Perimeter's very brief description (it has been more fully fleshed out since then) didn't really sound like the genre of books I find especially enjoyable.  Which is kind of funny, because I love the Jason Bourne, Jack Reacher, Jack Ryan, James Bond-type International Man of Mystery movies/TV shows.  But if that's all Perimeter had been, I might not have enjoyed it as much.  Fortunately (for me, anyway), the book is a little more than just another impossibly tough and skilled super dude running amok, thrashing bad guys and saving the day.  

First, a brief description of the protagonist: Levi Yoder.  It really isn't a spoiler, but it was surprising to me, that Levi is an expatriate Amish (or whatever you call an Amish guy who gives up the Amish life style and moves to the city to live amongst the "English").  My early impressions of Levi were that he is, despite his dubious occupation, a good guy.  There's almost no profanity in Levi's internal monologue or spoken dialogue (the first two chapters don't get profanity worse than "heck," "crap," or "hell") and his motives always seem to be pure.  I prefer a protagonist in my stories that is on the side of angels.  Or who is, at least, morally unambiguous.

Pretty early on, the events of the story felt a little Tim Powers-ish.  So I suspected the supernatural was going to play a big role in the story (which can detract-from or add-to the story, depending on how well it's done).  A book set in a universe where supernatural stuff exists as a normal thing is fine.  But in a story where nothing else is different from the world around us, supernatural elements have to be deftly handled to not feel goofy - Tim Powers is great at this.  I'm happy to say that Mike Rothman is also good at keeping the supernatural elements from dominating the story (or at least turning it into a cartoon).

Speaking of well-handled stories with a supernatural bent (at least initially - we'll pretend the sequels never happened), Highlander ranks among my favorite all-time films, and parallels the events in this story - a little bit, anyway.  Don't worry, Perimeter isn't a Highlander rip-off.  There are definitely differences - which I will keep to myself to minimize spoilers.  

Actually, the supernatural elements of the story are almost more comic book than "supernatural" - beginning with the origin of the change that occurs in Levi's cancer-ridden body. The antics of everybody's favorite X-Man, Wolverine, come to mind. He's super fast, super tough, heals fast, etc.   

There's quite a bit of Jason Bourne-type fighting action in the story.  Don't worry, there's an explanation for why Levi is able to handle himself so readily in the preceding chapters (and it's not the "supernatural" angle I've mentioned.  Not completely, anyway).  I like the scene, set in an Afghani village, where Levi handles himself against a bunch of angry Muslim guys who don't like that he offered help to a damsel in distress.  Very Jason Bourne.  Or Jack Reacher, if he's your go-to tough guy.

Though the profanity starts out really light, it picks up quite a bit as other characters enter the story and includes a great many f-bombs.  Interestingly, the pretend profanity (crap, heck, etc.) is interlaced with the heavier profanity throughout the story (and not always just from the Levi character).  And there is a little bit of sex-related content, but it's not explicit - more TV-MA than R-rated.

I'm looking forward to the further Adventure of Levi Yoder.  I'd rather read them in a physical book, but I might be able to motivate myself to read them on my tablet.  I just have so many books to read on my tablet already...

This was a rousing good story which needed a rigorous edit. Covering at least four continents and a dozen cultures including urban America and the Pennsylvania Amish, the book featured the intersecting points of view of Levi, an unlikely mob fixer, and Madison, a Navy officer turned CIA operative.

The science and technology in the narrative seemed solid, but other procedural points showed lapses that a strong editor would have caught. Levi is arrested by the county sheriff's department, and would have been taken to a county jail -- but Rothman describes a high-security prison setting, with indeed, a "prison guard" telling him he'd go to intake in the morning.

Early on, cliched descriptions made frequent appearances ("The moment he first saw her, it was like he'd been struck by lightning. His skin had tingled and he'd barely managed to catch his breath" and “He felt the gamut of human emotions”). In several places, a repeated adverb shows up carelessly, two and three times, on the same page. 

The story was strong enough for me to carry on reading, but the niggling irritations really damaged the writer's credibility. Also, the dialogue was inconsistent, with each character's conversational patterns slipping in and out of formality, slang, fluency, etc.

The story arc was powerful, but the narrative didn't hold up its end. I read in the afterword that the writer decided to self-publish, and it explained a lot -- most publishing houses have an editorial team that would have magnified the punch of this book.

I read the book in a couple days, so it is a quick read good flow, still a few annoying editing errors..  As an American, I had to think when reading,  some of the quirks of the "English" language made me stop and think about what the Author meant.  All in all the characters are likeable, and it kept me interested in seeing what happens next.  So all in all I would give this a 3 plus stars.

Great read. Every review i try to type out has spoilers so, read it. You will love Levi and the story.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.  I understand that this Is the beginning of a series and it is going to be interesting to see where the author takes it. This is a quick read, definitely an airport lounge/beach special, the first two thirds of which pass by in a meandering manner before the various threads of the story connect. The understated and only late in the book revealed combination of sci-fi and ancient mysticism together with the mob-connected main character on a mission of self-discovery and bitter vengeance will give the author plenty of trajectories going forward.

This is a very different thriller, and different is GOOD. There's a lot of action and it's almost impossible to guess what will happen next. Good read!

Lazarus (Levi) Yoder is an exciting new protagonist who makes his debut in M A Rothman’s new thriller, “Perimeter”. The title refers to a weapons program in Russia, but the story is about much more. Yoder has lost his wife in an auto accident for which he feels responsible. But in losing her , he has also lost all directions in his life. A chance encounter with an ancient relic and a ten-year worldwide “walkabout” leave him transformed as returns home to his roots in Amish country trying to find his purpose. There a brutal murder of two youngsters starts a chain reaction  that leads to NYC, Nepal, and Russia, and involves the Mafia, CIA, and FBI. Non-stop action at its finest and promises of more to come!