mastery. It gets the elusive 5th star because of the ending. Simply superb.
I want more! Please John give us more!
I want more! Please John give us more!
April 3, 2016
My Kenpo teachers say real fights aren't pretty. John Donohue's Connor Burke stories reflect this fact.
March 2, 2015
my favorite martial arts series
These books provide a group of rich characters and story line around which a deep and loving view of the way can be glimpsed
These books provide a group of rich characters and story line around which a deep and loving view of the way can be glimpsed
April 25, 2017
A great story that can stand alone but adds to the overall series brilliantly.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews