The Dark Fights

By: Alexandra Vinarov

Narrated by: Lisa Zimmerman

Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Escaping a traumatic childhood, Sasha finds peace, sanctuary, and purpose in a martial arts dojo whose sensei teaches her the ways of the samurai warrior. An accomplished black-belt fighter, she now happily dwells in the dojo, tucked away from the streets of Manhattan, until a midnight call sets her on a path into an underground world.

Struggling to pay off a gambling debt, her brother Danilo is severely injured in a no-rules club fight run by unscrupulous Russian mafiosi. To settle the debt, Sasha volunteers to perform in one of these “dark fights”, vowing it’s for one time only. But her beauty, skill, and martial arts mastery bring her to the attention of powerful men who see her as a big meal ticket.

Seducing her with money and drugs, they draw her into their sordid scheme until she becomes a big and glamorous draw, enriching herself while enriching her handlers and leaving behind a pulverized host of vanquished rivals. But she realizes how addictive the lure of brutality has become. As the stakes rise, she must become more and more violent to satisfy her handlers’ bloodlust.

Can she pull out before destroying someone? Can she pull out before destroying herself? Two fascinating men offer love and escape. But how true are their intentions?

Genuine feelings and betrayal, violence and glamour, sex and martial arts all go hand in hand throughout the book. The Dark Fights introduces you to an unknown and frightening world and pins you to the mat until the very last moment.

©2020 Alexandra Vinarov (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

Pretty dank

It's definitely a cool book if you like Japanese jujutsu or MMA-type fighting books.

A martial arts action drama.

I liked this book, I wish I had a better knowledge of martial arts, I might have enjoyed it more.

Wow

Got this on a off chance and wow. So worth putting other books on the back burner. This got me out of my slump from ARC's.

A great read, worth the money.

A fun martial arts story that focuses on the spirit side of the martial arts as well as the practical. Be prepared for martial arts terms and phrases mixed with detailed training and fight scenes. Romance, crime, martial arts and familial love saturate this tale of a woman striving walk the path of the warrior. The only complaint I have is at times the dialogue can come across as a little stiff. The narrator does great female voices but the males are stiff and not very flexible.

Incredibly well written and narrated!!!

This is the most incredibly well written and well narrated books that I’ve listened to in a while. It’s also the most vivid martial arts tale. Alexandra Vinarov is clearly a highly skilled and passionate martial artist. As a fellow practitioner, her words created clear and completely relatable visual imagery in my mind as she described the fight scenes. I was even more impressed by the way I felt every emotion and impulse in her writing from moments of anxiety to frustration to sadness to those sexually charged, she completely draws you in. This is a must read/listen for adult martial arts practitioners who appreciate a great story!

Over all not bad at all

The story was interesting and dramatic with a touch of suspense and over all keep you looking to see what would happen next. The only thing I could ask for in this story would be a wrap up of what happened to certain characters and maybe a little more meat in the last chapter.

Definitely not a warm and fuzzy read.

The happy to sad balance felt too off for my reading preference. I read to escape the heaviness that comes with having a special needs child who also has leukemia. This storyline had too much sadness with minimal bouts of joy for my liking. I didn’t like that the story was elaborate and in depth until the end where it wrapped up the happily ever after like an incomplete after thought.

Enjoyable. the narrator was excellent.

It is a love story with some violence but some sound moral ideas. Its quite technical about martial arts and I am sure like minded readers will enjoy life in the dojo and the constant tugs at martial arts traditions. It's lonely life I think.

It was ok

Most of the story was good. But there was too much left undone. She should have fought or at least confronted her ex. She should have told the dojo peeps how she was lured into the fights. She should have told the police her brother was murdered. She literally told no one.

Find something else to entertain yourself.

The narration was awful. It was very choppy, almost as if they had no clue how to speak conversational English.