A gripping thriller that follows assassin Nicholai Hel across Asia as he fights to regain his freedom. Sugamo Prison Japan October 1951. Nicholai Hel has spent the last three years in solitary confinement for the murder of his mentor. A formidable assassin as well as a master of hoda korosu or naked kill he has developed a supreme awareness of the presence of danger. Suddenly offered the chance of freedom he feels it now as never before... Overseen by Haverford his American spymaster he must go to Beijing & kill the Soviet Unions commissioner to China. In a landscape primed for war this is a suicide mission he has no choice but to accept. Can Hel succeed in winning his freedom & if so at what cost? & can he ever achieve his ultimate goal of satori
- the possibility of true understanding & harmony with the world?