Shibumi (1979)

Born in the ravages of World War I China to an aristocratic Russian mother and a mysterious German father, raised in the spiritual gardens of a Japanese Go master, he survives the destruction of Hiroshima to emerge as the world's most artful lover and its most accomplished -- and highly paid -- assassin. Genius, mystic, master of language and culture, Hel's secret is his determination to attain a rare kind of personal excellence, a state of effortless perfection ... shibumi.

Now living in an isolated mountain fortress with his magnificent Eurasian mistress, Hel faces his most sinister enemy -- a supermonolith of espionage and monopoly. The battle lines are drawn: ruthless power and corruption on one side and on the other...

Shibumi.

"One hell of a pleasure to read!" -- Washington Post

"One of the year's best novels of international intrigue. It's hard to imagine a more nearly perfect spy story." -- Milwaukee Journal

"A very unusual novel; action-packed from the very first pages, highly entertaining. Unique in its characters, it has great depth." -- South Bend Tribune

"Novels about international intrigue demand intricate plotting. Shibumi delivers."

-- Los Angeles Times

"Trevanian is a master of international intrigue ... this novel should establish his reputation in the forefront of the cloak and dagger genre."

-- St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"A classy suspense novel ... often outrageously flamboyant, always coldly and brilliantly controlled. And written with a precise elegance." -- Buffalo News

"Trevanian's most ambitious novel yet, a probing personality study of a most extraordinary assassin ... This is terrific." -- Publishers Weekly