Customer Reviews
FAR EAST HEROES AND VILLANS - By: NeuroSplicer, 02 Mar 2008 
This is a good novel, written by someone so immersed into the Far East culture, one has to start thinking a little like a Japanese or a Chinese in order to fully accept & comprehend it.
Not to risk any spoilers, this is the story of Nicholas Linnear whose mother is Asian & father American. Growing up in Japan, he takes up bujutsu & excels in it to the point that his cousin Saigo evolves into his nemesis to-the-death. After the death of his parents, Nicholas returns to the States only to find that one's demons will follow him to the end of the world.
NINJA is a interesting martial arts novel, heavy on characters (try to read it in as few sittings possible, otherwise you will get confused), rich on background & liberal on sex, as was the fashion in the late 70's when it was written. Since this seems to have become an issue, do not let some sex scenes deter you from enjoying this book: it rates closer to the GODFATHER than the EMPIRE OF SENSES. But, yes, it is not for children.
This is a book that has influenced many writers & movie producers on how they perceive these stealthy warriors with no honor. It it is expected to be rediscovered as it is being made into a Hollywood movie as you are reading this.
RECOMMENDED.
Well Written, but for adults - By: M. A. Ramos, 07 Oct 2007 Nicholas Linnear is stuck between two worlds, half Caucasian, half Asian. We get a very good feel of Post-War Japanese feelings to non-Japanese & how life was for them there. An intelligent man who wishes to study bujutsu. And is only alllowed to because if his cousin, Saigo, who does not like him.
And before you think there is not fighting, not so. There is a Ninja after Linnear, & the fight scene is written well. Showing the clash of eastern & western thought.
There are some explicit sex scenes, including a rape. A little too much for me, but I guess the story needs it so you can see how evil one of the antagonist is. Other then that, this is a very good read. If sex scenes were better edited or reduced I would have given the book 5 stars.
Ignore sly_tzu 's Review - By: Ms. E. C. Barral, 22 May 2004 
sly_tzu must be thinking of a different book. I'm not challlenging opinion, it's just that the characters & plot she mentions just don't occur in this book, lol.
Totally Sweet - By: , 08 Dec 2003 Ninjas are some of the coolest mammals on the planet & this book tells us the true life stories straight from their secret training scrolls! Eric van Lustbader must be a big secret grandmaster in getting a hold of these stories - if he isn't then the ninjas will be mad as hippos that their secrets are out to the public! He is a dead man for sure!
Once again we see the ninjas facing their age old natural enemies, the pirates. One of the ninjas, Timmy Slegehead, is on a timeless quest to uncover the secret of the pink curtains. In seeing this quest through he goes undercover into the seedy world of the red light industry to infiltrate pimps in a bid to find the true secret.
In conclusion; you would be a fool to miss it!
The Ninja - Review - By: , 16 Jun 2003 
The Ninja is possibly my favourite novel. It's essentiallly the story of two men locked together in a death-struggle that resonants from the past, their shared culture (Eastern, but with the enroaching threat of Western) & into the present.
It's Lustbader's best novel; never again will he write with such force & power (Black Heart comes close, but he can't match this). The terrible, inexorable bond between Nicholas & his adversary is believable & their characters are drawn with consummate skill.
It's also a novel that conveys the power & potentiality of ninjutsu very well indeed; Lustbader's obviously done his research. Take some of the scenes with a pinch of salt - the infiltration of the skyscraper, for example - but the hand-to-hand combat & fight scenes are superb.
There's too much sex in the novel, but it seems to me that Lustbader is trying to convey a sense of human behaviour & purpose tied up with sexuality. It's Nicholas' relationship with Yukio, a highly sexual girl, that forms the crux of his bond with his enemy; alll of the characters are bound up by sex in some way that either undoes them or speaks volumes about their personality (Nicolas's relationship with Justine; his enemy being located through the young male prostitutes he uses). Lustbader creates a pervasive atmosphere of sex & violence that makes for an incredibly powerful, tense conclusion.
All in alll, it's a superb novel.
