"Sifu Miller was right, not many people could tolerate that job for as long as he had...The more he thought about it the more pride he felt. This pride was also a new feeling for Elliot and suddenly it scared him."..
Sometimes the path to peace is marked with bloody violence in Jesse J. Berry's impressive debut novel, "Chan, Tea, and the Way of the Warrior."
Elliot's only relief from the mind-numbing monotony of his job at a meat processing plant is the time he spends learning kung fu and talking with an old tea master he befriends.
But with the arrival of a new, combative student at his kung fu school, Elliot finds his tenuous grasp on happiness shaken, resulting in a violent explosion.
After bearing the brunt of his frenzied assault, Elliot's coworker introduces him to the gruesome world of underground fighting.
It is here where Elliot finally feels like he belongs as he spends night after night beating men to a bloody pulp. Yet even as he finds an outlet for his rage, he is still left feeling depressingly empty.
Can Elliot find his way back to enlightenment before it's too late?