| December 6 Contributor(s): Smith, Martin Cruz (Author) |
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ISBN: 1416577750 ISBN-13: 9781416577751 Publisher: Gallery Books OUR PRICE: $23.74 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: August 2008 Annotation: From Martin Cruz Smith, author of "Gorky Park" and "Havana Bay," comes another audacious novel of exotic locales, intimate intrigues and the mysteries of the human heart: "December 6." Set in the crazed, nationalistic Tokyo of late 1941, "December 6" explores the coming world war through the other end of history's prism -- a prism held here by an unforgettable rogue and lover, Harry Niles. In many ways, Niles should be as American as apple pie: raised by missionary parents, taught to respect his elders and be an honorable and upright Christian citizen dreaming of the good life on the sun-blessed shores of California. But Niles is also Japanese: reared in the aesthetics of Shinto and educated in the dance halls and backroom poker gatherings of Tokyo's shady underworld to steal, trick and run for his life. As a gaijin, a foreigner -- especially one with a gift for the artful scam -- he draws suspicion and disfavor from Japanese police. This potent mixture of stiff tradition and intrigue -- not to mention his brazen love affair with a Japanese mistress who would rather kill Harry than lose him -- fills Harry's final days in Tokyo with suspense and fear. Who is he really working for? Is he a spy? For America? For the emperor? Now, on the eve of Pearl Harbor, Harry himself must decide where his true allegiances lie. Suspenseful, exciting and replete with the detailed research Martin Cruz Smith brings to all his novels, "December 6" is a triumph of imagination, history and storytelling melded into a magnificent whole.
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| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Fiction | Thrillers - Crime - Fiction | Historical - General |
| Dewey: FIC |
| Physical Information: 1.2" H x 5.2" W x 8.1" (0.80 lbs) 400 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 1940's - Cultural Region - Japanese |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Amid the imperialist fervor of late 1941 Tokyo, Harry Niles is a man with a mission -- self-preservation. But Niles was raised by missionary parents and educated in the shadows of Tokyo's underworld -- making his loyalties as dubious as his business dealings. Now, on the eve of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Niles must decide where his true allegiances lie, as he tries to juggle his Japanese mistress and an affair with the wife of a British diplomat; avoid a modern-day samurai who is honor-bound to kill him; and survive the Japanese high command, whose plans for conquest may just dictate his survival. Set in a maelstrom of personal temptations and mortal enemies, with a remarkable anti-hero caught in a land he can never call his own, DECEMBER 6 is a triumph of imagination, history, and riveting storytelling. |
Contributor Bio(s): Smith, Martin Cruz: - Martin Cruz Smith's novels include Gorky Park, Stallion Gate, Nightwing, Polar Star, Stalin's Ghost, Rose, December 6, Tatiana, The Girl from Venice, and The Siberian Dilemma. He is a two-time winner of the Hammett Prize, a recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award and Britain's Golden Dagger Award, and a winner of the Premio Piemonte Giallo Internazionale. He lives in California. |