MIAO-SHAN: The Awakening

Chow Lei is a ten-year-old girl on Hong Kong Island in 1896, who sees her parents murdered. This is the beginning of a sequence of events that leads to her becoming, Miao-Shan, the living Goddess of Justice! 'Miao Shan' book 2, 'Justice For All!', is set to be released for Christmas 2019.

MIAO SHAN: The Awakening (Superhero Fiction)

By G. AM Morris

Independent Publishing Platform

ISBN #978-0620924330

Price $14.99 (Paperback)

Price $2.99 (Kindle)

346 Pages

Rating 4-Stars

Ten-year-old Chow Lei watched as her parents are murdered by the Celestial Body Society Triads, then she went to live with her grandmother Po Po. She dreams of vengeance against the triads, and joins a local kung fu school in Hong Kong, but her quick learning impresses Master Sung and he suggest she should train at the Shaolin Temple in China. So with heavy heart, her grandmother sends her to China and the Shaolin Temple. There she trains until she’s 18, mastering the 18 kung fu fighting styles. She then returns to Hong Kong only to find that the Celestial Body Society Triads have killed her grandmother. Chow Lei now goes by the name of Miao-Shan, the Goddess Guan Yin. She inherits millions of dollars and becomes one of the richest women in Hong Kong, but she is a master of kung fu and wants revenge against the triads. A student of Master Sung tells her where she can purchase a mighty sword and she meets elderly Wang Deshi, a sword maker, and Shaolin Monk, who tells her she is the one they have waited for to bring compassion and judgment to evil men. She must refrain from killing if possible. Miao Shan becomes a beautiful young woman by day, and a black-clad vengeful goddess by night, offering compassion or death to the triads.

The writing flows well, and keeps the reader entertained. This was a multiple faceted novel, however, the first 150 pages being juvenile, especially the dialogue. Thankfully, the rest of the book moves into comic book superhero prose, and a little more mature dialogue. The mighty sword, Whispering Wind gives her immortality, eternal youth, superhuman speed and strength; in other words, she can now leap tall buildings and is faster than a speeding bullet, and has superhuman strength. It also has some similarities to Warren Murphy’s The Destroyer at this point.  In fact, one of the Triad leaders hires a mysterious personage to protect him that reminds the reader of Chiun from that series. Shen has moves like the Korean assassin and trainer of Remo. Shen does kill all her family and friends, but we know he will lose the fight against Miao-Shan. The juvenile dialogue was hard to read at times, but my main complaint is we don’t see good fight scenes. She goes into a Black Fist stance, then a few seconds later two dozen triad warriors lie dead on the floor. She moves so fast you don’t see her kill her foes. And then she just gives the evil eye to a dozen more and they run off in fear. The author is working on the second volume, and I certainly want to read it when it’s ready, but I hope there is more realistic fight scenes, and better dialogue. As it is, I highly recommend this first novel because it introduces a very interesting character in Miao-Shan.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE BLACK SHADOW

Captain Hawklin And The Jade Dragon

China 1933: When Captain Steven Hawklin meets a mysterious Chinese woman named Juno Li. He and his trusted allies Hardy Regan Miller and Oscar "Oz" Lyman are off on an adventure to the far flung orient, across the war-torn land of China. Their mission: stop the nefarious being known as the Black Skull from harnessing the power of the Jade Dragon. An ancient artifact that is said to be created thousands of years ago. In the wrong hands, the dragon has the ability to alter the course of reality to meet its owners true desires. But... there is more at stake than just the retrieval of the elusive statue. Who is the Black Skull and what are his true intentions? How is his life connected to Steven's? And what of Juno Li, what secret is she keeping for Captain Hawklin, will she be friend or foe? The answer will surprise you. Captain Hawklin and the Jade Dragon is another action-packed tale in the popular New Pulp adventure series. Filled with Heroes, villains and secret treasures.

Captain Hawklin And The Jade Dragon (Retrofiction)

By Charles F. Millhouse

Independent Publishing Platform

ISBN # 978-1983873669

Price $8.99 (Paperback)

Price $2.99 (Kindle)

228 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

Captain Steve Hawklin and his men are in San Francisco. Hawklin is invited to a party where he meets a beautiful Chinese girl named Juno Li. When they step out to the garden they are attacked by men on motorcycles. Grabbing one of the bikes he and the girl escape, but are forced off a cliff a few miles down the road. Hawklin survives, but fears Juno Li may have perished. Meanwhile, Oscar “Oz” Lyman and Hardy Miller are playing pool and drinking beer in a joint on the docks when a Chinese gentleman enters the dive and the sailors get nasty. Hardy and Oz escort the Chinaman out before the sailors get rough, only to have more Chinese attack them. They are looking for a mysterious Jade Dragon statue that has the power to change the world.

Soon, Juno Li is back and she leads the Hawklin team to China. It’s 1933, and China is in turmoil between Nationalists and Communists. Plus Juno Li confesses to being Steven Hawklin’s half-sister. Hawklin’s father married a queen in a previous adventure, and his son could care less about him, but if Juno Li is his sister, then it’s up to him to protect her and get the Jade Dragon before the mysterious villain, The Black Skull obtains it and all the power that goes with it.

This was a fun story, but it might have been wiser if I had started with an earlier adventure. Thomas Hawklin sounds like a real scalawag, especially where women are concerned. His son, Captain Steve Hawklin is pure of heart, and with his men seeks out excitement, danger, and adventure. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of SENORA SCORPION

The Spy Across The Table

In this exciting international thriller featuring Japanese antiques art dealer and PI Jim Brodie, a double-murder at the Kennedy Center forces Brodie into a dangerous game of espionage—putting him in the crosshairs of the Chinese, North Korean, and American governments.

Jim Brodie is an antiques dealer, Japan expert, and second-generation private investigator. When two theater friends are murdered backstage at a Kennedy Center performance in Washington, DC, he’s devastated—and determined to hunt down the killer. He’s not the only one.

After the attack, Brodie is summoned to the White House. The First Lady was the college roommate of one of the victims, and she enlists Brodie—off the books—to use his Japanese connections to track down the assassin. Homeland Security head Tom Swelley is furious that the White House is meddling and wants Brodie off the case. Why? For the same reason a master Chinese spy known only as Zhou, one of the most dangerous men alive, appears on the scene: Those murders were no random act of violence.

Brodie flies to Tokyo to attend the second of two funerals, when his friend’s daughter Anna is kidnapped during the ceremony. It is then Brodie realizes that the murders were simply bait to draw her out of hiding. Anna, it seems, is the key architect of a top-secret NSA program that gathers the personal secrets of America’s most influential leaders. Secrets so damaging that North Korea and China will stop at nothing to get them.

The Spy Across The Table (International Thriller)

By Barry Lancet

Simon & Shuster

ISBN #978-1476794914

Price $17.10 (Hardback)

448 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“A Thrill Ride A Minute.”

Jim Brodie is in Washington DC visiting the Kennedy Center to watch his Japanese friend’s Kabuki performance when the Japanese designer and another friend are murdered. Afterwards, he is approached by the Secret Service and taken before the First Lady. The stage designer was also a college friend of hers, and she wants Brodie to investigate the murders (you would think the FBI would be called in) . No sooner does he take the case, than Homeland Security agents let by Tom Swelley begin harassing him and beats him up. The case gets more tangled in Japan when he brings the Brodie Detective Agency into the Japanese end of the case.  Korean gangsters kidnap the daughter of the Japanese designer at the funeral, and Brodie discovers she is being transferred to North Korea. He must intercept the transfer, and heads to South Korea with a Marine combat squad to stop them from entering a tunnel on the DMZ. However, the team was spotted and the girl is moved to the border with China. Now Brodie must enter China, but tangles with the Chinese spy, Zhou, and is captured and turned over to Chinese torturers. This is all great stuff in movies and fiction.

This was a nonstop thrill a minute ride, with political stumbling blocks along the way. It is a well-written yarn that kept me turning the pages. There were some things I didn’t like about it, mostly the portrayal of agents in our intelligence departments. Men like Tom Swelley would have been dismissed long before he got out of hand. Everyone has a boss, and heads roll when agents go amok. Another thing is our Ambassadors; they do not go against the President of the United States. They represent the president.  The actions of the American Ambassador to Japan was beyond imbecilic. And finally, let’s look at torture. Yes, torture does exist, and it is horrible. But I can guarantee the Chinese would have obtained what they wanted from Brodie within hours without torture, they didn’t need to use physical torture to get the information they wanted.  But Brodie goes through many days of torture. Now, what happens to a person after they have been tortured for days on end? They don’t get up and fight, or cross China in an automobile. They need physical and mental therapy for months before they can perform anything close to normal. I won’t even discuss the subject of a Chinese spy rescuing Brodie, except to say it wouldn’t happen. Still, with all these things I didn’t like with the story, this is a work of fiction, and as such, it is very entertaining, and I highly recommend it to readers.

Tom Johnson

Author of ASSIGNMENNT: NINA FONTAYNE

The Princeling of Nanjing

Ava is in Shanghai for the launch of the PÖ clothing line. She has invited Xu, and over the course of the glitzy event and a late-night dinner, she detects a certain hesitancy in him. He confides that the Tsai family, headed by Tsai Lian, the governor of Jiangsu Province and a “princeling” — he is the son of a general who was on the Long March with Mao and a member of China’s power elite — is trying to force him and his Triad organization back into the drug business. Xu is already paying millions of dollars a year to various Tsai businesses, but the family wants more and thinks the new venture can deliver it. Xu believes this move would lead to his eventual destruction and feels he has nowhere to turn. If he opposes them, they will crush him. If he goes along with them, he thinks that inevitably the police and military will hunt him down. Ava sets out to help Xu deter the Tsai family. As she digs into the breadth and depth of the family’s wealth and corruption, she gets caught up in a huge tangled web, extending all the way to the U.S. and the U.K., where it reaches the top echelons of political power.

The Princeling of Nanjing (International Intrigue)

“An Ava Lee Novel”

By Ian Hamilton

House of Anansi Press

ISBN #978-1487001605

Price 10.84

496 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“A Smooth Page Turner.”

Ava Lee is with May Ling and Amanda, her partners in the Three Sisters business in Shanghai, as they start their clothing business. Their benefactor, Xu is on hand, but he reveals that a powerful Chinese family is forcing him into the drug business, and they won’t take no for an answer. He is truly between a rock and a hard spot. Drugs are a business he doesn’t want in, and if he says no they could destroy him. Although he doesn’t ask Ava for help, she feels obligated to look into the family’s financial dealings. What she finds is proof of bribes and illegal money laundering, something that might look bad within the other Chinese power structures. She begins following the money, and things get more complicated when the head of the family discovers who is doing it.

This is the 8^th Ava Lee novel, and the writing continues to be smooth and topnotch. The story is character driven, and the characters actually become part of the reader. We feel a kinship to Ava, May Ling, Amanda, Xu, Sonny, Suen, and everyone involved. They are like our own family. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE MAN IN THE BLACK FEDORA