The Third Rule Of Ten (A Tenzing Norbu Mystery, #3) by Gay Hendricks

The Third Rule Of Ten (A Tenzing Norbu Mystery, #3) Reviews

• 
  Michael

  This certainly charmed me, then pulled out some thrills. Tenzing Norbu (Ten) is part Tibetan and once was on a path toward becoming a Buddhist monk. But the allure of detective work to Western sensibilities he gained from the other half of his upbringing leads him to first try being a Los Angeles policeman and more recently to develop a private detective practice. We inhabit his playful mind, experience the Zen-like lens he uses to view the human circus, commune with his finicky cat, and partake of his hedonistic binges on for fine food or junk. Before we can start envying how cool he is, we are treated to enough of his challenges to draw some sympathy for his humanity. He grieving over the recent death of his father, and the long time he was away while his father died has got him off balance with his beautiful pathologist girlfriend.
  
  A female state legislator hires him to find her missing housekeeper. Because her young staff is an illegal immigrant she wants to keep the police out of the case. Early clues suggest some kind of intersection with drug dealing, but soon other creative initiatives of organized crime threaten from the fog of war. And war is a good analogy for the violence that comes to his door and into his life everywhere he looks. defense rocks the boat of his life even more. The Third Rule of Ten emerges as a lesson about the dangers of secrets, especially the ones you keep from yourself. It turns out that an old nemesis is part of the dangerous puzzle he must solve. By reading this third in a series first, I realize I am missing some of the pleasure of a rematch.
  
  Unfortunately, I am also missing the last third of this book. I took on too many books from the Netgalley early review program, and the life of this e-book loan expired. Learn from my error! Eventually, I will find a library copy to finish the tale.
  
  I can say Ten was pleasantly engaging character, somewhat on the level of other wholesomely cool detectives I have enjoyed. For example, he is a bit more fun that Tres Navarre in Rick Riordan’s series but not as compelling as Crais’ Elvis Cole. The Buddhist aspect obviously intersects with the author’s long career in alternative therapies as a psychology counselor, but the moral conflicts experienced by Ten in the clash between pacifism and violent solutions is not given the same gravity other series with Buddhist detectives that really wow me. These include Eliot Pattison’s series with Inspector Shan in Tibet and John Burdette’s series with Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheepâ in Bangkok. By keeping the Buddhist theme so didactically focused on messages for living, there some leaning toward camp on the order of the old TV series “Kung Fu”, which featured David Carradine as a Buddhist Chinese wandering the wild West dispensing wisdom as well as justice by violence when necessary. But I should complete this book before rendering such a comparison.
  
  This book was provided by the publisher through the Netgalley program.
  
• 
  Marlene

  Originally published at
  Reading Reality
  
  What do you do when you want something different, AND you want a sure thing at the same time? My answer was to go back to a series I really enjoyed but lost track of. I loved both
  The First Rule of Ten and
  The Second Rule of Ten when I read them a few years ago, but the series just fell into the “so many books, so little time” conundrum.
  
  But when I saw the eARC of
  The Fifth Rule of Ten pop up on NetGalley, and having emerged less than satisfied from a few books, I decided it was time to go back to Ten’s Rules, and I’m very glad I did.
  
  Tenzing Norbu is a lot of unusual things. He’s a private investigator, which isn’t all that unusual in mystery fiction. He’s an ex-LAPD cop, also not that odd in this genre. But before either of those things, Ten was a Buddhist monk in Dharamsala India. His training gives him a unique perspective on life in the U.S. in general, and crimes and their solutions in particular. It also gives him a very distinct inner voice.
  
  He screws up every bit as much as the rest of us, he’s just a bit more mindful in the way that he chastises himself about it. And when he completely loses his way, his best friends back at the monastery have ways of contacting him to remind him of just how much he’s screwing up. Particularly since he usually screws himself most of all.
  
  Ten’s third rule is “keep current with the truth: we’re only as weak as our secrets — especially the ones we keep from ourselves.” An awful lot of Ten’s messes in this case result from secrets, both the ones that he is keeping from the people around him, but mostly from the secrets he is attempting (badly) to keep from himself. Along with more than a few that other people are either keeping in general or from him in particular, especially in regards to this messy case.
  
  The case begins with a mysterious call from a former client. And it stays mysterious for a big chunk of the story, until Ten finally glimpses the shadow behind the curtain, and discovers the prime mover of all the recent events.
  
  But in order for Ten to finally bring justice to an old enemy, he must first unravel all of the secrets that surround this case, and uncover all the things that he is keeping from himself.
  
  Escape Rating A-: Even after a three-year break on my part, I discovered that I enjoyed this series just as much as I did when it first came out. I’m not going to let the rest of the series slide back into the towering TBR pile. However, this particular entry in the series reads as a stand alone. For a good chunk of the story, Ten is so much at odds with himself that the influences of his past are obscured, even to him.
  
  This case is more timely and directly contemporary than Ten’s previous cases. While it certainly has a few elements that are personal to Ten, the most important pieces have a “ripped from the headlines” feel. For some readers, how they feel about the book may depend on how they feel about the issues raised.
  
  Ten’s initial clients are a fading Hollywood icon and a conservative California politician in the Sarah Palin mold. Former A-lister Mac Gannon is clearly intended to be a thinly fictionalized Mel Gibson, complete with his drunken bigoted rants and his chastened sober apologies. Politician Bets McMurtry is a poke at what turns out to be the hypocrisy of Tea Party politics. Bets wants Ten to find her missing housekeeper/companion, an illegal immigrant named Carla Fuentes. Because the Tea Party is adamantly against illegal immigration, Bets can’t involve the police in her search for Carla. She will be damned for aiding and abetting an illegal on the one side, while the IRS goes after her for not paying Social Security for Carla and other taxes on the other side. For Bets, this is a no-win scenario, but she feels duty bound to help the woman who has cared for her all her life.
  
  But Ten’s search for Carla, as difficult as it is to find someone who has perfected the art of staying lost in the shadows of the system for decades, uncovers something much, much bigger. Someone has found a way to use the network of undocumented household help to provide even shadier services to people who are willing to pay large sums of money to cut very big corners. The scary thing about this case isn’t that the criminal enterprise that Ten uncovers is far-fetched, it’s that the heart of it seems all too plausible.
  
  As always, Ten’s feline buddy Tank steals every single one of his scenes, providing Ten with an emotional rock to lean on, and providing the story with a much-needed dose of levity at key points. While Ten may anthropomorphize Tank’s reactions just a bit, it’s not more than any other cat-staffer (Dogs have owners, cats have staff). Tank does not solve crimes. He provides needed emotional ballast for Ten to do the work he must. And occasionally puts Ten in his place. As cats so often do.
• 
  Aleksandras

  A delight. Having read the book twice, I can't get enough of Tenzing and his adventures as a PI and especially as a human being. It feels great getting some food for thought while being sucked in by a thrilling mystery. Would definetely recommend!
• 
  Linden

  I really enjoyed the first two books in this series, but I got really tired of Ten's inability to relate to women he supposedly cared about.
• 
  Patricia

  I picked this book up to read during a mini-vacation on a houseboat. It was perfect! Action packed with a relationship/Buddhist back drop. Quite fun.
  
  As an aside, I always wonder about the physical damage suffered by the protagonists of serial murder mysteries. No one could suffer that kind of abuse without being slowed much more extensively. But I'm willing to suspend disbelief, for the pleasure of a good escape mystery. I'll be back for The Fourth Rule of Ten the next time I just want to run away with a book.
• 
  Benjamin Thomas

  A new Tenzing “Ten” Norbu novel is one of my most anticipated reads each year since they first started coming out. This is only the third novel (there is also an e-book novella prequel to the series) but they seem like they have been among my favorite mystery/crime books for much longer than that.
  
  Once again, the authors have presented an outstanding novel combining a nicely complex and well-paced plot with awesome protagonist Tenzing Norbu, the ex-Buddhist monk, ex LAPD cop (robbery/homicide division), and current private investigator. This time around Ten is on the case of a missing person, but this leads him to uncover a huge criminal enterprise. He encounters major forces including a Mexican drug cartel, illegal organ harvesting/transplants, a rising political star, and an adversary he thought dead. Along the way Ten must confront his own darker tendencies, personal relationships, and figure out how he has gotten off-track. Secrets are mounting in his life, both personal and professional and keeping them flies in the face of all that he believes. The stakes are a bit higher in this novel but Ten’s Buddhist upbringing allows him to find unique solutions that I have not encountered anywhere else in crime fiction. The action is superb but Ten’s approach to solutions is the big draw to these novels.
  
  I enjoy these novels immensely, and anxiously await the Fourth Rule.
  
• 
  Dale

  This series returns to its winning ways.
  
  Published in 2014 by Hay House Visions
  
  Former Buddhist monk and ex-LAPD officer Tenzing "Ten" Norbu returns in the what could be entry #3, #3.5 or #4 following the prequel The Broken Rules of Ten.
  
  Ten continues his search for the perfect girl but his professional life has taken off in a big way thanks to the celebrity connections he made in The Second Rule of Ten. Mac Gannon, an aging action hero star who is an ultra-Catholic with a propensity to cheat on his wife and drink too much and the spout racist venom (clearly inspired by Mel Gibson) hires Ten to find a missing illegal alien housekeeper. That's tricky enough with the hazy documentation comes with being an illegal alien, but Ten has to keep it as quiet as possible since Mac is really hiring Ten so that Bets McMurtry, California's answer to Sarah Palin, does not get tied to her (even though she desperately wants her friend found, she is always aware of the political implications).
  
  As Ten starts to search...
  
  Read more at:
  http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2014/...
• 
  Heather Fineisen

  This is a solid series that offers a twist on the PI novel with the main character' s background as a Tibetan monk. This outing showcases politics, illegal immigration, gangs and drug cartels and gets a little slick in places but comes through in the end. I personally like the less successful Tenzing found in the earlier books, but perhaps success hasn't spoiled him yet. I will be reading number four to find out.
• 
  Charles

  Pretty much a big disappointment. This book styles itself a mystery with an ex Buddhist monk detective. It is a largely ordinary mystery. There is some mumbo jumbo about psychic connections with the hero Ten's monk buddies back in Tibet. Otherwise Ten violates every tenet of his faith.
  
  I find I am more interested in the unusual mystery, but even with this books trappings it is dull and covers some heavily trod plot lines.
• 
  Amy

  Not sure if it was because it was almost 3 years since I read the last book, but I really didn't like Tenzing any more. He was judgmental towards others and, while I like sarcasm, his wasn't amusing.
  
  The secrets theme felt forced, especially in the beginning.
  
  I had a hard time getting through this book because I just didn't want to pick it up to read.
  
  The last 4th of the book improved and the action and suspense was pretty good, so it gained an extra star for a strong finish.
• 
  Sue

  Great story and writing. Wonderful insight into concepts of Tibetan Buddhism. I get the feeling that I am improving myself as well as enjoying an interesting read. I thoroughly enjoy this series. Will be moving on to the Fourth Rule of Ten shortly.
• 
  Anita

  I love this series. Ten lets go of his meditation practice and other aspects of his way of life in the monastery. In the process of his work as a detective, he comes to see himself more clearly. Of course, there is a dynamite story to go along with this.
• 
  Aubrey Eicher

  Love this series!! Can't wait to listen to the next one!!
• 
  Marie Trafford

  Easy and entertaining read. I intend to finish the series. It shows that you can still follow a spiritual life in the middle of chaos!
• 
  Maria Lucrece

  Probably my favorite Rule of Ten book in the series. Greater depth to the self reflection.
• 
  Riobhcah

  This was a great read. The author has a good balance of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and how it is applied in his life by the detective Tenzin Norbu.
• 
  Mary Beth

  A book lover
  
  This is a great book. How these books just keep getting better is amazing to me. Enjoy reading this book
• 
  Judy

  Very exciting ending.
  
• 
  Judym

  This was an audiobook. Enjoying this series, especially the Buddhism aspect.
• 
  Frank Allen

  A fun series to read. Always enlightening and entertaining simultaneously.
• 
  Sharon

  This Tenzing Norbu mystery is not as good as the others I have read. He is looking for a missing person when he stumbles onto a drug, arms, and organ transplant ring. The story was not as coherent as the others.
• 
  Angie Boyter

  Quite enjoyable but not quite as good as the first two in the series.See my Amazon review for details:
  4.0 out of 5 stars Ten does it again!, March 16, 2014
  By
  Angie Boyter (Ellicott City, MD USA) - See all my reviews
  (VINE VOICE)
  
  This review is from: The Third Rule Of Ten: A Tenzing Norbu Mystery (Dharma Detective: Tenzing Norbu Mystery) (Paperback)
  Vine Customer Review of Free Product (What's this?)
  What’s a guy gonna do who is raised in a Tibetan monastery reading Sherlock Holmes and speaking English learned from his free-spirited American mother? Why, move to LA and become a private eye, of course! In this delightful series Tenzing “Ten” Norbu plies his trade while still staying true to his Buddhist principles, although he is less than successful in trying to promote them to his Persian cat Tank.
  As this third book opens, Ten has just had one of the most horrible experiences of his life---he has killed two men, and even though the killings were completely justifiable, they add one more element of distress to a very difficult period of Ten’s life. His father has recently died, and his relationship with his girlfriend Heather is troubled. These difficulties and a complicated case lead him to adopt a new rule for himself: I will practice more transparency and keep current with the truth, both with myself and with those close to me. Ten has many opportunities to test this rule in the course of the book.
  Filmstar Mac Gannon, a former client, has hired Ten on behalf of his friend Assembleywoman Bets McMurtry, a rising star in conservative Republican circles, whose longtime housekeeper (and apparently illegal immigrant) Clara has disappeared. McMurtry is genuinely worried about Clara but cannot afford the publicity that will ensue if the case becomes public. The more Ten investigates, the more complex the case becomes, ultimately involving illegal trafficking in drugs, weaponry, …and more.
  To my mind, the plot was a bit contrived, and I could have done without the caricature of the right-wing politicians, but these flaws were not fatal. The Third Rule of Ten contains all the essential elements that have made the series so enjoyable: great characters and a positive outlook on life. Despite his bizarre background, Ten is a very believable, likable person. His introspection about his relationships or situations in which he finds himself are both credible and enlightening; they simply arise out of a non-Western approach to life, and as a result they often make this Westerner stop and think. The other characters also seem genuine. For example, after Ten is almost killed, his girlfriend Heather asks, not just about him, but also about Tank. That’s a nice person!
  
  Whether you are new to the series or already a fan, if you enjoy a character-driven thriller that balances both light-hearted and serious moments, I recommend the Third Rule of Ten. And I look forward to Rule Number Four!
• 
  Jacqui

  This is the third in a series by Gay Hendricks and Tinker Lindsay about private eye, Tenzing Norbu, a former Buddhist monk-turned ex-LAPD detective who is now a PI to the stars. Norbu has a series of rules he tries to live by, often fails. This book, 'The Third Rule of Ten' (Hay House 2014), deals with the third rule--'there is a fine line between healthy privacy and unhealthy secrecy'.
  
  Norbu is hired to find a missing maid for her wealthy and politically-inclined boss, but instead finds murder, drugs, and a whole lot of bad guys. As he struggles to unriddle the clues that populate the case, he also fights to understand his personal life. Why does he suddenly want to eat meat instead of the vegan diet he's used to? Why won't he discuss it with his girlfriend? Why is he avoiding the council of his fellow Buddhist monks?
  
  I confess. I was drawn to this book hoping it would be a reprise of David Carradine's role as warrior monk, Kwai Chang Caine, in the 1970s television series 'Kung Fu'. I still miss the man's gentle wisdom that explained so many problems in a logical, peaceful manner. It isn't, but Norbu does refer constantly to his Buddhist upbringing and the simple life rules that guided him during that time. For example:
  
  "I realized I was witnessing karma happening right before my eyes. He'd gotten a reprieve when my first shot bounced off his bulletproof chest. But then he'd spurned that subtle gift from he universe and called in his destiny."
  
  While the plot is typical--cartels reek havoc on American innocents--the author's voice is not. Consider these snippets:
  
  * "two lifeless bodies lay sprawled on the ground like a pair of indefensible reproaches."
  * "in the months we had been officially together, I'd learned at least one very important lesson: Never, ever wake up a forensic medical examiner on her one day off."
  * "It had been weeks, enough weeks to qualify as months."
  * "Heather hears like a hawk sees."
  * "...we rarely had time to really talk or better ye, not talk and just be."
  
  Overall, a good read, especially for the underlying theme of calm and peace in a chaotic, often mad world.
  
  I gave it 4/5 stars, but I'm not sure I'll read the other books. I wanted more Buddhist wisdom and less maverick. But many readers disagree with that assessment. Check out this post from the Progressive Buddhist.
• 
  Vanya D.

  NOTE: I received this title via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
  
  I'm not sure what I was hoping for with this novel, but I certainly got some thrill out of it. It was like watching CSI or Monk or Bones, but with a notch up on the action factor. I was very pleased that Ten didn't fail to deliver.
  I can't say there was much mystery to it, but this wasn't the kind of book to expect it from anyway.
  
  Writing style:
  Quite good. Enticing with thrill and action.
  
  Story line:
  The Third Rule of Ten was the typical thriller/action/PI novel. There was a situation, a missing person case, that lead to death threats, some confrontation with drug lords & the FBI. It was really a journey that I usually only watch on TV shows, so it was nice to actually read it for a change.
  
  Themes:
  - Finding yourself can take awhile
  - the PI's job can sometime be quite dangerous
  
  Characters:
  - Tenzing Norbu (Ten), a buddhist priest turned police officer turned PI has put himself in a situation he doesn't even know about. Right smack in the middle of organized crime of all possible kinds. Of course, with death threats and such he had little to no time to deal with his romantic and personal issues. After all, staying alive was turning to be a priority.
  He was a fun character. Not quite quick of wit, but he wasn't stupid either. He liked to count on himself, and only rarely use his contacts.
  
  - Heather was Ten's girlfriend. I'm not sure how she and Ten came to be together, but there was something missing from their relationship. Like love, maybe?
  
  - Bill was Ten's ex-partner in the PD. Even though he tried to pretend he didn't care about Ten's affairs, he still helped the PI however he could. A fine man.
  
  - The bad guy, a.k.a. drug lord, had two sides, which made him look realistic. On one side he was the ruthless killer who didn't care about anyone's life. On the other, he was a loving husband and father.
  
  In conclusion:
  If you're looking for a nice crime thriller, this should definitely be something to consider.
• 
  Edythe

  Tenzing ‘Ten’ Norbu was a Tibetan monk and LAPD Detective in the Robbery and Homicide division. He now uses his training as a monk and skills as a police officer for his new self-owned business, Private Investigator. His friend, Mac Gannon, calls to have him investigate the disappearance of Clara, House representative Elizabeth ‘Bets’ McMurty’s housekeeper. Clara is the cousin of Mac’s housekeeper, Sofia, who also turns up missing. They both work for the same housecleaning service.
  Ten is at home when an attempted burglary takes place, shooting two of the three culprits. He thinks it has something to do with the disappearances of Sofia and Clara. Little does he know that the head of the drug organization is ‘Carnate’, a nemesis from long ago who is using a different name. Trying to figure everything out, Ten takes a bike ride and notices a van similar to the one he saw at Mac Gannon’s place. This leads the investigation in another direction.
  Tenzing employs the help of friend, Clancy, to help in the surveillance of the housecleaning service company. He then follows a lead to a hospital in the desert of Mexico. What is this hospital doing here in the middle of nowhere? Is this the headquarters of Carnate? What is Mac or Bets involvement in this situation? Nothing is as it seems to be, until Tenzing puts the pieces of the puzzle together.
  Gay Hendricks and Tinker Lindsay have collaborated on a mystery novel that is full of questions you want answered right away. You will enjoy the different situations Ten gets himself into, but with his specialized training he goes with his instincts. It was a little slow starting, but picks up and takes off. Also included is Chapter One of the novel, The Fourth Rule of Ten. I recommend this novel for mystery lovers and puzzle solvers alike.
  
• 
  Laura

  Third Rule of Ten - A new kind of hero
  by Gay Hendricks, Tinker Lindsay
  
  “Do that which you are most avoiding.”
  “Be honest and tell the truth.”
  
  It is so refreshing to read about an action-hero who is not out to kill everyone and win all the glory, but rather yet find peace and do what is right and honourable.
  
  When I read the book’s description it said that the main character, Tenzing Norbu was a former Tibetan Monk, ex-LAPD officer turned private investigator. How was that combination going to work and would it be a plausible character?
  
  The easy answer is, yes!
  
  The Third Rule of Ten is actually the third book in a series about Tenzing Norbu. I was worried that coming into the middle of a series I would not understand what was going on. This was not the case. Although the novel does refer to events in the past, it does not shadow the action in the present book. In fact, it just made me want to go back and read the first books to learn more about this fascinating character!
  
  In The Third Rule of Ten, a wealthy politician hires Tenzing to find her family maid who has gone missing. This simple request turns into chaos when the Mexican drug cartel, become linked. Tenzing must solve the mystery, while staying true to himself and doing what is right.
  
  Through this book, I learned a lot about not only the Mexican drug cartel, but also about the Mexican culture as well as the Buddhist belief systems.
  
  If you are looking for a new kind of hero, try Tenzing. It’s a well-written book, and you will think about the characters even when not reading about them. This is a refreshing change to your typical action hero!
  - See more at:
  http://www.valleyfamilyfun.ca/index.p...