White Ninja

Rating:
Summary: Review of audio book version...
Review: 1) Tim Matheson isn't necessarily boring to listen too, but nowhere near the acting and voice over abilities of Roddy McDowall as a reader on the L. Ron Hubbard works. Different voices and more "acting" on the voice inflections of the characters (fearful, excited, nearvous, etc) would have made this a more enjoyable story.

2) A "popular" story that includes Ninjas? Yeah, right! Well, this is the case here...this is a very popular work but it is more of a crime-drama with a heavy emphasis on romance/pornography. Thought I'd mention this in case you have different expectations of what the story is about.

3) The ninja portion heightened the action and suspense as these "unstoppable" forces of good and evil work towards a face off. Anyone experienced (really experienced) in martial arts will get an appreciation of the power of the ninja characters and their art.

4) Can anyone say, "SEX!!" Wow! There was a lot here even in the abridged audio book version. Obviously not for everyone regardless if it is "more realistic" or not or however else it can be justified.

5) Some interesting characters...more is spent on the psyche of the "bad guys" and thus you can't wait to see what they do next.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting!
Review: A great thriller combining mystic elements of the martial arts, superb insight into the soul of Japan, excellent use of time, and no low points at all. 694 pages, finished in about four days. And I don't read much.

Rating:
Summary: The last GREAT Nicholas Linnear novel
Review: I LOVED 'The Ninja' and 'The Miko'... 'White Ninja' is the last GREAT Nicholas Linnear novel. Nicholas faces marital troubles when his past Japanese flame returns... Very detailed descriptions of the mountains in Japan... makes you wish you were living there...

Rating:
Summary: The last GREAT Nicholas Linnear novel
Review: I LOVED 'The Ninja' and 'The Miko'... 'White Ninja' is the last GREAT Nicholas Linnear novel. Nicholas faces marital troubles when his past Japanese flame returns... Very detailed descriptions of the mountains in Japan... makes you wish you were living there...

Rating:
Summary: Just not good enough
Review: Maybe it's my adult tastes. I'd picked this book up after several years to finish it off, I'd started with The Ninja back when I was a teenager, and I feel like I've grown up with the hero of the book, Nicholas Linnear. I was told there's now 5 books in the series. I just hope the rest aren't like White Ninja. Though a wonderful writing style, I found the book lacked imagination. Some of the scenes became so unrealistic, put there to inject a sense of drama and climax, but looking out of place. The climax to the book by the way was awful. What a complete disappointment. It slowly builds, then nothing. Nicholas does his usual three fingered gut thrust and monkey blow, but no twists, nothing that makes you think wow, that was a good read.

Rating:
Summary: Too long and too boring.
Review: The ninja is back! Although in this one, Nicholas Linnear is mourning the death of his baby daughter, and the desperation in his life causes him to lose his martial arts abilities. Then a murder spree breaks out in Tokyo - it seems a corrupt cop is butchering young women for sexual kicks. A political scandal is about to rock Washington. A new strategic defence computer is about to be hacked into in Washington. How does this tie up with Linnear's life, and the links between his father and the Yakuza? In order to regain his powers and seek revenge for the death of a friend, he journeys to China to learn a martial art he thought was legendary and regain his powers. This superb book follows along the Lustbader format nicely - political intrigue, awesome technology, Oriental mysticism and those sex scenes he seems to love. Well worth a read, but be advised - read THE NINJA first to understand the Nicholas Linnear timeline better.