What do you think?
Rate this book
Second Skin
Winning the battle against his enemy in the Vietnamese jungle, Nicholas Linnear is unaware of Mick Leonforte's plans to regroup and launch a personal quest for revenge, and an old friend of Nicholas' is called for help
528 pages, Paperback
Published March 1, 1996
75 people are currently reading
686 people want to read
About the author
Eric Van Lustbader
166 books1,222 followersEric Van Lustbader was born and raised in Greenwich Village. He is the author of more than twenty-five best-selling novels, including The Ninja, in which he introduced Nicholas Linnear, one of modern fiction's most beloved and enduring heroes. The Ninja was sold to 20th CenturyFox, to be made into a major motion picture. His novels have been translated into over twenty languages.
Mr. Lustbader is a graduate of Columbia College, with a degree in Sociology. Before turning to writing full time, he enjoyed highly successful careers in the New York City public school system, where he holds licenses in both elementary and early childhood education, and in the music business, where he worked for Elektra Records and CBS Records, among other companies.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/ericva...
Mr. Lustbader is a graduate of Columbia College, with a degree in Sociology. Before turning to writing full time, he enjoyed highly successful careers in the New York City public school system, where he holds licenses in both elementary and early childhood education, and in the music business, where he worked for Elektra Records and CBS Records, among other companies.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/ericva...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 17, 2017
I remember way back when I was a kid, Eric Van Lustbader was hugely popular. That was in the 80s, and everyone thought Japan was going to take over the world. How times have changed.
A mob boss, fronted by legitimate business is the sworn enemy of Nicholas Linnear, the protagonist of this series. Linnear reminds me of Sir Denis Nayland Smith from the Fu Manchu series, in his outlook.
We get weird esoteric stuff, the history of a mob boss, and his sister, who is a sort of assassin nun, Nicholas Linnear's father, and some Japan setting which would fit right in with almost any book in this genre.
Not bad, but the series seems to be petering out, even though this is the first one I've read.
A mob boss, fronted by legitimate business is the sworn enemy of Nicholas Linnear, the protagonist of this series. Linnear reminds me of Sir Denis Nayland Smith from the Fu Manchu series, in his outlook.
We get weird esoteric stuff, the history of a mob boss, and his sister, who is a sort of assassin nun, Nicholas Linnear's father, and some Japan setting which would fit right in with almost any book in this genre.
Not bad, but the series seems to be petering out, even though this is the first one I've read.
December 15, 2025
This is one series that for me was a favorite in the 90's having read the first five and bought the sixth at almost the same time.
With a penchant of reading books every single day of my life, somehow Nicholas Linnear went to my backburner. I probably grew up. There were numerous stops and starts over the last few years and it ultimately took a soft copy to finish the book. I think its 22 years between number 5 and 6 for me.
Eric Van writes about the far east like very few western authors can especially when it comes to the Samurai, Ninjas, the Yakuza and the Geishas. The only other author who has written about the orient better would be James Clavell but that would be a very different time. Eric Van paints haikus as his stories and some of the earlier ones were sheer poetry on canvas. The stories filled with fantasy elements have a lyrical quality and provide a lot of enjoyment with brutal action, full of gore and blood and every bit of debasement known to man. The dialogues are often blunt and the sex is extreme, either beauty personified like the Chinese Ghost Story or like the Evil Dead.
A quarter of century on and the story sounds dated and the advanced technology mentioned in the story is also dated. The story isn't with violence, espionage, industrial espionage, politics and power raising their ugly heads around the world and people more powerful than us making dastardly decisions that in turn affects millions without a thought. It was called saber-rattling an era ago and should be called stupidity in the current generation with the world on the brink from pressures of life and living. But boys will be boys even when they are men and this story brings out the same conflict that had plagued the previous novel and which seemed over, because of the death of one of the antagonists.
Nope, the story continues in this edition.
This is a revenge drama through and through and features some of the best action in the series and has several potent moments where relationships are reviewed and sides are chosen and karma is done.
The feud and the slow smoldering style reminds one of the mafia movies.
A decent read although by series standard this is average fare.
With a penchant of reading books every single day of my life, somehow Nicholas Linnear went to my backburner. I probably grew up. There were numerous stops and starts over the last few years and it ultimately took a soft copy to finish the book. I think its 22 years between number 5 and 6 for me.
Eric Van writes about the far east like very few western authors can especially when it comes to the Samurai, Ninjas, the Yakuza and the Geishas. The only other author who has written about the orient better would be James Clavell but that would be a very different time. Eric Van paints haikus as his stories and some of the earlier ones were sheer poetry on canvas. The stories filled with fantasy elements have a lyrical quality and provide a lot of enjoyment with brutal action, full of gore and blood and every bit of debasement known to man. The dialogues are often blunt and the sex is extreme, either beauty personified like the Chinese Ghost Story or like the Evil Dead.
A quarter of century on and the story sounds dated and the advanced technology mentioned in the story is also dated. The story isn't with violence, espionage, industrial espionage, politics and power raising their ugly heads around the world and people more powerful than us making dastardly decisions that in turn affects millions without a thought. It was called saber-rattling an era ago and should be called stupidity in the current generation with the world on the brink from pressures of life and living. But boys will be boys even when they are men and this story brings out the same conflict that had plagued the previous novel and which seemed over, because of the death of one of the antagonists.
Nope, the story continues in this edition.
This is a revenge drama through and through and features some of the best action in the series and has several potent moments where relationships are reviewed and sides are chosen and karma is done.
The feud and the slow smoldering style reminds one of the mafia movies.
A decent read although by series standard this is average fare.
July 23, 2011
c1996: I have travelled far with Nicholas Linnear and this book did not leave me wanting. Highly recommended but start with #1 else it may lose its impact. Oriental intrigue that no other writer has managed to date. I agree wholeheartedly with Kirkus reviews which stated: ""Second Skin dances between generations, summons up characters from earlier novels, and deals with time past almost like Proust ... As Lustbader creates a complex, giant microchip of a story, mere human readers enjoy sunrises of sexbliss and move like deathproof titans through a plot that bounces like a pinball from Tokyo to West Palm Beach."
May 10, 2015
Read this in the mid 90's when just a horny teen - the Ninja stuff (and of course the sexy stuff) blew my massively hormonal juvenile mind. Was getting a little tired of the series by then but still gets the top ratings I've given the other books in the series. Haven't read this since, and I honestly don't know if I'd like it just as much but a nostalgic 5 stars for sure - for then at least.
January 22, 2022
I enjoyed this read. I didn't realise it would be linked with fantasy. Very interesting read of the yakuza, an occult and psychic abilities.
October 6, 2024
DNF, abandoned on page 103, which was further along than this book deserved. Apparently this is the fifth or sixth in a series. Six books of this!
I should have stopped when the author said a character was using her long fingers like chopsticks to eat shrimp. Hahaha, can you imagine? I should have stopped when a character's orgasm was compared to a tornado lifting up a house. Lol! I should have stopped when an apparently brilliant character, trained as a psychiatrist, hasn't self diagnosed herself as a nymphomanica. I did quit when a mafia like character told another head of a family to 'forgetaboutit'.
Life is too short o read bad books. This one is as stinky as Bad Clams (yes, that is a character's name in this goofy novel).
I should have stopped when the author said a character was using her long fingers like chopsticks to eat shrimp. Hahaha, can you imagine? I should have stopped when a character's orgasm was compared to a tornado lifting up a house. Lol! I should have stopped when an apparently brilliant character, trained as a psychiatrist, hasn't self diagnosed herself as a nymphomanica. I did quit when a mafia like character told another head of a family to 'forgetaboutit'.
Life is too short o read bad books. This one is as stinky as Bad Clams (yes, that is a character's name in this goofy novel).
March 30, 2012
Superb! The action, the thriller, the erotica, the knowledge of the orient, the historical facts, all amounts to a wonderful piece. Leaving me totally exhausted when finished. Bravo Lustbader! He is my all time favorite author
October 21, 2025
Great Novel, but ....
Really enjoyed the book, but it didn't quite tie up all the loose ends. The series was very complex and built on the characters we met in the first series. The ending didn't tell us the final fate of Tanaka Gin, Nangi or several other characters (although there were hints.) Still, a good trilogy.
Really enjoyed the book, but it didn't quite tie up all the loose ends. The series was very complex and built on the characters we met in the first series. The ending didn't tell us the final fate of Tanaka Gin, Nangi or several other characters (although there were hints.) Still, a good trilogy.
August 20, 2017
SECOND SKIN is simply thrilling. I raced through the last 200 pages, almost breathless. Lustbader keeps four or five very suspenseful storylines afloat with the frenzied deft of a juggler; my favorite being the mother's attempts to save her teenaged daughter, a plucky heroine in her own right when it comes to playing gangsters off one another. SECOND SKIN is easily the best of the trilogy started in THE KAISHO and continued in FLOATING CITY. I read the three as one long book and found myself endlessly fascinated with the interlocking character relationships and their attendant complications. Lustbader is a pro, with Linnear and Croaker being his best literary creations.
June 9, 2017
The occult not explained
Exciting paced but leaving information of the occult that is the main driver in this series of book . The frequent reference to tan Jian but till the end of series we still have no idea how a ancient pagan practise has evolved into ninjitsu and the mystic
Exciting paced but leaving information of the occult that is the main driver in this series of book . The frequent reference to tan Jian but till the end of series we still have no idea how a ancient pagan practise has evolved into ninjitsu and the mystic
September 17, 2022
Well for years this was the six and last book in the Nicholas Linear Saga. Here he fights his biggest Rival Michael Lenofot , a deadly smart bussiness man who was the Commender of Do Doc and Rock in the Past .
Here we learn about Miks childhood ,his relatonship with his dad, brother and sister .
Read this years ago. If u read the Kashio I recommend u read this one as well.
Here we learn about Miks childhood ,his relatonship with his dad, brother and sister .
Read this years ago. If u read the Kashio I recommend u read this one as well.
May 10, 2025
A lot of smoke and mirrors, not enough action.
July 7, 2013
I wasn't real impressed with this book. I think a lot of that was due to the fact that it is a story that has characters that were started in a previous book that I had not read.
April 20, 2016
Hope for more !
Thanks for the time I'm spending with them reading!
Laszlo
Thanks for the time I'm spending with them reading!
Laszlo
April 22, 2020
I am now sick of Lustbader rehashing the same old drivel. Nicholas Linnear has turned into a boorish prig.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews