November 1, 2006
In the second installment of Koike and Kojima's dual-biography, Ieyasu Motonobu, founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, and Hattori Hanzo, his ninja bodyguard, move onto the historical stage and advance their love lives. Anticipating that he won't be able to serve both master and wife, Hattori turns away the young woman he won in " Serving in the Dark" (2006). To learn how to fulfill his wife, Ieyasu has Hattori spy out how a studly warlord pleases his. Here, instead of the many stories of the episodic " Samurai Assassin, " Koike and Kojima are unfolding a huge story arc, with comparable artfulness. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)