Lewis Libby is the current Chief-of-Staff and National Security Advisor to Vice President Cheney and Assistant to President Bush. He previously held positions at the U. S. Departments of State and Defense. The Apprentice, originally published by Graywolf in hardcover, is his first novel.
When Setsuo, an apprentice innkeeper in turn-of-the-century Japan, follows a bearded man into a blinding blizzard, he sets into motion a convoluted set of events. Robbery, murder, love, politics, mystery, and intrigue are all parts of the deadly game, but what exactly is the game and is Setsuo truly a player or merely the pawn of forces he cannot even comprehend? First novelist Libby skillfully devises an exotic and extreme but plausible story, creating fascinating characters and maintaining dramatic tension while dropping false leads along the way. Despite an unresolved Hollywood ending, this is recommended for general and mystery readers, particularly those interested in Japanese history and culture.‘Jim Dwyer, California State Univ. Lib., Chico
Although set in Japan in 1903, Libby's first novel avoids the exoticism and antiquarianism of James Clavell and sets its own tightly dreamlike tone. Setsuo, apprentice innkeeper at an isolated mountain hostel in Northern Japan, finds himself marooned with a dubious cast of travelers during a blizzard. His youthful naïveté unfortunately draws him not only to a mysterious young woman with a band of itinerant performers but also to a half-frozen and half-crazed visitor. When this stranger flees back into the storm, Setsuo and another guest separately pursue him, leading to robbery and murder. With rumors of political intrigue enveloping the action and the apprentice in possession of a Macguffin as enigmatic as a haiku image, Libby maintains a sense of mystery and claustrophobia through pared-down prose and minimalist characterization. Setsuo's love interest, for instance, is simply the "girl in the cloak of yellow fur" for much of the novel. Even after he learns her name is Yukiko, her actions, history and motives remain ambiguous to the end. Spare and muted, Libby's debut has distilled his diplomatic experiences in Japan with the U.S. State and Defense Departments into a subtle, if sometimes attenuated, story of innocence and temptation halfway across the world and a century ago. (Sept.)
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