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Zero
An epic standalone novel by Eric Van Lustbader, author of THE NINJA.Although American painter Michael Doss has been schooled in the ancient ways of the warrior, he leads a quiet life. Until the tragic death of his father ignites the warrior spirit in his blood that will not be quenched until he uncovers the secret of his father's enigmatic life. His journey plunges him into a dangerous underworld, where he finds himself in lethal combat with a sinister Japanese organization that is bent on destroying the United States through global economic chaos. Doss is trapped. His only chance for survival is a final confrontation, face to face, with the vile assassin behind it all, Zero.
560 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
11 people are currently reading
482 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...
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
November 27, 2019
Zero was a nice surprise. It is primarily a thriller based in post war and late 80s Japan. Written at a time when every economist and media shill were talking about how Japan would rule the world. Sound familiar? Well with this as the background we dive into the heart of this story.
After the end of the war, a group of reactionary industrialists formed a group called the Jian. The Jian was to covertly work to remake Japan into the Imperial power it was during the war. They have a complex plan about how to destroy China.
The story, told in two time frames, goes between the post war time when Phillip Doss begins to work for the CIG. A slight history note: During WWII the US intelligence agency was the OSS (Office of Strategic Services), which was based of the British SOE (Special Operations Executive). After the end of the war, the OSS became the CIG (Central Intelligence Group)-which in time became the CIA.
Doss and the CIG are working to keep Communists out of Japan. Working with them is a Japanese industrialist who wants to oppose the Jian. He fakes his own death and becomes a powerful member of the Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia.
The second part of the story is in the 80's and Phillip's son, Michael, has to deal with the fallout of his father's death. Michael, a martial artist, is dragged into a complex mess involving the Jian and elements of the Yakuza (which is undergoing a power struggle). As he gets more involved he keeps hearing about a mysterious assassin named Zero.
This was a fun read. Lustbader certainly knows his Japanese culture and martial arts. The plot is complex and makes for good reading. All in all, a good thriller. If you like Yakuza, assassins and martial arts all nestled snugly inside a geo-political thriller, filled with Japanese cultural tidbits-then you will enjoy this book. I may have to look up some more of his books at some future date.
After the end of the war, a group of reactionary industrialists formed a group called the Jian. The Jian was to covertly work to remake Japan into the Imperial power it was during the war. They have a complex plan about how to destroy China.
The story, told in two time frames, goes between the post war time when Phillip Doss begins to work for the CIG. A slight history note: During WWII the US intelligence agency was the OSS (Office of Strategic Services), which was based of the British SOE (Special Operations Executive). After the end of the war, the OSS became the CIG (Central Intelligence Group)-which in time became the CIA.
Doss and the CIG are working to keep Communists out of Japan. Working with them is a Japanese industrialist who wants to oppose the Jian. He fakes his own death and becomes a powerful member of the Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia.
The second part of the story is in the 80's and Phillip's son, Michael, has to deal with the fallout of his father's death. Michael, a martial artist, is dragged into a complex mess involving the Jian and elements of the Yakuza (which is undergoing a power struggle). As he gets more involved he keeps hearing about a mysterious assassin named Zero.
This was a fun read. Lustbader certainly knows his Japanese culture and martial arts. The plot is complex and makes for good reading. All in all, a good thriller. If you like Yakuza, assassins and martial arts all nestled snugly inside a geo-political thriller, filled with Japanese cultural tidbits-then you will enjoy this book. I may have to look up some more of his books at some future date.
November 30, 2017
Well, this is outside my usual choice of reading material, so you can't be too surprised at my lukewarm response to it.
It's a typical action thriller, with a particularly complex web of intrigue involving Yakuza, ninjas, Russian spies, evil bureaucrats and a nuclear bomb.
It was fun to revisit some concepts from my days at university studying Japan, such as tatemae and honne, and Japanese literary references. It's the only work-out my degree has had in a long time.
I found the book somewhat male-oriented, and I guess that comes with the target audience. I don't think there was a single woman in the book whose sexual attractiveness to men wasn't assessed in some way.
The end also left a bit of a bitter tasted in my mouth: . Bah.
It's a typical action thriller, with a particularly complex web of intrigue involving Yakuza, ninjas, Russian spies, evil bureaucrats and a nuclear bomb.
It was fun to revisit some concepts from my days at university studying Japan, such as tatemae and honne, and Japanese literary references. It's the only work-out my degree has had in a long time.
I found the book somewhat male-oriented, and I guess that comes with the target audience. I don't think there was a single woman in the book whose sexual attractiveness to men wasn't assessed in some way.
The end also left a bit of a bitter tasted in my mouth: . Bah.
March 7, 2019
Meh!
Bleh!
Bleh!
July 14, 2011
I read Zero 10 - 15 years ago! It remains the most interesting fictional work of any writer. He weaves through cultures seamlessly as though a local, describes events as to almost physically feel a thin blade slice through skin in combat. I read this book at least 4 times!
July 7, 2016
Unbelievable that Lilian would leave after Audrey was abducted, and Eliane would want to commit suicide when Tori is still held captive. Mr Van Lustbader does not understand mothers.
July 8, 2018
Michael Doss is an American who despite having studied and trained in martial arts in Japan is living a quiet life in Paris until his father is apparently killed by a ruthless, faceless Japanese assassin called Zero in Hawaii. When Michael's sister is kidnapped he travels to Hawaii to try and uncover the truth behind his father's life and murder only to be drawn into the murky waters of international espionage involving a Japanese crime gang, (a Yakuza), America and Russia. Whilst in Hawaii he meets a beautiful and able Japanese woman whom he falls in love with but on whose side is she really on?
A number of years ago I had a spell of reading books by this author and others of a similar ilk captivated as I was by the mysterious Far East. However, I generally only make sporadic forays into this genre these days.
This is a fairly typical action thriller involving ninjas, Russian spies, manipulative bureaucrats and a nuclear bomb. There are almost two parallel stories here spaced some 40 years apart. One set in Tokyo shortly after the end of WWII involving Michael's father Philip and one set in the mid 1980's involving the son. The pace of the narrative is fairly breathless, the sex and violence scenes are pretty graphic. In truth this is all very male-orientated unsurprisingly as no doubt that is intended target audience. The women inside were generally seen on one hand as being sexy whilst on the other wanting to be male.
On the whole I found the various twists and turns largely predictable, so much so that I had the final one worked out fairly early on in the story. I also found the ending a bit of a let down. The Yakuza plot fairly petered out without a real set-piece finale. Also I felt that Philip's wife and Michael's mother, Lillian, was rather poorly treated. Lillian like Philip cheated on her spouse and shared intelligence with a foreign agent but whereas Philip in the end seems to have been welcomed back into the bosom of his family she was left adrift and abandoned which seems pretty harsh.
When all said and done I cannot in truth say that I disliked this book (I am male after all). It is nice occasionally to be able to just switch off and disappear into another world but ultimately it is not a book that will live long in the memory or one that I will want to revisit.
A number of years ago I had a spell of reading books by this author and others of a similar ilk captivated as I was by the mysterious Far East. However, I generally only make sporadic forays into this genre these days.
This is a fairly typical action thriller involving ninjas, Russian spies, manipulative bureaucrats and a nuclear bomb. There are almost two parallel stories here spaced some 40 years apart. One set in Tokyo shortly after the end of WWII involving Michael's father Philip and one set in the mid 1980's involving the son. The pace of the narrative is fairly breathless, the sex and violence scenes are pretty graphic. In truth this is all very male-orientated unsurprisingly as no doubt that is intended target audience. The women inside were generally seen on one hand as being sexy whilst on the other wanting to be male.
On the whole I found the various twists and turns largely predictable, so much so that I had the final one worked out fairly early on in the story. I also found the ending a bit of a let down. The Yakuza plot fairly petered out without a real set-piece finale. Also I felt that Philip's wife and Michael's mother, Lillian, was rather poorly treated. Lillian like Philip cheated on her spouse and shared intelligence with a foreign agent but whereas Philip in the end seems to have been welcomed back into the bosom of his family she was left adrift and abandoned which seems pretty harsh.
When all said and done I cannot in truth say that I disliked this book (I am male after all). It is nice occasionally to be able to just switch off and disappear into another world but ultimately it is not a book that will live long in the memory or one that I will want to revisit.
December 6, 2022
This is a good work of fiction. When I had started reading I thought it is a regular pulp fiction book, but when the further I was reading, the more I understood this is exactly the serious spy thriller with elements of asian exotic and at the same time it is the family novel. Speaking of action in the beginning of the book, I like the scene of melee fighting of Zero and oyabun in ninja style.
In the middle of the book the main hero chops with his katana a bunch of armed yakuza. Unfortunately in the end of the book there will not be any cheerful chopping like this - but there is a focus on dramatic action. The conversations are quite smart, the plot is twisted cleverly. As always, this author perfectly reveals the culture of Japan.
In the middle of the book the main hero chops with his katana a bunch of armed yakuza. Unfortunately in the end of the book there will not be any cheerful chopping like this - but there is a focus on dramatic action. The conversations are quite smart, the plot is twisted cleverly. As always, this author perfectly reveals the culture of Japan.
October 20, 2020
This is my first time reading Eric's work and it doesn't dissapoint me. Though there is so many Japanese term, it doesn't make me feel disturbed when i read the book. I wanted to give it 4.5, but maybe the japanese term is to many and the ending doesn't do justice to lilian.
Buku eric keren parah dengan latar penceritaan Jepang pasca perang dunia ke dua yang sejujurnya lebih fokus ke kehidupaan ayah karakter utama. Jujur endingnya agak mengesalkan dan kesannya tak adil. Merskipun begitu, buku ini sangat layak untuk dibaca dan suasan latar tempatnya akan membuat kalian benar merasa disana
Buku eric keren parah dengan latar penceritaan Jepang pasca perang dunia ke dua yang sejujurnya lebih fokus ke kehidupaan ayah karakter utama. Jujur endingnya agak mengesalkan dan kesannya tak adil. Merskipun begitu, buku ini sangat layak untuk dibaca dan suasan latar tempatnya akan membuat kalian benar merasa disana
September 30, 2022
thrilling and mysterious saga of a family of spies and a family of yakuza whose plots and destinies intersect, not only with each other's... but with a generations-spanning plot to invade china. five stars; wall-to-wall espionage, sword fights, double-crosses, secret revelations, and HIGHLY erotic sex scenes. so interested in and praiseful of Japanese culture it may have been commissioned by their government. cinematic and occasionally poetic prose. loved it.
September 16, 2023
There's no one who can write an intricate tale of political intrigue, espionage, and martial arts like Eric Van Lustbader. His extensive knowledge of Japanese culture is impressive and he permeates his characters with loads of mystery. While certain plot points can get a bit confusing, there are some great twists that bring it back on track. Overall, a great addition to a very celebrated body of work 👌
April 29, 2023
I haven’t read an Eric Van Lustbader book in years. I was about to donate a few of his books that I had on my book shelf when I decided that I’d give a try. And it didn’t disappoint. The author took me to exotic places - from Hawaii, to Washington DC, to Japan, and Russia and I went along for the ride.
It’s the story or Michael Doss, son of Phillip Doss, who sets out to find out why his father was murdered and what secrets he had. Michael comes across a Japanese organization called the Jiban, which is trying to destroy the economy by making Japan the largest country in the global economic market.
Half way through the book Zero is mentioned, but not again till the end of the book. I found that a bit discouraging. I wanted to know more about Zero or how he/she was described at the inside cover of the book, as an assassin with supernatural powers. But the rest of the story fit in well, with all the action, suspense and the surprising finale.
Overall, a good read.
It’s the story or Michael Doss, son of Phillip Doss, who sets out to find out why his father was murdered and what secrets he had. Michael comes across a Japanese organization called the Jiban, which is trying to destroy the economy by making Japan the largest country in the global economic market.
Half way through the book Zero is mentioned, but not again till the end of the book. I found that a bit discouraging. I wanted to know more about Zero or how he/she was described at the inside cover of the book, as an assassin with supernatural powers. But the rest of the story fit in well, with all the action, suspense and the surprising finale.
Overall, a good read.
June 16, 2023
This is the Eric Van Lustbader I remember. The book kept me captivity throughout. Was not hard to read with all the different foreign languages and locations portrait throughout the story.
September 30, 2025
Bigly!
*** 3 Stars.
*** 3 Stars.
July 23, 2011
"c1987. Van Lustbader (1946-) dropped his middle name Van, for several years due to a confusion about his last name. Why? What? I always enjoy his writing and this was no exception. ""[A] rewarding thriller...It contains enough twists and genuine surprises to keep the reader racing toward the satisfying final pages.""THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW. Although American painter Michael Doss has been schooled in the ancient ways of the warrior, he leads a quiet life. Until the tragic death of his father ignites the warrior spirit in his blood that will not be quenched until he uncovers the secret of his father's enigmatic life. His journey plunges him into a dangerous underworld, where he finds himself in lethal combat with a sinister Japanese organization that is bent on destroying the United States through global economic chaos. Doss is trapped. His only chance for survival is a final confrontation, face to face, with the vile assassin behind it all, Zero.From the Paperback edition
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June 18, 2010
this was better than the other Lustbader book with a more believable plotline. Although he does sorta repeat himself here.
A blending of East and West. A blending of WWII and present. China, Japan, USSR and US.
I only read it because it was paperback and easy to bring on the trip.
A blending of East and West. A blending of WWII and present. China, Japan, USSR and US.
I only read it because it was paperback and easy to bring on the trip.
Want to read
November 11, 2007Matt's book
September 18, 2009
Great suprise ending, great action.
June 20, 2010
Lots of twists and turns in this novel. A decent mystery novel. If you like his previous work this is a great edition.
November 14, 2012
awesome
February 26, 2013
Breakneck pace, page turner.
August 2, 2014
very oriental
February 18, 2015
Another fascinating reading with twists and turns that take you places you'd never imagine.
April 17, 2017
Not finished, boring, too stereotypically Lustbader without any of the juicy bits
August 30, 2019
Classic Van Lustbader. Insightful and full of the oriental mystique. Loved the ending .
May 4, 2022
Racy, cant put it down! Passion, inner strength and artistic!
February 6, 2015
I read this years ago and found it thrilling ! Probably time I read it again.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews