
The story follows the journey of "devil may care playboy" Brent Sandler from the horrible events of being rescued from a sinking ferry, The Spirit of Free Enterprise through his journey of discovering there is actually more to life than selfish gratification. Brent celebrates his miraculous survival on The Spirit of Free Enterprise by embarking on a lifestyle of enjoying every single minute of life in style. If Brent was going to go out, he was determined to go out in style and if he survived he would be able to look back on a lifetime of trying every experience he possibly could. This lifestyle led to his involvement in the underworld and drugs to save his dwindling business finances. It takes a chance encounter to turn his life around and seek the mystery of an ancient Buddhist relic, through rural India.
This is a very broad novel that addresses some of the questions we always find ourselves asking - what is the point of life? Is Karma real and how does it work? It was a fast-paced and rollicking journey through many difficult and violent encounters that left the reader reeling at times. I enjoyed the pace of this book and the characters were easy to identify with and empathize with. I really enjoyed reading this book.
I would consider it for five stars, but for two minor drawbacks. Firstly, there are too many editorial errors in the book to warrant five stars. Although they don't detract in any way from the story, they do need to be fixed at some point if this book is to be the success it surely should be. The second issue was again a minor one, but one that kept me from fully embracing the story 100%. There was considerable violence throughout the book, much of it on our principal character, Brent Sandler, yet somehow he seemed to be almost bionic in his ability to survive what may well have killed a lesser man.
That being said, this is a fantastic, fast-paced, mystery story that has the added attraction of informing the reader of some fascinating Buddhist precepts. I wouldn't hesitate in recommending this book to anyone who loves mystery stories that cross cultures and religions. This is a fantastic read. Good job Peter Best.
You can check out The Burden of Truth here: http://amzn.to/1kpi84b