The Aikido Mysteries: The First Three Parker Novels

The Aikido Mysteries is a compilation of the first three novels in the series: THE AIKIDO CAPER, THE AIKIDO-KA, and AIKIDO ANEJO. All three novels are presented in their entirety and are unabridged. In THE AIKIDO CAPER we meet Aikido Sensei Parker. His school has fallen on hard times and he needs to get a job. His old boss Albert hires him back as a private investigator and also as a bodyguard for the rich and famous... a bodyguard that needs no gun. He is a lethal weapon. The next thing you know bullets are flying, Hollywood stars are running amok, and mysterious lawyers are leaving slug-like trails everywhere as they slink. Parker starts sleuthing and the wild ride is on. Even with killers on the loose the re-make of the old martial arts classic ‘Above the Fray’ must go on. Someone wants to stop it and it’s up to Parker to find culprit. THE AIKIDO-KA, the second book in The Aikido Mystery Series, starts with Derek Gunner asking Parker to find John Wall, an internationally famous assassin who only operates outside the USA. Gunny is Parker's old friend and fellow Aikido teacher and is looking for Wall; he is the long lost son of his former Army Captain, who is dying. Parker knows of Wall, and knows how to get things like this done, but isn’t happy with the job. And he shouldn’t be; he barely escapes the meeting with his life. Old promises can be a mile of rough road, sometimes. Parker figures his job is done, only to find that instead of going back home and teaching Aikido he now has to head to the Chicago suburbs and get John Wall out of trouble. He's in Jail for a local murder and the FBI is screaming for the police to release him to their custody. The locals LEOs are telling the Feds to get in line and they have a judge who is backing their play. They have their reasons for not wanting to turn Wall over and lose him. Parker has to solve a murder, save a dog, send a crazy woman into the arms of a man who loves her, sit down with a young man and explain life’s mysteries, search for clues in the hidden files of a big city newsroom, and summon up more courage than he’s ever needed to make sure that justice is done. Fast Aikido moves, a terrific randori, FBI goons, cops, assassins, and of course there’s a woman; yeah, it’s a love story. AIKIDO ANEJO is more than a murder mystery and many have called it the most mystical of the series. It is the story of old Willie Brown, an ancient friend of Parker’s grandfather. Someone is trying to make Willie leave his homestead and Parker isn’t having any of that. He puts together a legal team and heads for court and while there, meets a man who is simply the scariest person Parker has ever encountered. Like Quint said in the movie Jaws, “He has dead eyes, lifeless eyes… until he bites you…” and he gives Parker a freezing glare he stares deep into his soul. Later he asks, “Mr. Parker, have you ever looked into the eyes of a wild animal and understood that it knows exactly how you taste? No? You will…” Are these guys drug runners? Are they running money and guns? Why the big Donzi offshore power boats? What are they doing? And why are they trying to kill Parker now? The story spins on an axis of excitement and near terror as Parker tries to save old Willie’s kidnapped niece. The storm of the century is nearing Florida and Parker must do whatever he can to keep Willie safe and find Siobhan before Florida is ripped off the map in a hail of wind, nature’s fury, and pure evil incarnate. This is An Aikido Mystery at its very best.