Tengu

by Graham Masterton

In Japanese mythology, the Tengu is the most terrible of all demons: a living force of evil that infects its followers with the mad strength of the berserk and the capacity to survive attack from any weapon...

At the close of World War II, the Tengu was Japan's most terrifying secret weapon. Now the demon is unleashed again—this time in a diabolical plot to wreak vengeance on America for the mega-destruction of Hiroshima...

Steeped in the sinister magic of ancient Japan and rich in exotic sensuality, Tengu is a terrifying novel of nuclear revenge—and Graham Masterton's most stunningly horrific thriller to date.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Ebooks, Thriller, Supernatural

380 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 15, 1983

About the author

Graham Masterton was born in Edinburgh in 1946. His grandfather was Thomas Thorne Baker, the eminent scientist who invented DayGlo and was the first man to transmit news photographs by wireless. After training as a newspaper reporter, Graham went on to edit the new British men's magazine Mayfair, where he encouraged William Burroughs to develop a series of scientific and philosophical articles which eventually became Burroughs' novel The Wild Boys.

At the age of 24, Graham was appointed executive editor of both Penthouse and Penthouse Forum magazines. At this time he started to write a bestselling series of sex 'how-to' books including How To Drive Your Man Wild In Bed which has sold over 3 million copies worldwide. His latest, Wild Sex For New Lovers is published by Penguin Putnam in January, 2001. He is a regular contributor to Cosmopolitan, Men's Health, Woman, Woman's Own and other mass-market self-improvement magazines.

Graham Masterton's debut as a horror author began with The Manitou in 1976, a chilling tale of a Native American medicine man reborn in the present day to exact his revenge on the white man. It became an instant bestseller and was filmed with Tony Curtis, Susan Strasberg, Burgess Meredith, Michael Ansara, Stella Stevens and Ann Sothern.

Altogether Graham has written more than a hundred novels ranging from thrillers (The Sweetman Curve, Ikon) to disaster novels (Plague, Famine) to historical sagas (Rich and Maiden Voyage - both appeared in the New York Times bestseller list). He has published four collections of short stories, Fortnight of Fear, Flights of Fear, Faces of Fear and Feelings of Fear.

He has also written horror novels for children (House of Bones, Hair-Raiser) and has just finished the fifth volume in a very popular series for young adults, Rook, based on the adventures of an idiosyncratic remedial English teacher in a Los Angeles community college who has the facility to see ghosts.

Since then Graham has published more than 35 horror novels, including Charnel House, which was awarded a Special Edgar by Mystery Writers of America; Mirror, which was awarded a Silver Medal by West Coast Review of Books; and Family Portrait, an update of Oscar Wilde's tale, The Picture of Dorian Gray, which was the only non-French winner of the prestigious Prix Julia Verlanger in France.

He and his wife Wiescka live in a Gothic Victorian mansion high above the River Lee in Cork, Ireland.

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is pretty typical Masterton, even though it was a fairly early work, first published in 1983. Remember the 80s? Japan was the fascination of the era, with the Japanese economy crushing the US with their exports and books like Shōgun were bestsellers. It seems Masterton also got caught up in the Japanese vibe, but of course mixed it with lots of steamy sex and a maimed survivor of Hiroshima looking for some payback. Yeah, this was fun, but pretty much OTT and trashy to boot, sparked along with some rather dry Masterton humor.

Our main protagonist, Jerry, is a retired Navy intelligence officer living in LA, but it takes awhile before he enters the scene. First, we are introduced to a host of characters, from a TV starlet, a shady import/export guy, some LAPD detectives among others. This starts off with a grizzly bang when the starlet is literally torn into shreds by some strange guy, who we quickly find out is a Tengu-- a Japanese evil demon. Something like Japanese zombies, the Tengu are pretty hard to bring down.

The cops are clueless, but this does turn into something of a police procedural alongside a horror arc, something Masterton has done many times. I have no idea if the Japanese mythology and such was researched or just made up, but it works for the novel. I am sure this stepped pretty hard on some cultural toes as well. Pretty fun story with a real explosive ending 😎 3 Tengu stars!

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

The USA brought the H-bomb to Japan. Now it's time for revenge... another absolutely page turning novel by Masterton that reads like a movie. You have plausible characters and delve deep into Japanese demonology. Can El Krusho turned Tengu stop the evil Tengu? Take up this nail biting book and find out. Another clear recommendation, an 80s classic. Horrifying entertainment at its very best!

[Adam Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a lot of mind changes while reading Tengu. For the first quarter or so, I didn’t think I liked it because I didn’t understand what was going on at all. The second third of the book picked up though and I couldn’t put it down. The last third, however, made me wish it would end mainly because it seemed very drawn out and I thought I could predict the ending, something that I rarely even attempt to do with a Masterton novel. The ending though (and I’m talking about the very last page alone) made this a four star book. It would be a four and a half star read but, as always, we can’t do that. The book also includes a fictional but very fascinating reason for the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan at the end of World War II and one intelligent but badly radiated victims plot for revenge on America.
That being said, I had a couple of problems with the book. I already mentioned that it seemed drawn out in a lot of ways but that is something that a lot of novels are made up of and, although it irritates me at times, I really can’t complain about it much. I can complain about the sex scenes though. I do not understand why authors of horror seem to think that the majority of their readers are teenaged virgins who love to read about every detail of love making. Once you have done it, it isn’t that interesting to read about if it serves no purpose. It can be mentioned obviously, but it doesn’t need to take up several pages at a time and occur quite a few times in a 370 page novel. It’s like reading about someone eating a sandwitch. Maybe it has cheese, maybe it has turkey, but I don’t really care. I enjoy eating sandwitches but I find it boring to hear about someone eating a sandwitch unless it is a new and interesting kind of sandwitch. Rape, on the other hand, is often a part of horror and isn’t as annoying to me. I just don’t like reading about sex over and over in nearly every horror novel I pick up. I don’t find it entertaining at all and I don’t care how many times the characters do it, I don’t care if lightning shoots through each of their bodies in a magical climax, I don’t care if the characters come so hard that their urethras whistle eighties power ballads. It isn’t interesting. The mysteries have been solved long ago and there are only so many ways you can describe sex whether it is between two lovers or two drunken people having a one night stand.
I must say though, this book has a character with her pubic hair trimmed in the shape of a heart. Now that, friends and neighbors, is a tasty sandwitch indeed.

[George K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Πριν σχεδόν ενάμιση χρόνο διάβασα τελευταία φορά βιβλίο του Γκράχαμ Μάστερτον και η αλήθεια είναι ότι μου έλειψαν οι καφρίλες του, οι υπερβολές του, οι καμένοι χαρακτήρες του, γενικά οι ευκολοδιάβαστες και απολαυστικές ιστορίες του. Καιρός ήταν να ξαναδιαβάσω επιτέλους ένα βιβλίο του, και επέλεξα το συγκεκριμένο, το οποίο είναι το δέκατο βιβλίο του συγγραφέα που περνάει στην λίστα με τα διαβασμένα. Πως μου φάνηκε; Άκρως ψυχαγωγικό και απολαυστικό.

Στην Ιαπωνική μυθολογία, ο Τένγκου είναι ένας από τους πιο τρομερούς, μοχθηρούς και καταστρεπτικούς δαίμονες, ένα πλάσμα γεμάτο κακία, που καταλαμβάνει τα σώματα ανθρώπων και τα καθιστά ανίκητα απέναντι σε κάθε εχθρό. Στο τέλος του Β' Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου, οι Τένγκου δεν πρόλαβαν να χρησιμοποιηθούν επαρκώς. Όμως το 1983, ήρθε η ώρα κάποιων Ιαπώνων για εκδίκηση. Συγκεκριμένα, ένας παραμορφωμένος άνδρας, που γεννήθηκε κοντά στον πυρηνικό όλεθρο της Χιροσίμα, θέλει να πληρώσει με το ίδιο νόμισμα τους Αμερικάνους, χρησιμοποιώντας έναν μικρό στρατό από Τένγκου. Τα πράγματα θα οδηγηθούν σε εξωπραγματικά βίαιες καταστάσεις...

Τι περιέχει το μενού: Πολλές γραφικές σκηνές βίας γεμάτες καφρίλες και σπλατεριές, λίγο υπερφυσικό, αρκετό σεξ, διάφορους καμένους χαρακτήρες με όλα τα ωραία και απαραίτητα κλισέ, κάποιες αναφορές πολιτικού και ιστορικού περιεχομένου γύρω από τις ατομικές βόμβες που χρησιμοποιήθηκαν στον Β'Π.Π., κάμποση αγωνία για την συνέχεια και ακόμα περισσότερη ένταση. Επίσης ένα δυναμικό τέλος. Η γραφή είναι στα γνωστά στάνταρ, ευκολοδιάβαστη και ξεκούραστη, με ωραίες και γλαφυρές περιγραφές των διαφόρων σκηνών βίας και των τοπίων. Η 80's ατμόσφαιρα εξαιρετική. Φυσικά υπάρχουν και πολλές υπερβολές στην πλοκή, ευκολίες και τα συναφή, αλλά μιλάμε για βιβλίο του Μάστερτον.

Γενικά είναι πολύ ωραίο και χορταστικό παλπ μυθιστόρημα τρόμου και περιπέτειας, το οποίο προσφέρει γραφική βία, ατελείωτη δράση, καφρίλες, υπερφυσικό και σεξ. Πιστεύω ότι κατατάσσεται με ευκολία στις καλές στιγμές του συγγραφέα και είναι ένα βιβλίο που προτείνεται άνετα στους λάτρεις αυτού του είδους βιβλίων τρόμου. Στα συν βάζω και όλες τις αναφορές στην Ιαπωνική μυθολογία/ιστορία, που προσωπικά με ελκύει όσο καμία. Επίσης η μετάφραση είναι πολύ καλή και γλαφυρή. Προχωρήστε άφοβα.

[denudatio_pulpae · Rating 3 out of 5]

W sierpniu 1945 roku Stany Zjednoczone dokonały zrzucenia dwóch bomb atomowych na Japonię. Oficjalnie atak ten miał być podyktowany chęcią przyspieszenia kapitulacji, jednak prawda była zupełnie inna. Japończycy dysponowali bowiem bardzo niebezpieczną i prawie niezniszczalną bronią, którą zniszczyć mógł tylko ładunek atomowy. Pięćdziesiąt lat później Ameryka już dawno zapomniała o wojnie, jednak w sercach Japończyków atak z 1945 roku jest nadal żywą, jątrzącą się raną. Jeden z członków tajemniczej organizacji planuje zemstę, w której wezmą udział straszliwe japońskie demony. Czy ktoś będzie w stanie powstrzymać tę masakrę?

Pomysł ciekawy – wykorzystanie ataku jądrowego na Japonię połączone z motywem demonicznym. To na plus. Wykonanie – typowy Masterton, trochę horroru doprawionego seksem, jak ktoś sięga po jego książki, to raczej wie, na co się pisze. Zakończenie – w końcu w miarę zadowalające :)
6/10

[DJMikeG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. This book is INSANE. This would make the ultimate 80s action/horror film, shame it was never made. Ninjas, mutants, demon possessed zombie assassins, this book has it all and more. Masterton writes the craziest stuff here with joyful glee. This is like a Z grade horror/action film with a huge budget, and I loved it. I will definitely be reading more Masterton.

[Isshi69nikkei · Rating 5 out of 5]

First Masterton's book i've ever read. The only one i read few times - i love it from the start till the end.

[Donovan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can I say about Tengu? It is a unique view on the bombing of Hiroshima and a nice mystery/thriller - so long as you don't read the blurb!!!
I enjoyed reading Graham Masterton ever since a mate lead me to some of his earlier works.

Brief
TENGU In Japanese mythology, the TENGU is the most terrible of all demons: a living force of evil that infects its followers with the mad strength of the berserk and the capacity to survive attack from any weapon. Now the demon is unleashed in a diabolical plot to wreak vengeance on America for the mega-destruction of Hiroshima.

[Glen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Graham must do an awful lot of research,and somehow he writes about indian medicine men,indian legends,romanian legends,myths and even,in the Night Warriors series,his own fantasy world,in such detail,and with complete " this is actually true",that you can suspend your belief and suffer for,and with his characters

[Alexander Draganov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Още един разкошен хорър от Греъм Мастертън. Малко автори редят с такова майсторство словото си. Още по-малко описват такива ужаси с него.
https://citadelata.com/tengu/

[Nora · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shitshow

[Michael Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second only to "Pariah" as a Masterton masterpiece - not because it'll shake your world and leave you spoiled for anything else ever again, but because it is one barrel-ass hoot, massively entertaining and even at times quite funny.

[Elaine Simpson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favourite books of his .

[Daniel Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm giving this a 5* for the simple fact that I enjoyed the hell out of it. I try to read everyday as habit, but with this one it was effortless, and I even caught myself trying to sneak in another few chapters here and there. Good, solid nasty fun, with enjoyable elements of police investigation, but the mythical Japanese elements really give it a unique flavour.

And yes, Masterton impresses with the knowledge and respect for the culture on the page. I'm developing a deep appreciation for the author's skill to jump between cultures and time periods with novels with apparent ease. If he had written about Japanese culture, mythology, war time history, etc, frequently and with a scholar's depth and knowledge, I could see that. But the last novel of his I read was set in the 1950s in small town America and dealt with New York publishing and Hollywood at the time! This is either an avid researcher, or the guy you want on your pub quiz team.

I don't want to spoil this book, but it left me with a huge grin on my face: One I hoped the author felt when he finished this one.

Final comment, at times I thought I was reading a Koontz book, as Masterton describes California so well. That shows his level. He would pass the Koontz version of the Turing Test.

[Samantha van Buuren · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I didn't know the author was male, the sex scenes alone would have made it glaringly obvious. There is not a female character in this book whose breasts are not described in detail to the reader. Not a single one. The female characters also spend a lot of time naked or just in their underwear.

Aside from this, I struggled with some of the writing. It was mostly good but every now and then there was a line that made me think the author put it there as a space saver to go back and improve later... And just never went back. There's also a troubling reference to suicide that made me cringe. I enjoyed the dialogue though. It's serious but also funny and flows really well.

I think the idea for this book is great. The plot didn't do what I expected it to from the blurb but I enjoyed the ride. The action scenes are good, all the gore nice and disgustingly clear, exactly what you'd want from a book like this, though there was less gore than expected. It's definitely an enjoyable read... And a product of it's time 😂. I wasn't impressed with the ending though. It felt too abrupt, there were too many roads left unexplored.

All in all, a solid horror despite all the breasts and the fact that I wasn't actually scared at all 😂

[Steven · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've only read a few Graham Masterson books in my time and for the most part they're popcorn entertainment: b-grade movies written as books. So I didn't go into Tengu with high expectations. But in my opinion Tengu is bad.

First let me say this: I'm not a fan of star ratings: too simple a way to rate something so take into what I say over how I rate it. Secondly spoilers abound. With that said:

The basic plot is engaging enough. Japanese terrorist group wants revenge for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They use magical spirit-infused supersoldiers to do this. But the execution of the story is sloppy and disjointed. For starters the characters are a mixed bag of meh to uninteresting. I found the 'main' characters to be unengaging and dumb. A surfer dude, an old war veteran, and a corporate scumbag don't really sell me on interesting, especially when they're so one-note.

Secondly things just happen in the plot that seem pointless. I've got no issue with sex and violence but when you've got a woman wandering around her apartment in her knickers just for titillation it kind of feels like padding at best.

Thirdly the 'research' people have mentioned feels haphazard and lazy. The references to real concepts in Japanese culture seem shoved in and those that aren't come across as cheesy and goofy. Oni fighting style?

The fourth issue is the villains themselves. They are so bad at being bad it blows my mind. The plot kicks off because their supersoldier got the wrong house. Their attempt at assassinating a former military general turns into a slaughterhouse. Their boss dies when his boat catches on fire and the coast guard leave it to sink (a case among many of characters acting like idiots).

But for me the ending is the biggest kick in the nuts. Because despite all the idiocy abound, the bad guys win. The nuclear reactors they want to set off goes critical. Everyone dies. Not because they were smart but because the good guys were idiots. The police stop shooting the supersoldier and allow him to walk past. The one guy the protagonists turn into their own supersoldier (who only did it cause he was bored) doesnt stop the bad guy and resorts to a scuffle after the fact. Everything done in the story is rendered pointless.

In the end I can't recommend this. There's popcorn entertainment. Then there's this.

[Cherie · Rating 3 out of 5]

My ratings system is as follows. One star is GOOD. The book is entertaining, easy to read and you don't want to stop reading because something about the book is compelling you not to. Two stars is GREAT! This time the story is not only entertaining, but highly creative, unique, easy to read and hard to put down. Three stars is EXCELLENT. Here the book has all aspects of one and two stars, but now the book is thought and emotionally provoking. Four is AWESOME. This is the read that is not only creative, original and emotionally and utterly captivating, but you are overwhelmed at how talented and skilled the author is in telling you their story. Literary brilliance. Five is PHENOMENAL. This is the book that has all the components of the previous four ratings but leaves that lasting impression. It's the book that changes dramatically your point of view and your interpretation of experiences you or others around you endure.

[Victor Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una de las mejores obras de Masterton que he leído, así como probablemente la más nihilista, que ya es decir. Es inclasificable; mezcla terror, conspiraciones, acción y género policíaco en un loco cóctel que remite a la fascinación cultural del mundo occidental respecto a Japón de principios de los 80, con unos villanos dignos de un cómic del Capitán América; una secta de supervivientes de Hiroshima que usa a guerreros poseídos por demonios para ejecutar su venganza contra Estados Unidos.

[SUSAN · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book but had a few problems with it because its lack of cultural understanding shows, though I'm not sure how many people might catch that.

Basically, a starlet gets murdered by being ripped apart by some one with extraordinary strength and the cops are scrambling to figure out why and this opens into a story intermingling a cast of interesting and flawed characters. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and the dips into their personality. I don't want to give away much, but the book is named Tengu after the Japanese mythological creatures. There is bloody vengeance to be wreaked and horror fans should enjoy the gruesome scenes. I certainly did. Sometimes my favorite part of reading horror is seeing how something nigh unbelievable is unfolding in front of some one's eyes and how they react to the situation.

I'm writing this in 2021 so people reading this book (written in 1996) might want to know the dated use of the term "Oriental" which just makes me groan every single time. Do people still use the term today - YES - but they should be aware it's like nails on chalkboard to some people. And so there is a feeling of the Japanese being exoticized and fetishized which was an ongoing thing in the 80s and 90s and beyond. There are references sprinkled in to add to the flavoring, but it rings a bit hollow when other glaring inconsistencies appear...
My main gripe: the term "tengu" should not be pluralized as "tengus" because that's just wrong. It's like writing deers, when the word deer can represent one or many. So to have Japanese American characters use the word "tengus" is laughable and shows lack of knowledge of the Japanese language. I would understand if only the non-Japanese used that term in the book, that would make sense; but unfortunately those that speak the language make that glaring mistake in the book. Unacceptable. Seeing this written throughout the book pretty much killed my vibe so I am only giving it 3/5 stars.

But I appreciate the story and the wide variety of characters. I appreciate the gore and the was surprised at the ending, so I wouldn't stop anyone from wanting to read this horror novel. One of the things I like most about Masterton is the many different stories he can create when some days you just feel like every horror book is about a haunted house.

[RAVINDER KAUR · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel by Graham Masterton is about the fictional revenge of Japanese on the Americans.Initially it seems a bit confusing but the novel really picks up in the later half. This writing has beautifully tried to fictionally conjecture the logic behind A-bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki with the ancient Japanese traditional demon, the Tengu. The beauty of the novel lies in the drama it creates and is a perfect fodder for an interesting movie.

[Hammond Setzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tengu is classic Masterton — dark, gripping, and disturbingly imaginative. The blend of horror, mythology, and psychological tension is masterfully done. It’s brutal, haunting, and impossible to forget.

[Steve Paull · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thirty seconds in, and BAM! Straight into the horror. On the edge of your seat from Page One.

[Barbra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good scary read......

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best i can say about this book is that it is easy to read.

[John Henery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the ending! Giant middle finger to everyone

[Anthony Boccuzzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. From the first paragraph it kept me on the edge of my seat.

[Bryan Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

That ending.

[Steven Kent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book, not his best piece of writing but pretty solid in many respects.

[Tashfin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good read. The horror is not presented theatrically like King or Koontz. But the cultural insights were phenomenal.

[MikeR · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not his best but some interesting Japanese mythology and history makes it worth the read but horror/thriller aspect not great.