Shibumi

By: Trevanian

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Nicholai Hel, born in the ravages of World War I China to an aristocratic Russian mother and a mysterious German father, raised in the spiritual gardens of a Japanese Go Master, survives the destruction of Hiroshima to emerge as the world's most artful lover and its most accomplished and highly paid assassin. Genius, mystic, master of language and culture, Hel's secret is his determination to attain a rare kind of personal excellence, a state of effortless perfection: shibumi.

Now living in an isolated mountain fortress with his magnificent Eurasian mistress, Hel faces his most sinister enemy, a super-monolith of espionage and monopoly. The battle lines are drawn: ruthless power and corruption on one side and on the other, shibumi.

©1979 Trevanian (P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

• 2005 Audie Award Nominee, Solo Narration (Male)

"It's hard to imagine a more nearly perfect spy story." (Milwaukee Journal)
"Novels about international intrigue demand intricate plotting. Shibumi delivers." (Los Angeles Times)

If only the publisher's summary was the story.....

Started out so slow and disconnected from the summary I had to check twice to ensure I was listening to the same book. Nicholai Hel is no "greyman", the book covered too much prep, side stories, and while it was humorous at times in a cynical way I tired of the constant belittling of the USA culture and institutions. It was not balanced and I am sure lots of folks enjoyed it- BUT the publishers summary was not a good indicator of what was to come. At the end the book speed was cranked up to 1.5. I may be returning the sequel.

Love his books

This is an oldie but a goodie. The suspense and calm that blend in and out of Trevanian storyline will keep you picturing yourself within the scene. Mr. Barrett sites this book justice with the intensity just shy of hearing a director tell, "cut, that's a print".

One of His Best

The story was incredible and hard to put down. The narration was spectacular! Well done and most enjoyable.

Overall a great novel!

This wasn’t a page turner. But it did satisfy my penchant for characters that exhibit skill, discipline, taste, intelligence, wit, and more. I would recommend this novel to those that have an interest in Japanese culture.

I was a bit disappointed with the ending and expected a bit more considering the lead up was so well developed.

it took me three years to get through.

it started a bit slow for me but I but finally dug in and was entertained. Great characters.

extrememly entertaining

What a fun summer listen! All the elements are there: bigger-than-life heroes and anti-heroes; a super buffoon who is more than meets the ear; pseudo-psychology and philosophy; and sticks in the eyes of all of us, regardless of nationality or gender. I had never been spelunking before,but now I've "done" a killer cave twice guided skilfully by Trevian. Download it. Have fun.

Shibumi

I really enjoyed this book. The descriptions of Japanese culture, art, beliefs, gardens, etc. was exceptional. As was the hero. Good, good story.

A Most Perfect Novel

This is one of the best, and most perfect novels I have encountered. I look forward to exploring most of the author's works.

Sublime…. 😱

Simply …. 😱

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5 stars is great (I rarely give this rating).
4 stars is good (given only to interesting and well-written books).
3 stars is OK (the usual listen I encounter on Audible).
2 stars is poor (and not worth the credit or the listen).
1 star is awful (and to be diss'ed and shunned and spread as thus throughout the Audible Universe)!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 😱

It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This

This is, in my humble opinion, one of the all-time great thrillers, and it stands the test of time exceptionally well. It's rare to find action and thrills and blood and guts mixed so seamlessly with thought-provoking ideas and philosophy, and even more unusual for the ideas in the book to be almost as compelling and fast-reading as the thrills . . . but Shibumi delivers both without ever slowing down the pace or losing momentum. I always hoped Trevanian would investigate these characters and ideas further in other novels, but I've had to satisfy myself by reading Shibumi over and over again in book and audiobook format instead (BTW, thank you Audible for finally carrying this title!). If you like thrillers with just a little more meat on their bones (or characters with a little more character than the typical comic book hero), you're not likely to find a more enjoyable page-turner than Shibumi. They just don't make assassins -- or thrillers -- like this any more.