This is an ancient paperback that I found on the shelves. It was released in 1981, and features "Assassins, Spies, And The Exotic Oriental Arts Of Love And Death".
It's really about corporate espionage.
After WWII there was a Japanese agent who was in-charge of surveillance. This man was deadly in the martial arts. He formed a secret group that lasted through the 70's.
The American General Hooker becomes head of a large oil company and he uses this group.
The general was forced to leave his son behind when he was forced to leave Asia when the Japanese were winning near the end of WWII. The son becomes 'the new' Chameleon.
O'Hara is an ex-CIA agent and newspaper reporter.
He infiltrates this group.
Eliza Gunn is a newspaper writer who spearheads this effort.
From the book's page at Amazon:
"The deadliest secret assassin to ever roam the globe. Now, crack reporters Frank O'Hara and Eliza Gunn are hot on his trail. To unmask him, they untangle a many-colored web of espionage and computer intrigue--amid the tantalizing Oriental arts of love and death...".
The following is part of a customer review at Amazon, and I fully agree with this observation:
"The first few chapters looked pretty good but after that the plot became devious, frequently unbelievable and difficult to follow. There were scenes and characters that didn't add to the plot, and baddies turned out to be goodies and goodies turned out to be baddies. The technology part of the story has dated a lot as things have changed greatly since Diehl wrote the book in the 1970's or 1980's".
From the author's page at Wikipedia:
"Diehl was a successful photographer and journalist, when he began his novel-writing career at 50. His first novel, Sharky's Machine, was made into the 1981 film of the same name, directed and starred Burt Reynolds. Diehl saw it being shot on location in and around his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. Its cast included Vittorio Gassman, Brian Keith, Charles Durning, Earl Holliman, Rachel Ward, Bernie Casey, Henry Silva, and Richard Libertini. It was the most successful box-office release of a film directed by Reynolds.
Diehl relocated to St. Simons Island, Georgia, in the early 1980s, and lived there for the next 15 years before returning to Atlanta. While living on St. Simons, he completed eight other novels, including Primal Fear, which was adapted into a 1996 film.
Diehl died of an aortic aneurysm at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta on November 24, 2006, while working on his 10th novel."
The writing style is very rooted in the 60's and 70's, but I like these kind of novels every once and a while. There are never any weird shifts in time or multiple points of view that seem to be so popular these days.
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