Karma [Hardcover]

Mitchell Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1994

After asking too many questions about Rao Electrical, the company wiring the New York City skyscraper he designed, Evan Scott and his family, mistress, and associates become the target of a ruthless Hindu-Indian crime syndicate based in Manhattan. 75,000 first printing. $75,000 ad/promo.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this bear trap of a thriller, Smith eases up on the literary ambitions of his recent suspense novels (Due North; Stone City) to offer a sinewy chiller that will leave readers wide-eyed. Much is familiar here-the Raos, the ruthless Hindu criminal family that threatens architect Evan Scott and his family are at heart exotic Corleones-and much is blatant. The characters are built crudely: Evan's wife is tall and blonde; his mistress, short and dark; one villain is fat and jolly, another thin and suave. But the action is top drawer, beginning with Evan locking eyes with a woman who's falling from the top of a partially built skyscraper. In that eye-lock, Smith reads a world of nuance, and it's this sort of subtle mining of tensions between characters, especially the WASP Evan and the retired Indian soldier with whom he joins forces, that gives the action resonance. The girl was pushed, Evan learns, because her electrician father had filed a minor business complaint against the Raos, who are erecting the skyscraper. Evan's digging earns the Raos' wrath, and soon he and his family are running and fighting for their lives, with the conflict climaxing in a breathtaking battle on high steel. This isn't Smith's best novel, but it sure is his most exhilarating. Literary Guild selection.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Evan Scott has it made. He has a beautiful wife, an adoring mistress, a job in a prestigious Manhattan architectural firm, and leisure time for jazz and tennis. The only glitch in his tranquillity is an occasional nightmare about his Vietnam tour. One day, while inspecting a skyscraper under construction, he witnesses a young worker fall to her death. His helplessness in this situation reminds him of his Vietnam experience, and he becomes determined to find the reason behind the fall. His investigation reveals that the electrical contractor is really a front for an ancient Hindu crime organization that even the Mafia fears. The thugs are so efficient that the police have nothing to go on, and Evan must confront the gangsters with the only person who knows the extent of their evildoing: an aging newspaper vendor named Ram Das Lal. This compulsive page-turner is highly recommended for public libraries.
Dan Bogey, Clearfield Cty. P.L. Federation, Curwensville, Pa.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult (October 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525937730
• ISBN-13: 978-0525937739
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,474,922 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smith is the finest author of them all when it comes to writing action scenes, November 22, 2006

By 

Bryce A. Suderow (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Karma (Paperback)

When it comes to writing action scenes, Mitchell Smith is the finest author of them all.

He got his start writing the "Buckskin" series of westerns for Leisure Books in New York. He wrote the 10 or 11 books under the pen name Roy LeBeau. The novels follow the career of a real gunfighter named Buckskin Frank Leslie, but the novels are fictitious.

I think Smith's always been capable of depicting scenes of violence. You'll see what I mean if you read the 3 scenes where there's gunplay in Colt Creek" Then read the scene in Karma where Evan fights the Pathan fighter who does the killing for the Rao Family. They're both equally brilliant.

Does anyone know when Smith's next novel will come out? It's about a beautiful woman who is a circus performr. Someone - maybe her boyfriend -cuts off her nose to disfigure her.

Bryce A. Suderow

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smith Continues To Write Great Novels, July 11, 1998

By 

Robert Derenthal "bucherwurm" (California United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Karma (Paperback)

I have read all of Mitchell Smith's novels, and this one was a pleasure. I really love his unique writing style. Mitchell is an unusual writer, having written books about widely different subjects: Due North about a woman living in the wilds of Alaska; Stone City about life in a prison; and several thrillers. His characters are interesting, and his descriptions of scenes are excellent. Highly recommended

5.0 out of 5 stars "Runnin' don't get it done"., June 24, 2008

By 

Panzon (Planet Earth) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Karma (Paperback)

"Karma" Mitchell Smith:

A Manhattan architect (and ex-Force Recon Marine), Evan Scott sees a girl fall from a skyscraper while visiting an adjacent building....Their eyes meet, and Evan is locked into finding out why she fell, and why no one seems to want him to ask questions...

Great action scenes, and actually a very thoughtful (though extremely brutal) book.

Scott joins with an old Hindu newspaper dealer when they find out that an ancient crime family has marked them (and their entire families) for death...He breaks out the old .45, and the Bowie knife he inherited from his platoon Sergeant, and finds he still remembers how to kill other men when the need arises...

This story also introduces one of the most interesting bad-guys in print: Sher Daula or "The Dond" as his masters refer to him, a Pathan tribesman from the mountains of Afghanistan who has "a taste for tradition" (cold steel) when comes to murder, and "is not fearing heights at all".

My favorite action/suspense novel of all time.