Customer Reviews

Karma

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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

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

"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.

His actions scenes are among the best since Howard, his inner glimpses profound, his characters full-fleshed.
The Dond. "Detective" Rao. Young Bhose.
Just amazing.
His seemingly oblique references to Afghan Tribesmen, Kipling, cabinet making, home design, and a host of other minutae, can possibly cause the less well read casual "thriller" reader to lose the thread (s).
Thoughts, feelings, ideas and memories comprise much of the book, and our 2 and 3 star reviewers were obviously out of their literary depth.
This book is action literature, in the manner of Thomas Harris in his prime.

When this book surfaced about eight years ago, I remember all the critical kudos and recommendations it got. For some reason, even though I had the book shortly thereafter, I never got around to reading it until now.
This book has some exceptionally well written scenes; vignettes that touch the heart and make for some truly memorable moments. For instance, the hero (?), Evan Scott, needs to buy ammunition so he goes to an old childhood friend whom he has neglected since becoming a well established architect. Their scene of what friendship can truly mean is really heartfelt. Later, Evan,along with his unsolicited sidekick, Dass, are walking through Central Park and the elderly man suddenly reaches out and takes Evan's hand to hold and walk. Although initially embarrassed, Evan lets him do that and they walk hand in hand, like a father and son walking along the beach. It's moments like these that elevate this somewhat ineffective thriller to its heights. Unfortunately, a series of touching vignettes and some suspenseful action scenes, do not a great novel make. The plot focuses on Scott's efforts to stop a Hindu (that's right) mob from killing people who know about their secrets at a construction site. A girl falls from the building, Scott catches her eyes on the way down, and from then on, Evan is embroiled in a complex scenario with the usual cops won't believe him, wife doesn't believe him, etc. Add to this that Scott has a mistress who works in his office, and you get the ingredients for the melodrama ensuing.
I wish I could like this book more, but there are too many distractions. Even though Dass is a wonderful character and his relationship to Evan really nice, his constant ramblings about the Hindu culture get repetitious after a while. Likewise, the constant reflections of Evan's Vietnam days, while helping identify Evan's character and justifying his derring do, they too get a little too repetitive.
The book does show Smith's unquestionable talent with words and characterizations; unfortunately, in this case, they're so heavy-handed, we miss the thriller aspect.

I wasn't sure that I could finish this book after I had read the first half. It seemed disjointed, with no real detail but a bunch of actions thrown together. Each action was meant to catch the attention, and did mine. However, the transition from action to action reminded me of the camera work on NYPD Blue. This may work on TV, but in a book it almost makes you wish you could get seasick.

On the other hand, the last half of the book seemed to come together and flow better. In any case, it would make a better movie than a book. Sly Stallone as Evan "Rambo" Scott might actually attract some interest, and it would be much better than "Judge Dread".

I wanted to like this book, I really did. I loved Stone City and was hoping for some of the same. This is a very pedestrian thriller using cardboard Kali characters as villans. Feels that the author was just going through the motions. Eric Von Lustbadder did it much, much better with his book called Ninja. Mitchell Smith is a great writer but this is not a great book. Sorry, JJM