Review: A refreshingly original protagonist returns for an even better sequel
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 28, 2013
When I read "Changes" on a whim, I was pleasantly surprised to discover a refreshingly original protagonist in Randall Lee.No, he's not Asian; he's American. No, he doesn't walk around spouting Confucian wisdom stolen from Chinatown fortune cookies; he's a smart-ass, and a bit of a slacker to boot. No, he isn't an invincible martial artist in the vein of Chiun; he's certainly a bad-ass but human and sometimes takes a beating in spite of his extensive martial arts training. No, he doesn't have all his crap together; he's actually a bit of a drunk and a screw-up (there are reasons for this revealed throughout the first two books).Yet, he's still principled enough to be likable and compelling enough to get inside your head and stay for a while.In short, Randall Lee is a fun guy to hang out with over a few hundred pages. So, when I finished the first book I figured it would be a crap shoot as to whether or not Colyott could write a decent sequel. Turns out, he can. The guy knows paper from ink and has a damned good idea what to do with it. "Pressure Point" takes you for a helluva ride, and then leaves you wanting more. And, it leaves the protagonist in worse shape than we found him, suffering the sort of Pyrrhic victory that just begs for a sequel so the poor guy can somehow redeem himself.Pick it up and I can guarantee you won't want to put it down. But, read "Changes" first, because you need the back story to get what's going on in this book.