| From Ian Fleming to John le Carré, from Ken Follett to Joseph Kanon, readers just can’t get enough of spies. Perhaps it’s the knowledge that one mistake could mean the end of the hero’s life and maybe the world as we know it. And that’s certainly the case in this new novel, THE TIGER’S DEN, by Brent Ferguson. World War II is nearly over. The war in Europe has been won and Japan can see its future reflected in that loss. But Germany has sent Japan a parting gift, a long-range bomber capable of reaching the American mainland. And, at Unit 731, the Japanese bio-warfare research camp, scientists are working feverishly on a weapon that will save Japan from the ultimate shame: an unconditional surrender. For First Sergeant Jack Matsuda, the war in Europe ended when his unit, the famed Nisei 442nd Regimental Combat Team, took heavy casualties, including Jack. But his pre-war education in biology would bring him a new opportunity to prove his loyalty to America...and to see his family released from the internment camps, their business and property returned to them, their honor restored. Contacted by the OSS, Jack agrees to go deep inside enemy territory, to the camp housing Unit 731, where he will pose as a Japanese scientist recently assigned there. For all intents and purposes, it’s a suicide mission: infiltrate a Japanese bio-warfare facility in China, a thousand miles from any help, under the command a sadistic killer who routinely punishes his own troops with death. One slip, one word of English, would mean his head, literally. His only friend and communications contact is a Russian prostitute in the local brothel frequented by the Japanese. Jack’s meetings with this woman are his only moments of solace and he soon falls for her. But before their romance can grow, Jack must uncover and prevent the plan to deliver a bio-weapon to America aboard the German bomber...a plan that would certainly change the course of the war! |
The Zack Company, Inc.
