Second skin - Eric Lustbader

Nicholas Linnear is threatened with the destruction of his business empire and, indeed, of his very soul. His investigation into the theft of his most advanced computer technology has led him and his friend Lew Croaker into a labyrinth of terrifying connections between the Mafia, the Japanese Yakuza and the Government.

While the trail leads first to Vietnam — shiveringly evoked as a jungle of new capitalism — the search for the missing Kaisho, Miko Okami, takes Nicholas back, eventually, to Japan. Here he must confront the legacy of his illustrious father and the suddenly rekindled memory of his first love.

Croaker, meanwhile, has become deeply embroiled in the workings and the history of two organized crime families. With Johnny Leonforte, Croaker could lose his life at any moment. With Margarite Goldoni, he has already lost his heart.

On the one hand a superb novel of the Orient, on the other a heartsopping story of the Mafia, Second Skin takes Nicholas and Croaker on a vertiginous ride to salvation — or damnation. From Vietnam to Florida, from the immediate post-war years to the present day and just beyond, this is a tour de force of vibrant imagination, outstanding characterization and great storytelling.