The Ninja

The Ninja #1: “The Ninja” by Eric Van Lustbader. Nicholas Linnear is a master ninja, the son of a Chinese mother and British father. He has come to the US where he succeeded as an add man for a big corporation, but one day he just quits his position. He lives in the area of West Bay Bridge, where he meets the beautiful daughter of a man worth over 100 million dollars. Of course she hates her father and all his money. It’s not long before they’re in a sexual relationship. Meanwhile, there is a ninja killing people. So we know where the story is headed

Actually, I was surprised this novel was on the New York Best Seller List. The writing is wordy, the action sparse. The only thing that happens in the first hundred pages is what I mentioned in the above paragraph. The story jumps around too much, plus there is a big backstory right in the middle of the first 100 pages, which interfered with the flow. Heck, all the jumping from one scene to another interfered with the flow. The only action is in the bedroom with Nick and Justine. The story just rambles, going nowhere fast. Justine’s moods pop up every few pages until Nick takes her to bed. The book is 526-pages, so figure the reader has a long way to go before it reaches a climax. Good luck if you can last that long.