Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published in USA
Mar 2011
512 pages
Genre: Thrillers
Publication Information
Nicholai Hel--genius, mystic, and the perfect, formidable assassin--was first introduced to readers in Trevanian's 1979 bestseller Shibumi. Now, Don Winslow continues Hel's story with a prequel to Shibumi.
It is the fall of 1951 and the Korean War is raging. Twenty-six year-old Nicholai Hel has spent the last three years in solitary confinement at the hands of the Americans. Hel is a master of hoda korosu or "naked kill," fluent in seven languages, and has honed extraordinary "proximity sense" - an extra-awareness of the presence of danger. He has the skills to be the world's most fearsome assassin and now the CIA needs him. The Americans offer Hel freedom, money, and a neutral passport in exchange for one small service: go to Beijing and kill the Soviet Union's Commissioner to China. It's almost certainly a suicide mission, but Hel accepts. Now he must survive chaos, violence, suspicion, and betrayal while trying to achieve his ultimate goal of satori - the possibility of true understanding and harmony with the world.
"Winslow has crafted an impressive prelude to a highly esteemed classic thriller." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. Winslow renders breathless suspense and a cast of dark, devious characters from all corners of the globe." - Booklist
"This is a straightforward adventure book: there's a good deal of killing and sex in it but little of the humor of the original. A so-so thriller that peters out toward the end." - Library Journal
"Perfect for Shibumi fans and anyone else who likes their espionage over the top." - Kirkus
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Photo: Jerry Bauer
New York Times bestselling author Don Winslow has written twenty-one novels, including The Border, The Force, The Kings of Cool, Savages, The Winter of Frankie Machine and the highly acclaimed epics The Power of the Dog and The Cartel.
The son of a sailor and a librarian, Winslow grew up with a love of books and storytelling in a small coastal Rhode Island town. He left at age seventeen to study journalism at the University of Nebraska, where he earned a degree in African Studies. While in college, he traveled to southern Africa, sparking a lifelong involvement with that continent.
Winslow's travels took him to California, Idaho and Montana before he moved to New York City to become a writer, making his living as a movie theater manager and later a private investigator in Times ...
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