The Gatekeeper's Son

Junya’s grandfather is a billionaire who keeps the secret to his success hidden in a heavily guarded safe.

His mother is a martial artist who wields a razor-sharp katana—and seems to read his mind.

And a mysterious girl in a Japanese school uniform can knock him over—literally—with just a look.

What do they know that he doesn’t?

Junya’s life takes a dangerous turn on his sixteenth birthday, when someone sets out to destroy not only the family’s business empire—the one that he’s set to inherit—but Junya himself. He’s fighting for his life, and doesn’t know who to trust.

What has his family been keeping from him?

Junya’s journey takes him from the narrow streets of San Francisco to Japan, and through hidden portals to the top of the ancient Japanese Izumo Shinto shrine, to places where death and violence are a way of life. And in a mystical world he’s never imagined, he finds his true destiny.

This book far exceeded my expectations, I enjoyed it from the first page and found it hard to put down and finished it in a day. The characters were interesting and the author managed to create empathy between the reader and the characters. Set within the US and Japan, with a parallel worlds, that just worked. I will not divulge the story because this is not yet released, but let me just say I cannot wait for the second book in this series there is so much more to learn about these worlds and characters. Thank you for the opportunity to read this.

I really enjoyed this book - the plot was intriguing, the pacing was perfect, and the way everything fits together is wonderful. The mix between San Francisco, Japan, and a parallel world was neatly done, and enough detail was given that reading about places I've never been to wasn't jarring.

I did find, however, that as much as I wanted to know what happened next (to the point where I devoured this book in one sitting), I didn't feel a huge connection to any of the characters. They're all well-written, likeable people, but there was something missing to make me cheer for them - that may change as the series progresses, 200 pages isn't much after all.

In all, I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone that likes young adult/urban fantasy, and I'll be reading the rest of the series as it's released.

( I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)

I really liked this book, it kept me entertained the entire time and the whole mystery of what was happening in Junya's life kept me guessing.This is a really cool book that i felt had a lot of similarities to Manga etc. and if this ever got turned into a manga or anime i would watch/read that.
Overall i liked the writing style and didn't bore me at all, liked the characters and i will definitely be reading the rest of the series as they came out.
I recommend this to any one that has even the smallest amount of interest in Japanese culture and mythos.
5 Stars.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23126606-the-gatekeeper-s-son ( Goodreads Review)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1067380791?book_show_action=false ( Goodreads Review)
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-gatekeepers-son-cr-fladmark/1120385582?ean=2940046185775 ( Barnes and Noble Review)

http://www.amazon.com/The-Gatekeepers-Son-C-R-Fladmark-ebook/product-reviews/B00N6W8IPI/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending ( Amazon Review)

Awesome start to a series!! I will have to purchase several copies for my YA and adult readers!
Great characters and thrilling action scenes!!
Well done, well done Waiting eagerly for the next in the series.

The Gatekeeper's Son is a solid mix of contemporary YA and dark fantasy, melding American and Japanese cultures into a very readable work.

The world building was exciting here, bringing the reader into a new mythology based on Japanese culture - a unique and rather deadly mythology.

Now, I do have to admit that my favorite parts of the book were those set in the contemporary and mundane world. I enjoyed the tale of Junya and his family and loved all the scenes that dealt with this Grandfather's business.

If I had one complaint, it would be the that the book was at times overfull. The author had so many ideas and he put every last one of them in the book! The book just needed some tightening here and there - some paring.

I would definitely read the next book in the series. I'm really looking forward to what happens next with Junya. (And I love his mom!)

Intriguing. The magical aspect and the balance between good and evil was interesting and kept me reading. I enjoyed the read but I wasn't pulled in. Some things bothered me- like the fact Junya was playing the dorky boy stereotype, despite having a lot of martial arts training and obvious strength and muscles. Some of the adults seemed a little 2 dimensional, as did Shojo the love interest occasionally.

I'm .not sure if this is for the YA market, but it works well as either an YA or adult oriented novel. I wasn't able to put this down and read this in one sitting. The main character, Junya, was engaging although at times oblivious to what is going on around him. The plot was a coming of age story and was well executed with enough twists to keep the readers hooked. I look forward to seeing what happens next in the series.

Four stars for this book. Found it hard to think of the main characters of this book as 16 and 14? At least that's what I could glean from the book. Junya seemed too mature for his age. His dialogue at times was not believable. Maybe it was because the world building was somewhat thin. I felt like I was thrown right into the book and while it was a rush, it left me wanting. It's possible I would have understood his early maturity better. I had questions about Junya's mother, Shoko, their whole alternate universe. My guess is all answers will come in another book.
Good read though. Entertaining.

What a tense novel! There's big business intrigue, intense fighting scenes and a dash of Japanese mythology thrown in to give it just the right touch.

Although this is marked for the young adult audience, the plot is complex enough to grasp adult readers as well. Junya has just been marked as heir to a billion dollar company, but with it, he's getting more than he bargained for. The company has enemies who plan on bringing it down - strong ones. But this isn't his main concern. A mysterious Japanese girl who keeps popping up (and can fight better than any normal ninja) is already keeping Junya's hands full...not to mention the strange things that are happening to him. Suddenly, he can sense things and a power is growing inside of him.

The characters are very well done - serious and driven, but they let a little bit of the light side of life sneak in every now and then. The problems thrown at Junya are sometimes more than he can handle, despite his own growing strength. Even his oncoming powers aren't something he really embraces at first, and the reader gets to discover and questions things along with him. This made him sympathetic and easy to cheer for.

The plot is fast paced and well weaved. I really enjoyed the more mature feel of the business world in this; the author never talks down to the reader. The little spice of Japanese culture really adds a nice touch, and it's clear that the author knows what he's talking about. It weaves in so naturally.

Summed up, this is a great read for intrigue and fantasy fans. Once they dive into Junya's world, they won't want to leave.

This book got better as I got into it, but I had a lot of issues with it. I liked Junya's computer skills and how they were utilized in the plot and I quite liked Shoko's character in general. But I don't really think that the Japanese culture fitted into the story. It didn't seem to have a reason to be there except for the big shrine in Japan where all of it is supposed to have started.

Shoko had no reason at all to be wearing a Japanese school uniform in the middle of San Francisco except for possibly the fact that it gave her an excuse to were a tennis racket case to put her katana in (though why not have a proper case for it, since it isn't uncommon in Japan for students to carry cases to put their Bokken in for Kendo practice, they've already got her in a school uniform?). Since her people are supposed to come from another world where they don't wear modern clothing, there was no reason to have her in a Japanese school uniform. It would have made more sense to have her in regular clothes.

Also, I didn't like the way that Junya came into his powers, automatically knew how to use them and was amazing at it. I get that he had loads of training in martial arts from his mother throughout his childhood, but that doesn't really make someone good at magic... just at martial arts. He might have the mindset already... but surely he'd still need some sort of training to apply it to magic and learn to direct it?

I would recommend this book. I loved the main character. The settings were wonderful as was the premise.

Goodreads synopsis:Junya’s grandfather is a billionaire who keeps the secret to his success hidden in a heavily guarded safe.
His mother is a martial artist who wields a razor-sharp katana—and seems to read his mind. And a mysterious girl in a Japanese school uniform can knock him over—literally—with just a look.
What do they know that he doesn’t?
Junya’s life takes a dangerous turn on his sixteenth birthday, when someone sets out to destroy not only the family’s business empire—the one that he’s set to inherit—but Junya himself. He’s fighting for his life, and doesn’t know who to trust. What has his family been keeping from him?
Junya’s journey takes him from the narrow streets of San Francisco to Japan, and through hidden portals to the top of the ancient Japanese Izumo Shinto shrine, to places where death and violence are a way of life. And in a mystical world he’s never imagined, he finds his true destiny.

My review: So, I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for a review, and although it took a while to get through it, I really enjoyed reading it. I mean, how could you not like a book about ninjas? Although, it did have it's ups and downs, like how if felt like the story was a few different short stories put together, The characters were well rounded and the book was overall action packed. I mean, come on. It's ninjas. How could it not be? The story was good, kinda long, but good, and the characters were a little different, but different is good. Sorry for the short review, but I'm eally drawing a blank at what else to say. Definitely check this book out if you like ninjas, books that are full of action, or just want something to read that's different from everything else. Thanks for reading!

(radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com)

A great new title in fantasy; I really enjoyed it.

I was prepared to dislike this book. The synopsis sounded weak and the cover was a bit less than exciting. As the story unraveled, I found myself caught up in the relationships, secrets and imagery. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel.

Loved it! Not your run of the mill YA book. Well written, fast-paced, action, adventure, intrigue, parallel universes & "super ninja" characters.