David Callinan's Short, One False Move, Excellent Intro to...The Monk!

"Now to business. If he is not already with you watching this then please inform the one they call the Monk that his presence is requested.   The Monk, or should I say more correctly Mike Delaney, will find clues to this location in this video. Mr Delaney, you have until six o'clock tonight to find your way here alone and unarmed and substitute yourself for your friend. It's that simple. You must offer your life in exchange for Bob Messenger , a family man, remember? Bob Messenger will be set free as soon as you arrive and give yourself up to your fate. One second late and Bob Messenger will never go to the ball," he said with a snigger. "because he will be chargrilled. And Pandora will be forced to watch. Very unpleasant for a fifteen year old, don't you think?" 

And Delaney, a trained assassin and veteran of so many bruising fighting contests in the South-East Asia games, had vowed never to kill again, unless forced to, when he joined the Brothers of Light, an esoteric order of monks. 
The slow motion images on the computer played across Delaney's cerebral cortex as he allowed his subconscious free rein. He stopped. He zoomed in onto a section of wooden wall...behind the power supply box and cabling. The wooden planks that made up the structure of the building were cracked and warped. One of the cracks was wider than the others, wide enough to allow a glimpse of the view outside. Delaney's heart began to beat faster as he strained his twenty-twenty vision to form an image. A ferris wheel...
~~~

One False Move

By David Callinan

This short was fun for me...I've read all of Callinan's thrillers and especially enjoyed his character, The Monk. I also enjoyed the concept of an online site called Confess-Confess where anybody who has information and an interest can get involved in solving crimes--or something like that! LOL I haven't really contacted the group yet...

But because of the site, The Monk began to get quite a reputation and also helped to put a "few" guys behind bars, or...elsewhere. Now one of those individuals from his past has chosen to kidnap two individuals--his boss and close friend and his daughter...

Gripping the level casually was a figure Delaney
recognised instantly. The curved nose with a glint of a
dewdrop projected from a pallid, saturnine face
 carved from limestone. The hair was thinner and the bent
shoulders  more pronounced but Delaney would have
recognised Julius Schipp in the midst of a ball game.
'Julius Schipp," Delaney muttered.
"You know him?" growled John Farrell. 
"Before your time at the site," said Delaney.
 "Julius Schipp groomed and abducted very
 young girls. He got what he deserved." 
"Of course. Now I remember. You played your part,"
 said Laura. "So did Bob. He wasn't too pleased
 with the Monk or confess-confess. 
We caught him with his pants around his ankles.
 At his height he ran a sophisticated 
sex abduction ring. He got ten years
 five years ago. 
Many of the girls have never been found."
~~~

Now, I'm one of the lucky ones who signed up for information from Callinan, so I quickly ran out to download a copy free, which is already over for this time, but I did want to take the time to let you all know that this little action-packed story is well worth your consideration... And if you haven't read him yet, he's included an excerpt from his books for you to review...

Now the Monk is a special character. His background might have been a little muddy, but he became involved with the Brothers of Light, sampling all that they could teach him...  and has now turned to "the Light" in handling his actions. 

But that doesn't say he won't take care of business when he has too.

And Bob Messenger being kidnapped ensures he will definitely mean business. Once they realized that it was Julius Schipp, who groomed
and abducted very young girls, they were even more concerned since he had not indicated Pandora would be returned, along with her father!

The Monk left, knowing Bob and he had one
secret weapon if they could work it out to use...

Martial arts and plain old street fighting gets the job done, right? Well, you'll have to read the whole story to find out what happens!

I loved it! Highly recommended if you haven't already read Callinan. It's enough to whet your interest, and does give you a complete scene for your enjoyment. Callinan writes from England so expect some spelling issues as you would see in other British novels...

I'm not sure the price is right; however, I don't know how those are set... I did see that one reviewer indicated that it was the same as the Immortality Plot which, in my opinion, is incorrect. The villain is different, the plot is different and the only thing I saw was a reintroduction of the series characters which is routinely provided by authors, who realize that not every reader will be reading the whole series... I've included the link to that book below if you want to check it out... Note that the villain was not caught while the one in the short story was but had gotten out of prison...

You know, sometimes I don't understand how/why people read... I must be seeing something or getting something out of the stories I read that others aren't... So, please recognize that, for me, other than the questionable price for a short...this is a new story, one worth your consideration...

Or, hey, read the novel and don't bother with this intro... Either way, this short doesn't deserve a low ranking in my opinion... 

But I do have a comment for the author...Yes, I think you should definitely consider a sequel to the Immortality Plot...we need to know what happened to The Priest, don't you think? A Short or Novella would suffice for this fan...LOL


GABixlerReviews

As the first heavy ran at him head down, Delaney side stepped, crouched and delivered a Tai Chi thunder punch to the solar plexus. The man dropped to his knees.
 Delaney picked up an old piece of sacking as the second man came at him with the chainsaw chain. He feinted to his left then struck with his right heel into his opponent's kneecap which snapped with a satisfying crunch. He grabbed the chain using the sack for protection but was lifted off his feet in a bear hug. He relaxed then drove his head backwards into the man's nose.
~~~

I have written thrillers, YA fantasy and children's books, as well as some non-fiction and TV/film screenplays. My new Mike Delaney thriller featuring the ex assassin turned Hong Kong Police turned esoteric monk is 'The immortality Plot'.  'Bodyswitch' is a dark paranormal chiller featuring a multi-racial split personality. 'Knife Edge' is more Clive Barker meets Thomas Harris and 'An Angel On My Shoulder' is a spiritual adventure/thriller.

'The Kingdoms Of Time And Space' is a YA fantasy the blends leading edge science with magic, angels with artificial intelligence and the reversal of climate change, as well as fantastical creatures called nanosaurs.

I have also written the first in a chapter book series for children (6-10) called 'The Weather Kids'.

Please note that selected pictures do not correlate to The Monk's

actual training, since it has not been covered in this story...


http://gabixlerreviews-bookreadersheaven.blogspot.com/2012/06/callinans-new-seriesmain-character-is.html

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