Jian

By Eric Van Lustbader

Book Overview

From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Ninja comes the first "authentic and engrossing" thriller in the series featuring Jake Maroc (Los Angeles Times).

Jake Maroc, a top agent for the secret US government agency known as the Quarry, is a martial arts expert on a quest for vengeance. Nichiren, Jake's deadliest adversary, is a cold-blooded assassin with a deadly secret. And Shi Zilin is a Communist minister, a cunning survivor of turmoil.

But only one can be the Jian: the ultimate master of strength and wisdom.

Like stones in wei qi, the Chinese game of strategy, four ancient pieces of jade determine their fate. All three men are part of a grand scheme, but as the Communist Chinese, the KGB, and the Americans maneuver for position, only the Jian will determine who controls Hong Kong, the glittering gateway to China.

From the author of the Nicholas Linnear novels and the continuing adventures of Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne, this thriller is "brilliant . . . Perhaps no other piece of fiction since Shogun illuminates the mind, machinations, and mores of Eastern peoples with the style and intensity of Jian" (The Miami Herald).

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1504045432
• ISBN13: 9781504045438
• Release Date: July 2017
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
• Length: 540 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

MAGNIFICENT

This book contains all the elements for a compelling, and thrilling story. Reader beware, you wont put it down for hours at a time.

A concept and education worth learning

I loved this book. The story is well told, the characters are believable and the action is intense. I read JIAN before traveling to Hong Kong and it provided much depth to my experience -- it would surely add to anyone's knowledge of the Chinese in today's business world as well. I liked the "master of every art" concept so much that I named my company JIAN, and have been developing business productivity software tools ever since. Also, I have practiced martial arts for many years and this book adds much to the thinking behind the fights -- useful whether you practice or not. I even wrote a business book called, "Business Black Belt." Thanks Eric.

Like a bowl of Suger Frosted Flakes

This was the second of the "9" Eric Lustbader books that I read , the first being The Kaisho. Yeah, I'm hooked. In this novel Eric captures the reader with this thought provoking journey of historic place and time, with the" Jian" Shi Zilin, wise, shrewd and crafty, who is forced to sacrifies his beloved family all for the good of his country China. Set in Hong Kong we see the rise of the Jian, the fight against Communism, and the heart of a man who know how to love, wife, lover, brother, family without perjudice . And although Nichiren (who tricks Jake's wife to going to Japan to hold her captive) and Jake Maroc are mortal enemies, the hatred that they feel for one another consumes and threatens to destroy them both, yet unbeknownest to each there is a blood bond that ties they together forever. Shi Zilin master of the ancient game of Wei Qi. The game of life, who will become Jian- one of Shi Zilin's sons must take his place for his time has come and he has run the good race. A must read for Lustbader fans

STUNNING!

In this breathtaking spy thriller, Jake Maroc, a Chinese agent trained in various martial arts working for a clandestine US Government organisation called The Quarry, sets out to find the killers of his wife and stumbles across a Japanese Yakuza clan run by his enemy Nichiren, intent on taking over a valuable business in Hong Kong, while in Russia, the KGB shows an interest in the same project. So Maroc, ostracised by the US, seeks help from anyone possible, even the 14K Triads! The action scenes, involving different styles of martial arts and the latest in firearms are first-rate, the locations, especially Hong Kong, are well-researched and the plot is so elaborate and engaging that you can't see the meaning until the final pages, which keeps you guessing. One of Lustbader's very best!

This story is one which makes you think.

This story makes one think of humanity and the price of vengeance. After this book, I've been hooked on Lustbader.