Perhaps it's just me, but I kinda think that an police detective in Japan, particularly one who has lived in the US. should NOT need to be told that a genuine samurai sword may have a monetary value as an antique or collectable item, that far exceeds it's proficiency as weapon in the 21st century, and therefore would be as subject to theft as any other item of monetary value? I read an good bit farther than this, but I think it was at this point, (where Mariko wonders why any one would want to steal a sword), that I truly lost interest. ( )

An undiscovered gem, blending a crime mystery with historical fiction, with some fantasy elements. Mariko is a female detective on the elite Tokyo Metro Police Department, has spent her formative years in the U.S., and has a meth addict sister. Her boss wants her out of Narcotics, and assigns her to look into an attempted robbery of a blind man, instead of pursuing a hot lead regarding a rogue yakuza trying to import cocaine in contravention of their bushido code. Mariko is a modern woman, but becomes a student of the blind but wise sensei, scholar, swordmaster. Of course, the two stories come together along with the murder of a policewoman, all centering on some mystical swords forged by a master craftsman some nine hundred years in the past. Some of the historical segues are distracting, but the last one explains much. ( )

This book grew on me.

I started by thinking that the quality of the writing made it a four-star book, dragging up the storyline from a lacklustre three stars. Like other reviewers, I found myself having trouble connecting to the main character, since just as we start to get to know Oshiro Mariko, we're whisked off several centuries into the past to deal with a different set of characters, for several chapters.

Where it clicked for me was when I realised that Oshiro Mariko wasn't the main character: the three "fated blades" were. This book is not Mariko's story: it is the story of the three blades, and those who wielded them over the centuries, for good or for ill.

Once I'd realised that, I couldn't give this book anything less than five stars. ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed this Special Swords" book.
The 4 storylines, [1 current, 3 historical for each of the swords], eh, I wouldn't have minded if the story had been all in the 21st century, but the history gave us the background and depth needed to make the current storyline have some "oomph".

Samurai, swords, cops and killers. If the author writes more, I'll be reading..." ( )

I have to admit, the idea of a female cop inheriting a “cursed” sword certainly had me expecting a Witchblade derivative, and I was very pleasantly surprised (not that I don’t like Witchblade, I adore it, but that is exactly why a pale copy would be disappointing).

While there’s a broad surface similarity, and there are flashbacks to the previous owners of the swords throughout history, that’s about the only similarity. The flashbacks here serve to illustrate not only the swords history, but Japan’s, and the cultural mores that suffuse even modern Japan, and therefore the characters. In any case, the paranormal elements are well handled. There’s certainly plenty of room to read this as a book about obsession, and faith, even if it’s faith in a superstitious curse. And there’s equally as much room to read this as a book about destiny, prescience and cursed blades that have minds and spirits of their own. I like that the choice is up to the reader.

The culture is well drawn too, treated respectfully, but not through rose coloured glasses. The samurai in the flashbacks in this book are noble honorable warriors, but they are also brutal and life is relatively cheap in their world. Particularly the life of a woman (oh Himiko, we barely knew you). Modern Japan is perhaps shown a little less kindly than most readers (well the otaku kind) will be used to, particularly the gender politics. And those flashbacks, there’s some truly masterful foreshadowing, subtle enough that it didn’t hit me in the face until the very last chapter. As for the plot, it’s really solid, it makes complete sense (well, ok, slightly possibly paranormal sense), even the one big question I had for most of the book was explained with a logical reason Why did the dealer not just pay cash for the drugs? Which I’ve seen other people ask too, so I guess they missed the answer: He wasn’t high enough in the hierarchy to move that much cash without being noticed, so he found a supplier willing to take a trade that he could keep “off the books”.

I’d have no hesitation recommending this, and perhaps even to non-genre readers who are looking to branch out into fantasy - the core of the story is a good old fashioned detective story, wrapped up in all the drama and history that is Japan. ( )