THE IRON CIRCLE: The True Life Story of Dominiquie Vandenberg

Vandenberg coordinates fight scenes for major movies, and to say he earned his qualifications the hard way would be an understatement. Describing himself as an adolescent with a "lethal gift" of aggressive rage, Vandenberg recounts how he grew dissatisfied with regulated martial arts competitions in his native Belgium and sought out increasingly violent forms of combat, eventually leaving home at 16 to train at a Japanese fighting school. When an injury sidelined his career, he found another outlet for his impulses in the French Foreign Legion, which brutalized him during training, then sent him to various African hellholes, after which he returned to Thailand to resume beating other men in the ring. He tells of these exploits in exacting detail sure to satiate the bloodlust of action fans. It's uncertain, though, how much other readers will identify with a self-described "Pissed-off Murderous Sociopath" so callused by his experiences that he skipped out on his leukemia-stricken mother's sickbed to join the legion, no matter how compelling his story is. And for all his contempt for "New Age crap," Vandenberg indulges in his own brand of romanticism, glorifying his ultraviolent career with ponderous statements. A final encounter with an American Buddhist monk hints at a personal transformation but ends uncertainly, perhaps laying the groundwork for a kinder, gentler sequel. (Sept.)