Featured Official Review: Yakuza Dynasty by Eric Auxier

[CataclysmicKnight]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Yakuza Dynasty" by Eric Auxier.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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The Artful Dodger (Justin Reed) returns in Yakuza Dynasty by Eric Auxier, this time turning the series on its head by introducing a character from Justin's past that's so surprising it ends up surprising the reader as well! Yakuza Dynasty is the fourth book in the Artful Dodger series, but because it's an episodic series it stands alone. Aside from a sample of Jihadi Hijacking, this is my first foray into the series and I was never left confused or feeling like I missed out on a joke or reference.

Yakuza Dynasty kicks off with Justin having a bit of an identity crisis. A 15 year old with as much of a history as he's had attempting to adjust to "ordinary life" isn't an easy thing. He ends up getting in an argument with his adopted father and leaves the house to blow off steam, but his rage issues end up making things even worse. After hanging out with his girlfriend Joya for a while, he cools off and is ready to accept whatever punishment his dad will give him until his brain picks up on some Koreans who seem shifty. Is Justin being paranoid, or is he really in trouble? And if he IS in trouble, can he keep Joya safe?

There's so much more to the plot, but there are also so many spoilers to avoid! For a "Spy/Fly" novel, the book has more twists and turns than many mysteries I've read. When I thought about it a bit, the plot is almost ridiculously crazy in hindsight, yet when it's happening it's completely believable because of the way the story is told, and I absolutely wouldn't love it as much if it changed at all. Justin isn't an all-powerful warrior, he's just a well-trained kid, so much of the book had me worried how he'd survive or get out of whatever mess he's currently in. I felt his injuries, I felt weary when he was weak, and I felt nervous when he did. The action is also fantastic and fairly frequent - even if the book didn't have such a great plot, the action would've made the book impossible to put down on its own.

I really appreciated the mention that this book could be considered PG, although the little bit of violence may put it closer to PG-13. The book isn't gory, and while there's some good romance in the book it never goes anywhere raunchy. The book includes a glossary of "spy and foreign terms" in the back, things that may be especially helpful as Japanese terms are used frequently. While the glossary is nice, Eric does a great job of providing context clues nearly every time - I never once had to refer to the glossary even though I wasn't familiar with most of the terms before I read the book. All of this adds up to a book I can recommend to anyone old enough to read 150+ page books.

Speaking of recommending the book, I wholeheartedly do. As I mentioned earlier, I had sampled the third book in the Artful Dodger series before. While I enjoyed that, I was amazed that level of action and intrigue and humor could last the entire length of a book! Now that I've finished it, I want to go back and read the rest. That level of enthusiasm I have toward reading the series makes it easy for me to rate this one 4 out of 4 stars. It's one of the best books I've ever read, absolutely in the same league as the Harry Potter series or Ready Player One.

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Yakuza Dynasty
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[JR_justJR]

Totally agreeing with the review by Cataclysmic

I have 2 nephews (13, 15 yrs old) that I have now given the whole set of Eric's Dodger books to. They loved them. Each story does stand alone, you do not need the set, but all 4 would make a great Christmas bundle. When he writes, Eric does a nice job of balancing some "techy stuff" (enough to make it interesting) w/o going overboard and geeking out on trivia. He manages to keep the novels light enough to be entertaining for kids, but detailed enough to be interesting for adults, with some interesting plot turns that no reader would ever expect.

Overall, all of these books are good & entertaining reads.

PS: In 2 of these books, Eric was psychic & predicted the exploding Samsung cell phones.. I can't say more w/o a spoiler!

[CDJ]

I have never read any thing from this series, but your review makes it sound very interesting.

[TrishaAnn92]

Great review, CataclysmicKnight! I downloaded the Jihadi Hijacking a while back but have not read it yet.
Yakuza Dynasty sounds intriguing. Not really my type of book, but I may give it a try.

[Sindhu Srinath]

Congrats on the great review! It seems like an intriguing read, packed with lots of action and suspense. Suspense thrillers should be good page-turners, which I'm sure this one is, thanks to your detailed review.

[David Nash]

Thanks for the review. I appreciate the fact that the author has gone to some lengths to make sure the reader - obviously intended for the 13 to whatever crowd - can follow the story by including the terms. I also appreciated the reviewer informing me of the level of violence and romance. It put it in a whole different category for me. Nice job.

[Katelyn Scott]

While I've read Historical based novels before I can't say this is one for me. When it comes to Historical Fiction I'm more into books such as the Irish Princess which takes you into the Tudor court from the perspective of someone who exists at the time. Of course, I could also be past the books age range. That's always possible.

[Paul78]

Congrats for the review. Though I have learnt from you that I should not always have a set mind on the content of the book until I go through the review.
I was thinking of a crime thriller at the mention of Yazuka dynasty. I think there's an organised criminal group by that name if I am not wrong. But considering the mess the young man gets himself into, then it may as well lead to that though on a mild way.

[daydreaming reader]

Your review makes me want to read the entire series. Thank you for such an enthusiastic review.

[Maríe Wamakima]

Whoa that's a huge comparison! I am a Potterhead and so any book remotely close to the Harry Potter series is a must read. I think I will start with the first book in the series instead of Yakuza Dynasty.

[hasincla]

Having loved "Ready Player One" I am intrigued by your review, and and I'm eager to find out more about the "ridiculously crazy" plot! Adding to my to-read list immediately.

[Nath_chuks]

Your review is really nice.
I have read anything from the series, but from your review, it seems to worth the try.

[Menace Crypto]

Nice review. I was first impressed with the book's cover, then after reading your review, I definitely want to read this book.

[Aisha Yakub]

I love Harry Potter, so I'll love reading this book. I line being surprised by authors. That aside, I hope Justin is able to keep Joya safe. Thanks for the review.

[ellimctreph]

Suspenseful, thrilling this book is ticking all the boxes.