Shibumi is a novel written by Trevanian. It was released in 1979 and tells of an assassin fighting back against the mysterious Mother Company. It is a somewhat satirical work.
Characters[]
- Nicholai Alexandrovitch Hei - an assassin
- Mr. Diamond - the liaison between the Mother Company and the CIA
- Hannah Stern - the only survivor of the Munich Five
- Mr. Diamond's assistant
- T. Darryl Starr - the CIA's Most Senior Field Operative
- Mr. Haman - an Arab ally of the CIA
- Miss Swivven - Mr. Diamond's secretary
rest to be added
Publisher's summary[]
A classic spy novel from the bestselling author, Trevanian, about a westerner raised in Japan who becomes one of the world's most accomplished assassins.
Nicholai Hel is the world’s most wanted man. Born in Shanghai during the chaos of World War I, he is the son of an aristocratic Russian mother and a mysterious German father and is the protégé of a Japanese Go master. Hel survived the destruction of Hiroshima to emerge as the world’s most artful lover and its most accomplished—and well-paid—assassin. Hel is a genius, a mystic, and a master of language and culture, and his secret is his determination to attain a rare kind of personal excellence, a state of effortless perfection known only as shibumi.
Now living in an isolated mountain fortress with his exquisite mistress, Hel is unwillingly drawn back into the life he’d tried to leave behind when a beautiful young stranger arrives at his door, seeking help and refuge. It soon becomes clear that Hel is being tracked by his most sinister enemy—a supermonolith of international espionage known only as the Mother Company. The battle lines are drawn: ruthless power and corruption on one side, and on the other... shibumi.
Plot[]
Part One: Fuseki[]
Within a movie theatre in the headquarters of the CIA, the organization's Most Senior Field Operative T. Darryl Starr waits for the mysterious liaison between the CIA and the "Mother Company" to arrive. Once Mr. Diamond arrives, he brings his assistant and a rich Arab named Mr. Haman. These four personages watch footage of Starr and several Asian CIA operatives killing two Israeli terrorists (the surviving members of the so-called "Munich Five") - and several other bystanders along with the Asian operatives - in Rome International Airport. Though it seems as though Starr completely eliminated his targets, Mr. Diamond figures out that something is wrong. As such, he retires to the Mother Company's secret chamber within the CIA's headquarters. Here, Mr. Diamond and his assistant use a computer called "Fat Man" that has information on every citizen of the mechanized West to get information on the Munich Five. Using this, Mr. Diamond discovers that one member of the Five - a girl named Hannah Stern who is related to a "romantic patriot" named Asa Stern - has survived.
Having survived the assassination in Rome International, Hannah makes her way through the Basque countryside looking for the chateau of one Nicholai Hei. Before she can reach this chateau, Hannah stops at a cafe in the Basque market town of Tardets to ask for directions to the chateau. Though she has to deal with the unusual character of the Basque occupants of the bar, Hannah is able to get directions to the chateau near Etchebar. Once there, she is invited in by a half-Japanese woman named Hana - who reveals that Nicholai has been cave-diving for several days but will return tomorrow. As such, she invites Hannah to stay behind - and reveals that she is Nicholai's concubine while doing so. Meanwhile, Mr. Diamond and his assistant look through Fat Man's records on Asa Stern and finds a link between him and the mauve-carded assassin Nicholai Hei. While speaking with his assistant, Mr. Diamond reveals that Hei was born in Shanghai.
rest to be added
Worldbuilding[]
The Mother Company[]
- The Mother Company is a consortium of rich companies, governments, and other financial organizations. They took control of the CIA after they tried to destabilize the governments of their Arab members.
- Fat Man is a massive computer that holds the personal information of every citizen of the Western world within its depths. It can be used to look through the connections between individuals - though this is a difficult endeavor, as Fat Man has a tendency to flip the relationships between its subjects (showing enemies as allies and visa versa) and the extreme depth of information makes finding anything useful within it something that requires a delicate touch.
- Fat Man logs those that could possibly fight against the Company and its allies with various cards. These are largely based off of political ideologies and racial profiling. Mauve-carded individuals do not have allegiance to any known ideology.
See also[]
| Title | Author | Release date | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Eiger Sanction | Trevanian | 1972 | A novel by the same author with similar themes |
| The Ninja | Eric van Lustbader | 1980 | A thriller novel with similar themes |
| The Bourne Identity | Robert Ludlum | 1980 | A spy novel with similar themes |
| The Day of the Jackal | Frederick Forsyth | 1971 | A spy novel with similar themes |
| Thai Horse | William Diehl | 1987 | A thriller novel with a similar hero and themes |
| The Key to Midnight | Dean Koontz | 1979 | A thriller novel with similar themes |
| Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy | John le Carré | 1974 | A spy novel with similar themes |