The KAISHO [Paperback]

Eric Lustbader (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1994

In order to protect his father's friend, Nicholas Linnear becomes entangled unwittingly in the Japanese underworld, as the Ninja enters a world of passion and deadly deception. Reprint. PW.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ninja Nicholas Linnear infiltrates the Japanese underworld in Lustbader's fast-paced thriller.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Lustbader--Master of the Orient!--returns stronger than ever with the fourth of the Nicholas Linnear novels (The Ninja, 1980; The Miko, 1984; and White Ninja, 1990), with a fifth promised. Lustbader's dense approach to storytelling lets rich backgrounds support incredible plots and high-tension martial-arts battles. Here, he lavishes even more care than usual on bringing Tokyo, Venice, Paris, and Washington to a ringing life against which his stereotypes leap superhumanly and unload tons of Eastern expertise. Nicholas Linnear, co-owner of the Japan-based Tomkin- Sato electronics corporation, fights the recession by trying to expand the firm's base in Vietnam, where he hopes to make his phenomenal T-PRAM computer chip (it's based on the human brain structure) while being hit with attacks from McCarthy-like investigations by Senator Rance in Washington. Meanwhile, his wife, Justine, takes a passionate distaste for the Japanese following the death of their child and a miscarriage. In the middle of all this, the Kaisho (or Godfather of Japanese criminals) calls upon Nicholas to repay a moral debt incurred by his late father, who--when on General MacArthur's staff following WW II--enlisted the Kaisho's aid in jump-starting democracy in Japan. The Kaisho has moved in on the American Mafia--but an even superior Japanese criminal organization wants to kill the elderly Kaisho while forming a worldwide underworld conglomerate. The Kaisho trusts no one among his own people: Nicholas must find and destroy the assassin, despite his scorn for Yakuza. The assassin, the death-loving Du Doc--a mind-reading Vietnamese of fabulous fighting ability and access to occult areas of martial arts that Linnear himself must now master if he is to meet Du Doc head-on--is one of Lustbader's best villains, his wickedness woven with an erotic mastery that melts all women. Plunging melodrama and poppy dreams of supersex. Superior hokum. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Star; later printing edition (July 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671868071
• ISBN-13: 978-0671868079
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,517,749 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Eric Van Lustbader is the author of more than twenty-five best-selling novels, including The Ninja, a New York Times bestseller for 24 weeks, in which he introduced Nicholas Linnear, one of modern fictions most beloved and enduring heroes. His New York Times bestselling novel, "The Testament," was published in September, 2006 and in paperback in August, 2007.
His novels have been translated into over twenty languages; his books are best-sellers worldwide and are so popular whole sections of bookstores from Bangkok to Dublin are devoted to them. The Ninja was sold to 20th Century-Fox. It is now in pre-production.
Mr. Lustbader is a graduate of Columbia College, with a degree in Sociology. Before turning to writing full time, he enjoyed highly successful careers in the New York City public school system, where he holds licenses in both elementary and early childhood education, and in the music business. He is a second-level Reiki master.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Kaisho is absorbing, May 31, 2000

By 

Rebecca Brown "rebeccasreads" (Clallam Bay, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The KAISHO (Paperback)

Like a Steven Spielberg movie, an Eric Lustbader book covers a lot of ground, a lot of time & a lot of people. You have to put aside your workaday impatience & sit & receive his words as you would a cup of fresh tea. With his rich imagery, his deft craft that brings to life the serenity of a Japanese tea ceremony or the primitive, shape-shifting of ancient Asian hill people; or the old & wondrous waterroads & buildings of mystical Venice or the starkly bland American Mafia enclaves, you learn that Mr. Lustbader will not disappoint. A lusty read. For my full review please go to: ( )

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Walked in late, March 4, 2005

By 

Joan I. Wendland "miss_management" (Sterling, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The KAISHO (Paperback)

I was given this book for free and read it without having read any of the previous books in this series. Despite that handicap I found the book instantly captivating. A liberal use of flashbacks kept me from getting lost - although this might have been a bit boring for faithful readers of the series. Lustbader keeps quite a few plots going at once and deftly weaves them into an almost complete picture in the end. The loose ends are deliberate so we will rush out and buy the next in the series. I certainly plan to.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars i expected more, May 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The KAISHO (Paperback)

the book has one big saving grace. it has a interesting way of making us think about honor. how we define it. the action gets way to mystical for my liking but some of the japanese characters are very interesting. if you have read the others then read this one.