The Kensei by Jon F. Merz
Urban Fantasy
January 18, 2011
Paperback, 304 Pages
St. Martin’s Griffin

Reviewed by Mandi

Favorite Quote: She looked at me and smiled again. I could never get tired of that. “Why else do you think I’m with you?”

I shrugged. “I thought my magnificent butt might have had something to do with it.”

Lawson (born a vampire) is in need of rejuvenation. He decides to slip out of Boston, only letting his trusty friend Niles know that he is headed to Tokyo to regroup and train in his beloved martial art style, ninjutsu for a few days. Lawson is a Fixer in the vampire world – it is his job to make sure the secret of vampires is never revealed to humans. And in this day and age, that is a job that keeps him on his toes. And just when he thinks he is going to have a few days to breathe and take it easy, trouble finds him.

First he thwarts an assassination attempt on a fellow passenger on a train. Later that night, he runs into Yuki, the Control vampire for this part of Tokyo. After some investigating, she finds out the assassin on the train is not just some random person. The man’s tattoo was a calling card of a man the vampire Council thought dead – the Kensei. A man known for his extraordinary sword skills. And if he is alive, and in Tokyo, Lawson is not going to have the vacation he thought was coming to him.

To complicate matters, his lover and former KGB girlfriend Talya pops in as as surprise, tracking down leads in an organ trafficking case and her lead takes her straight to the Kensei as well.

The Kensei is the first book I have ever read by Jon Merz and I honestly didn’t know what to expect. The few reviews I skimmed always talked about being immersed in the Japanese culture and martial arts and that made me hesitate. But from the first few pages I knew The Kensei was a book for me. Yes, we do get immersed in Japanese culture and we do learn all about ninjutsu – and it is very interesting. Even better, we get a very witty, smart-ass hero in Lawson, and I fell in love with him. Like I said, I haven’t read the previous books in this series (although this read just fine as a stand alone) so I am not sure of the journey Lawson has been on. But in this book, he is a little burned out. Questioning his role as a Fixer and how his life has not really gave him a lot of choices. But he contemplates his life, and the perilous danger he always finds himself in with wit and charm and warmth.

There is a lot of action in this book – guns, grenades, swords. The scenes are very well written and easy to follow. Yes, there were times a sword was an inch from Lawson’s head and he was still spewing off sarcastic remarks just as his girlfriend swoops in to save the day at the last second – so maybe a little over the top at some points. But always entertaining and engaging. This book is just Lawson and Talya in a short span of a few days fighting off the evil Kensei and analyzing their relationship. Being a ninja and a spy, doesn’t always allow them to have a lot of time for passion, and in this book they start to wonder if their constant seeking of thrills and dangerous life is worth missing out on the quality time they could be spending together.

I did quite often forget Lawson is a vampire. Besides the occasional drinking of bagged blood, and the reminder that as a vampire he is not allowed to fall in love, which he obviously is going against, you kind of forget he is a vampire. He still trains really hard at martial arts and is not invincible. This book really presents itself more of an action suspense book with a light romance than a paranormal one.

The Kensei is a very entertaining, action-packed book. Lawson is a great combination of a lethal ninja and a wise-ass hero.

Rating: B

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