“Don’t ignore intuitive tickles lest they reappear as sledgehammers.” That’s the first rule of Ten. Tenzing Norbu (“Ten” for short)—ex-monk and soon-to-be ex-cop—is a protagonist unique to our times. In The First Rule of Ten, the first installment in a three-book detective series, we meet this spiritual warrior who is singularly equipped, if not occasionally ill-equipped, as he takes on his first case as a private investigator in Los Angeles. Growing up in a Tibetan Monastery, Ten dreamed of becoming a modern-day Sherlock Holmes. So when he was sent to Los Angeles to teach meditation, he joined the LAPD instead. But as the Buddha says, change is inevitable; and ten years later, everything is about to change-big-time-for Ten. One resignation from the police force, two bullet-wounds, three suspicious deaths, and a beautiful woman later, he quickly learns that whenever he breaks his first rule, mayhem follows. Set in the modern-day streets and canyons of Los Angeles, The First Rule of Ten is at turns humorous, insightful, and riveting—a gripping mystery as well as a reflective, character-driven story with intriguing life-lessons for us all.
A Contradiction Inside a Paradox Inside a Good Read A Tibetan Buddhist monk, who was inspired to become an LAPD
Not bad but… These books are okay. The plots are intriguing and resolution is good. The climaxes are well placed and well described. However, the writers have a tendency towards the cute phrase and I find myself annoyed with the romantic aspects. It’s not that I dislike romance, but particularly in these scenes the writing gets trite and pompous. The historical aspect of Ten provides a good frame for the present and gives us an interior complexity that makes him interesting, but too much time is spent…
MIXED FEELINGS!!!!!! I have very mixed feelings about this book. I have enjoyed part of it and part of the time I have just skimed pages to get through them. As other reviewers have already said, Tenzing Norbu was a Monk, then Police Officer and not a PI. He follows through on about three different cases that finally end up being one. There is not many pages of action or suspense, it is a book I could put down and leave for a while and come back with no problem. It did not hold my attention. However, I did find…