Samurai Game (Ghostwalkers #10) by Christine Feehan

Back of the Book Blurb:

In a world so dark and seductive, expect nothing less than a triple-cross in the explosive all-new Ghostwalker novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan…

In an underground club, a high-ranking public official spends his secret nights indulging in fantasies as exciting as they are depraved. For a seductive employee of the Dungeon, it’s her job to fulfill them. But she’s playing a far more dangerous game—one of blackmail, politics, and murder that reaches into the shadow world of the Ghostwalkers, and the creation of a spectacular, one-of-a-kind new weapon of defense.

But when a dictator makes his own catastrophic moves, the Ghostwalkers have no choice but to bring in two major players—a man and woman both driven by passion and revenge. Both expendable. Both with nothing left to lose.

I thought the above blurb was so inadequate, I am including the following from Publisher's Weekly:

 Feehan’s 10th GhostWalker novel (after Ruthless Game) is a suspenseful psychic romance burdened by an opening section that lacks plausibility. Azami Yoshiie and Ghostwalker Sam Johnson meet and fall in love during a lengthy attack on the GhostWalker compound. Their lust-filled introduction while in mortal danger doesn’t wash, even though both were psychically enhanced by an evil genius. Dr. Whitney used his brilliance to help create a secret military force. On the side he experimented with little girls, many of whom, like Azami, he tortured and then threw away. Now Azami is a successful software expert and Mission Impossible–level assassin, and she vows to thwart Whitney’s nefarious manipulations, which currently involve sacrificing Sam to an assault on a corrupt Congolese general. Sam doubts Azami’s loyalties, but she soon proves her worth to the team. Strongly intertwined thriller and romantic elements tip the balance in favor of the romance, which quickly turns poignant, but that initial credibility issue looms large.

Review:  Fans of Christine Feehan will not be disappointed with this 10th entry in her great Ghostwalkers series.  The story starts out fast and violent, full of conspiracy and death. After being tortured and used by Whitney as a live dissection lab rat, simply because she had no apparent psychic talents, Thorn was tossed into the streets of Japan, where she was rescued by a man who became her father and mentor.  Raised with love and trained in the way of the samurai along with her two "brothers", Thorn has grown into a beautiful and powerful woman who is also an incredibly skilled assassin.  Despite her loving upbringing, Thorn has never been able to let go of her rage against Peter Whitney - and who can blame her?  As an adult running a state-of-the-art satelllite/software company with her brothers, Thorn, now known as Azami, finds herself in the unique position of having business communications with Whitney.  She decides to destroy him, naturally.  Just weeks after turning Whitney's offer down, her company is contacted by Lily Whitney, who is alos interested in purchasing a satellite.  After Azami and her brothers arrive at the Montana (? I can't remember) compound, they and their Ghostwalker escorts are violently attacked.  Helicopters, ground troops, automatic weapons, oh my!  Amazi and Sam soon become battle buddies, fighting their way through the enemies, learning that they are both teleporters and psychic.  Sam knows she is a Ghostwalker right away, but not everyone can sense her energy, and the other are naturally suspicious of her intentions.
Before a week has gone by, Sam and Azami are engaged to be married and she has moved into his house on the compound.  And this is when things get a little....unbelievable.  When Sam asks her brother's permission to marry Azami, one of them produces a beautiful ring made by their dead father  for just such a moment.  And I found myself wondering if they travel with that ring on every business trip?  Sam heads home after Azami's brother tells him that she is waiting for him at his house, and discovers paper lanterns all over his stream and pond (when did she make, light and sail these?  When?) and she is waiting to give him a loving and traditional full body, mind and spirit cleansing.  Which I'm good with - it was quite touching.  But all of a sudden she is calling him "Sammy" - what is up with that?  Is it a traditional Japanese term of endearment to add an "ee" sound at the end of a name?  Because otherwise it sounds pretty silly, and it had the effect of snapping me right out of the story.
But I snapped right back in when Sam's foster father, General Ranier, arrives and is either working for Whitney or has been set up to send Sam into certain torture and death.  Azami is not having any of that, though, and her high-tech satellite and comms capability will give the Ghostwalker team the edge when they walk into the trap.
As with most of Feehan's stories, there is non-stop repetition of phrases and descriptions - she could easily cut out several pages worth and the story would not suffer in the least. But Feehan writes such a fun, suspenseful, sexy and exciting story I CANNOT STOP READING.  Love her, love her, love her.  And I think the reason is her incredible story-telling skills.  She creates these rich, complicated worlds that feel real.  Her characters are fabulous, flawed and likeable, and her bad guys are really, really rotten.


For more information check out the author's website at christinefeehan.net.