Dukkha Unloaded

Dukkha Unloaded - Loren W Christensen I received a free kindle copy of Dukkha Unloaded, A Sam Reeves Martial Arts Thriller, by Loren W. Christensen from NetGalley published by YMAA Publication Center, Inc. in exchange for a fair review. I gave it four stars.

It was action packed & fast moving. While this is the third Sam Reeves Martial Arts Thriller, I found it could stand alone. The author is clearly an expert in martial arts & demonstrates his knowledge in the telling of this story. Sam continues teaching his classes in the basement of an accomodating church since his building had been destroyed.

Following a shooting, Sam did not carry a weapon even though his job as a police officer required it. There were times he endangered himself & others by carrying an empty gun. Can he overcome his issues to shoot when it's necessary?

He was ironically moved into the Intelligence Unit gathering 'hate crimes'. Sadly he finds information about far too many of them. Dukkha translates as 'life suffering' & that is revealed even more in learning about hate crimes.

I liked the interaction between Sam, his father & Mai. They were fully fleshed likeable characters. There were times that Mai's 'accent' was overdone, I think for effect some of the time. Rudy was thoroughly likeable. Their chance encounter has potential for a long term friendship. Nate was also likeable but painstakingly troubled. He was a loaded weapon just waiting to explode.

The main villains were utterly despicable. One of the lesser villains was pitiful. For me it was a difficult book to read. The hate crimes & negative pejoratives that go with them pour off these pages with virulent intensity. It was hard to read because with the nature of hate, this could happen.

If you want a fast read, this is for you. It was a page turner that kept me up at night.

Link to purchase:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KTSZJSQ?ie=UTF8&creativeASIN=B00KTSZJSQ&linkCode=xm2&tag=injoslifethin-20