"The Disciple of Las Vegas" was first spawned to the general
public outside the U.S in 2011, and released to America in February.
Word around the campfire has
it that Ian Hamilton has written six novels about the character Ava Lee, a
sleuth and accountant who solves mysteries. After reading the second book in a
series of five or six to date, "The Disciple of Las Vegas" is clearly
a bust. Tommy Ordonez, one of the richest men in the Philippines, has been robbed of $50 million, so he hires the Canadian-Chinese woman, Lee and her uncle in Hong Kong to recover his money.
"The
Disciple of Las Vegas" sparks some interest when Hamilton refers to the
illegal gambling dens in Las Vegas. Because I've read this book I'd do a lot of
research before doing any online gambling.
The mystery
of whom, or what group of people stole Ordonez's money and if Lee can escape
the contract on her life by some lame thugs becomes a mystery as to why this
book was even written. Hamilton is several centuries behind his time thinking a strong willed, whimsical lesbian woman is unique. Lee's character, a minority in her sexual preference and skilled at martial arts might have been cutting edge in the 1500s, but in today’s fiction, so what?
Lee's cerebral
lusts have nothing to do with the story and her being adept at martial arts is
seldom used is this story.
Lee follows
her leads through San Francisco, Costa Rica and ultimately to sin city. Lee’s
character is clever enough to warrant a one and half star rating for the book,
but the other characters in the novel, including Uncle were as intriguing as a
single speck of dust in a key pad.
Personally I think Hamilton
wrote this book to display how well traveled he is, and good for him, but his
fancy way of writing a travel guide didn't work for me. I have the desire to
read the other five Lee novels as much as I have an ardor to pee on an electric
fence.
