6th out of 21 books
—
18 voters
Satori
by
Don Winslow
Prepare to meet the world's most dangerous man . . .
Nicholai Hel-genius, mystic, and the perfect, formidable assassin-was first introduced to readers in Shibumi, the classic #1 bestseller by master storyteller Trevanian. Now critically acclaimed author Don Winslow continues Hel's story for the first time in this all-new, blockbuster thriller.
SATORI
It is the fall of 1951,...more
Nicholai Hel-genius, mystic, and the perfect, formidable assassin-was first introduced to readers in Shibumi, the classic #1 bestseller by master storyteller Trevanian. Now critically acclaimed author Don Winslow continues Hel's story for the first time in this all-new, blockbuster thriller.
SATORI
It is the fall of 1951,...more
Hardcover, 500 pages
Published
March 7th 2011
by Grand Central Publishing
(first published October 14th 2010)
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Mar 28, 2013
Manny
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
People who've read Shibumi
Recommended to Manny by:
Kemper
HOKI
A Manny Rayner novel based on Shibumi
The bell rang three times, two short and one long. It was the signal they'd agreed on.
"Entrez!" said Rayner. "La porte est ouverte."
The man entered hesitantly, looking around with evident curiosity at the apartment's simple but costly furnishings. An elderly Chinese servant glided up to him, discreetly took his heavy winter coat, and left again without uttering a word. The man cleared his throat.
The rest of this review is in my book What Pooh Might Have...more
A Manny Rayner novel based on Shibumi
The bell rang three times, two short and one long. It was the signal they'd agreed on.
"Entrez!" said Rayner. "La porte est ouverte."
The man entered hesitantly, looking around with evident curiosity at the apartment's simple but costly furnishings. An elderly Chinese servant glided up to him, discreetly took his heavy winter coat, and left again without uttering a word. The man cleared his throat.
The rest of this review is in my book What Pooh Might Have...more
There’s a popular website called Chuck Norris Facts that has funny sayings about how tough Chuck is like “When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.” and “There is no chin behind Chuck Norris’ beard. There is only another fist.” Well, if Chuck Norris ever met Nicholai Hel, Chuck would beg for mercy after wetting his pants, and then the Chuck Norris Facts website would become Nicholai Hel Facts.
Trevanian introduced Hel in Shibumi in 1979, and Don Winslow...more
Trevanian introduced Hel in Shibumi in 1979, and Don Winslow...more
È l'autunno del 1951 e la Guerra di Corea è in pieno svolgimento. Nikolaj Hel, ventiseienne, ha trascorso gli ultimi tre anni della sua vita in una cella di isolamento nelle mani dei soldati americani. Hel è un maestro di hoda korosu, uno stile di combattimento che permette di uccidere l'avversario a mani nude, parla sei lingue e ha affinato uno straordinario "sesto senso", una sorta di acuta percezione di pericolo imminente. Ha insomma tutte le carte in regola per diventare il più inarrestabile...more
Overall, it was a very fun read. Not as good as Trevanian's Shibumi but I enjoyed it. I hope that if Winslow decides to write more Hel books he'll also get Asia in 1952 figured out, and Asia itself also better understood.
For anyone who enjoyed the character of Nicholaï Hel himself, you'll be delighted to have Hel back, as you follow him through Japan, China, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Since Shibumi actually begins at the end of Hel's career, in his mid 50's, I could see a series of Hel books tha...more
For anyone who enjoyed the character of Nicholaï Hel himself, you'll be delighted to have Hel back, as you follow him through Japan, China, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Since Shibumi actually begins at the end of Hel's career, in his mid 50's, I could see a series of Hel books tha...more
Satori, by Don Winslow, is a prequel to the best-selling thriller, Shibumi, by Trevanian. Trevanian introduced the world to Nicholai Hel, master of `the naked kill' or hoda korusu. Hel speaks six languages, is a master of the game `Go', and has a special proximity sense - the ability to detect when any person or thing is nearby. As Satori opens in 1951, the Korean war is in full swing and the Americans have had Nicholai in solitary confinement for three years for the honor killing of his beloved...more
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My husband requested this book from the library and asked me to pick it up from him on one of our many library trips. It was only after getting it home and letting Jason read it that I actually looked at the cover of the book and saw that it was based on Shibumi - a novel I read many, many years ago. After finishing a couple of sci-fi books, I thought this might be an interesting counterpoint. Sadly, it didn't quite live up to my expectations.
I'll be clear and say that I didn't re-read Shibumi a...more
I'll be clear and say that I didn't re-read Shibumi a...more

SATORI by Don Winslow "A Novel Based on TREVANIAN'S SHIBUMI" is the full title. This is my commentary on-the-fly, as I read, since I don't do in-depth, analytical, reviews per se.
I received an email from my local library that this book, my hold request, was now available for pickup. In the several months since I had placed the request I'd forgotten about it or even where I'd heard about the book. I think I had been browsing lists for best fiction or best science fiction and stumbled across it.
I...more
NOT DON WINSLOW'S BEST!!
Don't get me wrong, it is a decent spy thriller and would probably be one of the better things you would pick up at Hudson News while waiting for your flight--but Don Winslow's other works are far superior.
Part of the problem is that what makes his California novels work so well is that Winslow provides great descriptions from the perspective of his characters. In Dawn Patrol and Gentlemen's Hour when the novel is from Boone's perspective you feel like you are getting th...more
Don't get me wrong, it is a decent spy thriller and would probably be one of the better things you would pick up at Hudson News while waiting for your flight--but Don Winslow's other works are far superior.
Part of the problem is that what makes his California novels work so well is that Winslow provides great descriptions from the perspective of his characters. In Dawn Patrol and Gentlemen's Hour when the novel is from Boone's perspective you feel like you are getting th...more
I started this book thinking I was going to LOVE this book just like I do with most of Don Winslow's other books. I know he was venturing off and doing something a little different than his 'norm'. Which by the way, I was more than excited to go on the venture with him and dive into this large, yet fast read. I got about 3/4 and I started having a debate with myself over how much I was enjoying this or not enjoying this book. The devil who wasn't enjoying it was winning the war in my head. I was...more
Random images can at times evoke powerful memories in us. A ray of sunlight striking a blade of grass in the morning mist can be viewed as just another occurrence in nature or as a nostalgic image for it all depends on perception. Satori is Japanese for random awakening or in simple English this means the sudden realization of seeing things as they are. Unlike its older brother Shibumi, the stress on Japanese culture is less here.
This book is an American child, it does not have the subtlety and...more
This book is an American child, it does not have the subtlety and...more
This time it has to be five stars. I spent all day at work gushing about this - this was so much fun, and so exciting, and Nikolai is the most fascinating character! I enjoyed this a lot, and because there were none of the politically incorrect opinions that made "Shibumi" a little uncomfortable sometimes I enjoyed this even more than "Shibumi", although I would say that "Shibumi" is the better book.
Don Winslow really delivers a worthy sequel here, however. I found it absolutely fascinating to s...more
Don Winslow really delivers a worthy sequel here, however. I found it absolutely fascinating to s...more
Satori was a delight to read. From beginning to the end it was like a meandering roller coaster, at times fast paced and thrilling, at other slow and creeping and full of suspense. It didn't feel like an action spy movie like I thought it might, but instead felt like how I picture espionage to really be; a game of watchful cat and mouse.
Although I'm inclined to like the characters, I have to say I think they were slightly one dimensional in some respects. I felt like Nicholai was too perfect and...more
Although I'm inclined to like the characters, I have to say I think they were slightly one dimensional in some respects. I felt like Nicholai was too perfect and...more
A prequel to Shibumi? Written by someone else? That's a tall order, but one that this reader simply could not resist. If you loved the original, which I recall having gobbled up back in high school, then you will thoroughly enjoy Don Winslow's highly-respectable and respectful-to-the-original introduction to 26-year old Nicholai Hel ca. 1951-1952 as he is released after a disfiguring beating followed by three years of solitary confinement in an American prison to undertake what begins as an unde...more
‘Satori was the Zen Buddhist concept of a sudden awakening, a realisation of life as it really is. It came not as a result of meditation or conscious thought, but could arrive in the wisp of a breeze, the crackle of a flame, the falling of a leaf.’
‘Nicholai had never known Satori.’ – A captive of the United States, Nicholai is provided his freedom on the proviso he assassinates the Soviet commissioner to Red China, Yuri Voroshenin. The US, having identified Nicholai’s talents - notably the maste...more
‘Nicholai had never known Satori.’ – A captive of the United States, Nicholai is provided his freedom on the proviso he assassinates the Soviet commissioner to Red China, Yuri Voroshenin. The US, having identified Nicholai’s talents - notably the maste...more
Um, I haven't read Shibumi, the book by another author (Trevanian) that this novel is based on. I just may. I'm curious about it, even though I have mixed feelings about Nicholai Hel, the character Don Winslow has revived here.
Nicholai Hel makes me feel a little bad about myself. Not because he's a master of a martial art called 'naked kill' and can kill people with tea cups and newspapers and when outnumbered and I can't. He makes me feel bad about myself because I wonder why I can't just let m...more
Nicholai Hel makes me feel a little bad about myself. Not because he's a master of a martial art called 'naked kill' and can kill people with tea cups and newspapers and when outnumbered and I can't. He makes me feel bad about myself because I wonder why I can't just let m...more
Lots of intrigue going on in this book set in the 1950s just before the US became fully involved in the Viet Nam war. We have the star character, Nicholai Hels (a multi-national who speaks several languages fluently) and a supporting cast of characters, including a dwarf. The book is a continuance of a book written under the pseudonym, Trevanian, about the same character. Trevanian's widow is key in aiding Winslow with his writing of this action packed novel set in Southeast Asia.
Winslow does a...more
Winslow does a...more
I'll be honest most thillers I will rate a 3 star. No I'm not a pedant, or a book-snob I just enjoy thrillers/espionage/war/suspense novels for the pure sake of escapism. Satori is different it is as good as the synopsis says and to use my stock of unimaginative cliches(isn't that redundant?)aren't cliches used for their unimaginative stock value in the first place? All around great read!!! One theme I did like is: two main characters(are adversaries) thinking one in the "Western linear thought...more
Considering that Don Winslow wrote a prequel to another writer's book (Shibumi by Trevanian), I find this work to be exceptionally well done. He has not just written another story inspired by the characters from Shibumi, he has absorbed the spirit of Trevanian's work.
The development of the young Nicolai Hel and his spiritual growth are well depicted and his persona in Shibumi is better understood and appreciated. In some ways Satori is easier to read as Don Winslow does not get involved in the r...more
The development of the young Nicolai Hel and his spiritual growth are well depicted and his persona in Shibumi is better understood and appreciated. In some ways Satori is easier to read as Don Winslow does not get involved in the r...more
I requested this book from the library after seeing that someone on Goodreads recommended it. I did not know anything about the original book. I listened to this book. The narrator was great. I have listened to him before narrate Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon. He complemented the book, never detracting from it.
I was enthralled. The settings, the backgrounds & the culturer differences were fasinating. Hel was amazing. I would want him at my back and at my side anytime. I loved knowing his thoug...more
I was enthralled. The settings, the backgrounds & the culturer differences were fasinating. Hel was amazing. I would want him at my back and at my side anytime. I loved knowing his thoug...more
This is the pre-quel to Trevanian's Shibumi (see review). On the one hand this is a true commercial book...take advantage of a dead author, a cult wonder, ask a smart living author to fill in the missing pieces and we got a nice piece of change for the literary heirs and the publishers. Having said that, it isn't a bad outing...Winslow captures much that is true of the original conception of Nicholai Hei, assassin and go master, and fills in some of the stuff that Trevanian had only hinted at in...more
Location. Location.. Location... Satori is all about location. This political thriller takes place in 1950's and will take you on a thrill ride from beginning to end. I read this thriller in two days and it was hard to put down. Winslow's work is reminiscent of a classic James Bond novel. There's action, espionage, political drama, romance and that's just the first few chapters. Satori reads like a fine game of chess. Each chapter is skillful and complex leaving the reader to ponder what will ha...more
It's been a long time since I read Shibumi, but damn if I don't want to go back and read it again now. I like Don Winslow's writing, and while I'm not sure this quite lives up to Trevanian's original, it's a very good old-school espionage thriller. The plot has wheels within wheels, the locations are exotic and deftly described, the women are intense and the action sequences are beautiful.
There are a few false notes here and there -- a couple of phrases like "Beijing in 1952 was [etc.]" that su...more
There are a few false notes here and there -- a couple of phrases like "Beijing in 1952 was [etc.]" that su...more
Don Winslow is a superb storyteller, and here he pulls off the difficult task of creating the backstory for Trevanian's Nicholai Hel, one of the most memorable and complex characters in espionage fiction over the last 40 years. It's been a long time since I read "Shibumi" but now I want to dust it off. Winslow's dialogue and atmospherics are great. My only complaint is that the story is told in a series of super-short chapters, sometimes less than a full page. I found this distracting and annoyi...more
As this is a prequil to "Shibumi", it would be better if I had read that one first. However, I have not. I got this one as an advance copy through Good Reads (thanks so much!). This is not the type of story I would usually read, but I found it surprisingly entertaining and gripping at times. There were a few places where I thought things were a little too pat or coincidental. But, it was a thrilling read, nonetheless. I can see an action hero like Jet Li playing the main character in the movie v...more
Don Winslow schreibt eine kongeniale Fortsetzung von Trevanians epochaler Abenteuergeschichte "Shibumi" um den Super-Killer Nicolai Hel, den Mann, der mit einem gefalteten Blatt Papier und einem Radiergummi töten kann. Winslow verlässt seinen üblichen, lakonischen Stil und adaptiert Trevanians Schreib- und Erzählweise äußerst geschickt. Den Ironie-Level des Meisters kann er nicht immer halten, aber er hält das Tempo der Story hoch, erfreut mit einigen überraschenden Wendungen und hat jede Menge...more
After moving to San Diego County, I read every novel by Don Winslow that I could find in print. Surf, dope dealing, the border, local culture... it's all here, including the best place in La Jolla near the beach for a good hamburger.I enjoy good thrillers and these books certainly filled the bill.
This novel continues Trevanian's story of Nicholas Hel (Shibumi) that I read years ago. I recall liking Shibumi better than I liked this. Maybe I'm jaded because I was reading Winslow for local color an...more
This novel continues Trevanian's story of Nicholas Hel (Shibumi) that I read years ago. I recall liking Shibumi better than I liked this. Maybe I'm jaded because I was reading Winslow for local color an...more
When I read Shibumi, I thought the book was awkwardly arranged and slow paced. After reading Satori, I missed the arrangement and pace of Shibumi. I'm a fan of Don Wilson but Shibumi had a vibe and a writing style that Wilson couldn't, and didn't try to, imitate. Instead he wrote the book in his own personal style, which made the book very entertaining but didn't leave me with the feeling I had at the end of Shibumi. I definitely recommend this book to anybody who read Shibumi if only to revisit...more
Audio....I left this audiobook in my car and my son (adult son) discovered it. We both ended up listening and really liked this book. He was wondering why I (he knows my reading habits) would have chosen to read-listen to this particular book. I explained about the original book in which we meet Nicholai Hel. Such a compelling character. Don Winslow's ability to match the feel, rhythm, and all around sense of the book Shibumi was masterful. This is character development at its finest. Exciting a...more
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Don Winslow was born in New York City but raised in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. At various times an actor, director, movie theater manager, safari guide and private investigator, Don has done many things on his way to being a novelist.
His first novel, A Cool Breeze On The Underground, was nominated for an Edgar, and a later book, California Fire and Life, received the Shamus Award. The Death An...more
More about Don Winslow...
His first novel, A Cool Breeze On The Underground, was nominated for an Edgar, and a later book, California Fire and Life, received the Shamus Award. The Death An...more
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