Satori [Hardcover]

Don Winslow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 7, 2011

Prepare to meet the world's most dangerous man . . .

Nicholai Hel-genius, mystic, and the perfect, formidable assassin-was first introduced to readers in Shibumi, the classic #1 bestseller by master storyteller Trevanian. Now critically acclaimed author Don Winslow continues Hel's story for the first time in this all-new, blockbuster thriller.

SATORI

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," is 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: to 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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

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. (Mar.)
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* 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 Hel’s life leading up to Trevanian’s 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 him—at a price. He must go to Beijing and kill the Soviet Union’s 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. He’ll 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 Carré as well as, of course, Trevanian. --Allison Block

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; First Edition edition (March 7, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446561924
• ISBN-13: 978-0446561921
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.5 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,992 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars An old school thriller March 4, 2011

By TChris TOP 50 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

At one point in Satori, the word satori is defined as "to see things as they really are." It's easy to see the novel for what it really is: an old school thriller. It isn't sophisticated or terribly imaginative, but its throwback plot is fun. Satori begins in 1951 with the release of Nicholai Hel (the protagonist in Trevanian's Shibumi) from American custody in Japan. Hel is given a new face, a new identity, and an assignment: to assassinate Yuri Voroshenin, the Soviet commissioner to China. In preparation, Hel is coached in the accent of southern France by the lovely Solange. The first half of the novel follows Hel into China as he pursues his mission. The second half takes him through Southeast Asia and into Saigon where, dodging foreign and domestic killers, he becomes entangled with the mysterious Operation X. Along the way, Hel manages to take on the Russians, the Chinese, the French, the Viet Minh, the Mafia, a Vietnamese crime organization, the Vietnamese emperor, and an assassin known as the Cobra.

Although I liked Satori, several things troubled me about the novel. The characters are caricatures: Voroshenin and the head of the Chinese secret police are cartoonish sadists while Nicholai Hel is the most honorable assassin ever envisioned. Every character in this novel has a story and every story is a cliché: the woman who spies for the French Resistance by selling her body to German soldiers; the woman who gives her body to a Russian officer to save her home from confiscation; the Russian and Chinese officers who torture for pleasure; the intelligence officers waging turf wars; the intelligence officer working for his own (rather than his government's) purposes; the journalist/informant who is a slave to gluttony -- all are familiar characters. The plot depends upon Voroshenin coming to a conclusion that is unsupported by evidence, logic, or the reasonable exercise of intuition. The discussion of Zen philosophy is cheesy. Every now and then the story is slowed by a dull lecture about the evils of communism. The fight scenes are too similar to each other and there must be a half dozen occasions on which Hel is saved from harm by his "proximity sense" (something he apparently borrowed from Spiderman). The women in this novel who aren't selling their bodies to men are being tortured or abused. As I said: old school.

If the novel is so flawed, why was I unable to tear myself away from it? The answer, I suppose, is that Winslow pushed all the right buttons. The story is like comfort food: predictable but tasty. The plot may be formulaic, but it's a good formula: a story in which betrayal is everywhere, challenging both Hel and the reader "to see things as they really are." When the novel turns to action (which is fairly often), the pace is relentless. The ending, while contrived, contains a satisfying twist. Fans of old school thriller writers like Forsyth and Trevanian should like Satori, even if the novel doesn't quite reach the standards set by those writers. I liked it enough to give it a weak four stars.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars My respect for Don Winslow is immense, but.... May 26, 2011

By Bordeaux Dogue

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

the book, as well as the story does not do it for me.

Don Winslow is one hell of a writer, a phantastic story master. He does a magnificent effort trying to maintain the spirit of the thing ( and he even achieves it, that in itself being the sign of a superb craftsmanship in my opinion ), but he is not Trevanian, neither is Trevanian Don Winslow.

The result is that the book stays way beyond the expectations, be it of a Winslow book, be it of a Trevanian book.

English is not my first language, but I hope you get what I am trying to convey.

Read it, enjoy it BUT afterwards, FORGET it ( and that does not happen with any Winslow or Trevanian book ).

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Worthy attempt May 15, 2011

By P. M. OMalley

Format:Hardcover

Seeing this book in bookstore led me to first read Trevanian's book it was based upon. WOW, mistake. I was so smitted by the first book this book had a hugh problem matching that standard. He was trying, and got approval from heirs of Trevavian which is good. If only I'd not read it so fast afterwards I think I'd have been more into this work.