Title: The Kensei
Author: Jon F. Merz
Publisher: St. Martin’s
Release Date: January 18, 2011
Price: $14.99
Pages: 304
Format: Paperback
Reviewed from ARC sent by the author.

Here’s the fantastic book trailer, which you should definitely check out:

Plot Summary: Meet Lawson. A cynical, wise-cracking vampire charged with protecting the Balance between vampires and humans, he is part cop, part spy, and part commando — James Bond with fangs. Lawson mixes shrewd cunning with unmatched lethality to get his job done. He tries his best to dismantle conspiracies, dispatch bad guys, and live long enough to get home. In The Kensei, a battle-weary Lawson heads to Japan for a little rest and some advanced ninja training. But he no sooner steps off the plane than lands in the midst of a Yakuza turf war orchestrated by a shadowy figure known as the Kensei. With the help of Talya, a former KGB-assassin, Lawson must put a stop to the Kenseis organ trafficking networks, prevent the creation of an army of vampire-human hybrids, and save his own skin in the process.

Review: Fifth book in the series, it has taken this book eight years to come out after the fourth volume, The Syndicate (2003). This is the vampire novel I’ve been waiting for. No whiny, sparkly, glittery, de-fanged, sanitized, “vegetarian” vampires here. Lawson, the main character, is the perfect blend of smart and snarky. But he also makes his fair share of lapses in judgment, otherwise he’d just be annoying He’s very good at spotting the assassin who has been sent to kill him (or so he thinks) while on a train, and even shrewder to notice that he’s carrying a weapon non-lethal to vampires, which strikes him as odd.

The novel is written in a fresh style that makes this book a pure pleasure to read. It’s a bit distraction and annoying, though, when Lawson continually refers to himself and other vampires as his “race,” because it tends to get a bit repetitive, but this is a minor point.

It’s nice to go back to the ‘old’ model of supernatural fiction — where humans aren’t supposed to know about vampires, and vampires aren’t out in the open, and its dangerous for humans to find out about these secret underworlds.

Lawson is a Fixer, or someone who has to maintain the human and vampire balance, ensuring that humans don’t find out about vamps.

The Kensei, the novel’s villain, is a warrior believed to be long dead, but now this edgy vampire has come back and he’s using humans to do killing for him. Not to mention he’s also trafficking the organs of children. Such a great guy

The pacing is great, and the plot is definitely not boring or plodding, which is also a nice change. Even if you haven’t read the previous books in the series, Merz lays enough good grounding so that you can easily follow what’s going on.

Turns out that our albino buddy, the Kensei, wants to create a hybrid race of vampires and humans, which is why he’s been going around telling kids that he’s Santa Claus and killing them instead. The novel has the typical framework of an entertaining, action-charged CSI episode, but with vampires. However, the Kensei’s dialogue can come across as too “villainy” at times. Despite that, it’s an action packed read with a satisfying ending. Vampire fans should get their hands on this series, stat, if they already haven’t. Similarly to P.N. Elrod’s series, the Lawson novels are among the few good ones out there.

Rating: 3.5/5

GIVEAWAY ANNOUNCEMENT:
*Open to US and Canadian Residents Only*
The generous folks at St. Martin’s Press have offered up a copy of the book to one lucky winner! If you’d like to enter the Kensei giveaway, please comment on this post with your email, Twitter handle if you have one, and answer this question:

Who is your all time favourite vampire character? It can be Lestat de Lioncourt or any of the vampires from Anne Rice’s series, Jean-Claude from the Anita Blake series, Stefan or Damon from The Vampire Diaries, or Dracula himself. It can be a recent vampire like Cat from Jeaniene Frost’s books or Mira from the Dark Days novels, as well.

Deadline: March 5, 2011 at 12:00AM EST.

To add two extra entries, add me to Twitter, or “Like” my Facebook page.

Good luck to all who enter!