Fleeing the consequences of a crime of passion, ex-U.S. army officer Ralph Freeman came to nineteenth-century Japan to serve a ruthless warlord. Swept up in an alien world of spectacular cruelty and intrigue, Ralph found his destiny inextricably merged with that of Alison Gray, a stunning Englishwoman who was saved from death but forced to become the love slave of Japan's greatest Samurai swordsman. Alison fought to free herself of the warlord's depraved hold on her - while Ralph, seeking to save her, pitted his courage and danger against their Oriental master's savage power. Ralph Freeman and Alison Gray - plunged together into deadly danger, fused together in burning desire....