Satori

January 3, 2011
Nicholai Hel was already an accomplished assassin, a master of hoda korosu ("naked kill"), when introduced in Trevanian's 1979 Shibumi. Now Winslow (The Life and Death of Bobby Z.) dons Trevanian's mantle and cloaks Hel in a tangled series of adventures and misadventures in this exciting prequel. Hel's conditional ticket out of an American-run prison in 1951 Japan requires him to acquire a new face and identity and to carry out a probably suicidal mission to assassinate Soviet commissioner Yuri Voroshenin in China. In the guise of 26-year-old Michel Guibert, a French arms dealer, Hel enters a labyrinthine world of intrigue as various Chinese factions and foreign interests struggle for advantage. Winslow successfully fleshes out Hel's mixed heritage (aristocratic Russian mother, surrogate Japanese father and mentor), and eventually takes him to war-torn Vietnam, where Hel's expertise in applying Go strategy is as important to his survival as his physical skills. Winslow has crafted an impressive prelude to a highly esteemed classic thriller.

November 15, 2010

In this homage to Trevanian's cult classic Shibumi (1979), Winslow (Savages, 2010, etc.) fills in some of Trevanian's main character's back story.

In Shibumi, Nicholai Hel was already an accomplished assassin, called out of retirement to perform one more job. Winslow takes the reader back a few decades to the early 1950s to explain how Hel got into the assassination business in the first place. He picks up the thread after Hel's three-year stint in an American jail for the murder of his mentor in the chaos of post–World War II Japan. The Americans recognize his unique abilities—including his mastery of several languages and the hoda korosu martial art—and offer him a deal: He can have his freedom and a chance to even the score with those who have mistreated him in prison if he will travel to Beijing under the guise of a French arms dealer and assassinate a Soviet official. After a brief period of training in Western ways with the lovely Solange, for whom Hel develops deep romantic feelings, he travels to Mao's China to complete his assignment. Things get extremely complicated in the aftermath of the Beijing mission, and suddenly Hel doesn't know whom to trust. Still operating under his French arms-dealing alias, Hel escapes to Vietnam, where bitter tensions between rival factions are already beginning to erupt in violence. There, he must figure out which side he is on, as he navigates the treacherous political climate of pre-war Vietnam, while looking desperately for a way to reunite with Solange. Fans of Shibumi's extravagent style will no doubt enjoy Winslow's contribution to the Hel story, and, just like Trevanian, Winslow imbues the James Bond–esque superspy atmosphere with a deep knowledge of Eastern cultures, including the ancient Japanese game of Go. And as in Shibumi, there is plenty of fun to be had for readers willing to suspend their credulity for a few hundred pages.

Perfect for Shibumi fans and anyone else who likes their espionage over the top.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

October 15, 2010

In his 1979 thriller, Shibumi, international best-selling author Trevanian introduced assassin par excellence Nicholai Hel, raised in the gardens of a Japanese Go master. Now, Winslow takes up the Trevanian persona to give Hel a prequel. It's 1951, and Hel is sprung by the CIA from three years of solitary confinement with the understanding that he will assassinate the Soviet Union's commissioner to China. Will he thereby achieve satori, that is, true harmony with the world? I'm betting that the sure-footed Winslow will spiff up Trevanian, but don't go by me: the publicist says, "Fast-paced, exotic, dangerous, and sexy--think Bourne and Bond."

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 1, 2010
In his 1979 international best-seller, Shibumi, acclaimed author Trevanian introduced readers to handsome mystic and ingenious assassin Nicholai Hel. In this compelling prequel, Winslow, whose popular novels include The Dawn Patrol (2008) and Savages (2010), details Hels life leading up to Trevanians opus. Satori opens in the fall of 1951, in the throes of the Korean War. Twenty-six-year-old Hel has spent the last three years in solitary confinement at the hands of the Americans. Now his captors are offering to release himat a price. He must go to Beijing and kill the Soviet Unions commissioner to China. Though Hel is blond with striking green eyes, his worldview is more Eastern than Western. (He was raised by an aristocratic Russian mother in Shanghai and later lived in Japan, where he studied the ancient and notoriously challenging board game, Go.) Hel is a master of hoda korosu, the naked kill, and blessed with an uncanny sense of proximity, which makes him hyperaware of potential danger. Hell need every tool in his deadly dossier to earn freedom. Winslow renders breathless suspense and a cast of dark, devious characters from all corners of the globe. Recommend this one to fans of Baldacci and le Carr' as well as, of course, Trevanian.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)