Deshi

By: John Donohue

Narrated by: Barrett Whitener

Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

In each life the wheel of karma turns. Asian scholar and martial artist Connor Burke, who continues to labor under the stern tutelage of the master warrior Yamashita Sensei, is drawn once again into a murder investigation when the police discover a link between the victim and a mysterious martial arts sensei named Kita Takanobu. Kita has created a powerful New Age synthesis of Tibetan mysticism and the lethal heritage of the samurai.

Along the way, Burke also finds himself pulled into the strange orbit of the Tibetan Lama Changpa, a mystic and clairvoyant who sees the dark clouds drawing in around Kita but is helpless to prevent a tragedy, as he follows a trail that ultimately leads to Kita's elite mountain temple where he will face his most deadly challenge ever.

©2005 John J. Donohue (P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"John Donohue's Deshi is another excellent tale of clashing cultures, an exquisitely flavored and nuanced mystery." (Chicago Sun-Times)
"Peppered with musings of Eastern philosophy, gritty cop lingo, and occasional understated humor, this mystery with its fresh protagonist will appeal to all kinds of readers, not just martial arts aficionados." (Publishers Weekly)

A treat with depth

as a martial arts practioner and geek, this was exactly what i'd hoped for. Philosophy and action!

Good book, but:

It is a really good book but the readers voice sounds more like a German than Japanese

A decent listen

This was a decent distraction and a brief glimpse into the mindset of dedicated martial arts training. The story is a bit predictable and the reader's use of accents is laughable at times. Even though, the story has a pretty good pace and is worth a listen if you are a martial artist or have some interest in basic martial philosophy.

"Deshi (Unabridged

I hope there will be a series of Deshi.... good story easy to follow. Reader,narrator, was very easy to listen to.Thanks

Want the rest of the series in audio now

This book was REALLY good. I don't know why they didn't start with Sensei (the first in the series) and I really hope they make that one, as well as the rest of the Burke-books into audiobooks.

Profound and relatable

This book reflects many truths of the martial path while also being fun and telling a mystery at the same time it embodies one.

Painful to listen to.

With this kind of novel I dont expect much. I bought it for the budo conection; kinda like sitting through a Steven Segal film just hoping to see 1 recognizable aikido technique.

But the narrator had no idea how to pronounce Japanese words or names ( I can probably live with that) nor any clue what a japanese accent sounds like- his attempt was a cross between Col. Klink from Hogan's Heroes and Peter Sellers' portrayal of Mr. Wang ( a spoof on Charlie Chan) in 'Murder By Death'.

He couldn't even do an hispanic accent for 1 of the detectives. It makes it very difficult to maintain the suspension of disbelief to stay in the story.

Don't do it.