The Assassin's Touch

By Laura Joh Rowland

Book Overview

It is a lost art, passed down by the ancients in great secrecy: Dim-mak. It is death, by the lightest touch of a finger . Sano Ichiro, tenuous in the new regime as the shogun's second-in-command, does not have the luxury of skepticism'another senior official is dead, a fingerprint lightly glazed into his skin. Sano's wife Reiko has an investigation of her own: a beautiful, proud, and hopelessly poor woman has confessed to murdering her family. Yet the pieces do not fit, and as Reiko looks deeper into the woman's life as a hinin ?a moral outcast, shunned by the world'inexplicable connections appear between her investigation and Sano's. As Reiko's questions spiral her further into the squalor of life as a hinin , Sano and Hirata'his most loyal samurai'pursure their prey, uncovering an intricate tapestry of betrayal woven into the highest levels of the new regime. But they are no match for the one who has mastered dim-mak , a warrior who will strike all those who cross him or his path--even Reiko. "Elegantly told and interspersed with delicious bits of history" ( Kirkus Reviews ), Laura Joh Rowland's The Assassin's Touch is a mystery you won't want to miss.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312992092
• ISBN13: 9780312992095
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 341 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.3" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Favorite series

I have to say the same thing I say with all the books in this series: Fantastic! Well-written, great plots, love the characters, page turners. I can't stop reading them, but am so bummed when I'm done that the stories' over and I have to wait for her next book.

Shogun History

I love this series of stories of intrigue featuring a family as opposed to one individual. One does not have to read the books in the order in which they were written, but they are even more enjoyable if read in order.

The Assassin's Touch

Fantastic Item; Wonderful Condition; Very Heppy; Would do business with again; A+++++

The Assasin's Touch

This book is like all of Sano Ichiro other adventures. He starts out with no help and everyone trying to kill him.Ms Rowland way of writing is great. I have read all ten of her books about Sano Ichiro. The only thing that is bad, is waiting for Ms Rowland to come out with another adventure in his life. To bad they can't make a movie about him?

Gory and exquisite, simultaneously!

Laura Joh Rowland is an exquisite writer, providing wonderful detail of medieval Japan. At the same time that we are learning to appreciate the beauty of the plum blossom, we are also witness to some of the goriest killings in all of literature. I have become addicted to this series--you can tell, when you start buying the hardcovers instead of waiting for the paperbacks. I have trouble just waiting for the next Rowland to come out. This is a great series, suspenseful, exciting and, at the same time, educational. Highly recommend.