Bøger i Death Among Brothers serien

Japan, 1632. Hideki is one of the young descendants from the line of Tokugawa Ieyasu. He and his older brother are summoned to Edo at the announcement that the current shogun is retiring. Hideki is a likeable seventeen year old and a little of a rapscallion, prone to ducking his samurai responsibilities for more time in the dojo. The sword is his life and Bushido is his mantra, but as a swordsman he has trouble even beating his older brother. On their trek to Edo for an audience and evaluation, Hideki grows from a day dreaming teenager to a responsible man, dealing with his first crush on a female, assassins out to extinguish his life, and deceptive and corrupt police and government officials. He is aided in his journey by a young ninja steeped in the old ways of the shinobi, the master swordsman Musashi, and a princess of a large ninja clan who unknowingly falls in love with her target. Hideki attracts a loyal following because of his childlike belief in Bushido as cure-all for everything, but he becomes internally conflicted when he learns his code may not provide all the answers.

Japan 1633. Hideki is on his first musha shugyo to sharpen his sword skills. He is now a left-handed swordsman, an oddity in Japan and therefore a target of ridicule. With his new mentor Yagyu Jubei, Hideki travels to the southern most Japanese island of Kyushu seeking to learn the techniques of Shinkage-ryu from the former instructor to the shogun. If he can win respect as an elite swordsman again, he may regain his confidence as a martial artist and a man. Once on Kyushu Island, Hideki and Jubei make some disturbing discoveries. Something is killing Kirishitans (Christians) on Mt. Taro at night. Whole Japanese farming villages are disappearing and Chinese Buddhist Temples are being turned into slaughter houses. No one has a clue who is perpetrating these crimes. On top of this Hideki finds Nagasaki riddled with corruption from top to bottom. Profit is king. Honor and bushido mean nothing. It is a world gone mad. Before Hideki and his friends are through, his faith in bushido will be severely tested as they are attacked by a tengu, tangle with a yellow-eyed demon, fight with pirates, help defend a village of Ryukyuan sailors, and are hired out to protect the hardboiled female owner of a brothel.