Gaijin [Hardcover]

Marc Olden (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 409 pages
• Publisher: Arbor House Pub Co; First Edition edition (July 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877957886
• ISBN-13: 978-0877957881
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,747,846 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing thriller, June 29, 2002

By 

R. PC "rando7" (Midwest USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gaijin (Paperback)

I had not read anything of Marc Olden before reading this book, but now hope to find more of his novels if they're anything like this one. The story is fairly complex but not so much as to be confusing, the characters are well-developed, there is plenty of action and the pace of the story is quick and lively.

As I said the story is complex but to briefly recap, this is a story of Simon, an accomplished thief, who together with his equally savvy ex-CIA mom, battles with Gaijin, an Englishman who has forsaken his country of birth to join the Yakuza (Japanese Mafia). Though Simon would have to be considered the main character, there are several other characters who have as much or more "page time", yet the story never gets confusing, a testament to Olden's writing skill.

The only negative I would have is that occasionally Olden gives an elaborate buildup to events that turn out to be relatively minor, but overall the story is definitely worth a read. It sort of reminds me on Tom Clancy's novels before he got so wordy.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Throbbing with excitement and thrills, July 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Gaijin (Hardcover)

I honestly believe Marc Olden personally practices martial arts. His description and narrative are simple, but clear. Many twists and turns make you keep the pages turning. Gaijin makes you wonder how deep is hatred, how awesome it is to go on nurituring pain so you can remember the wrongs done against you. Suspense in this book is masterful, no writer comes close to Marc when it comes to blending and bending the East and the West.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Talented with well researched insight, June 30, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Gaijin (Hardcover)

Marc Olden chooses his subjects well, he is graphic in description with attention to detail. He lets the reader immerse himself into the world he created in his writing making one feels the character. Delightful, Entertaining, precision violence, graphic and down right suspenseful.