Genre
Crime Fiction
Setting and Context
The novel is set in 1973 in Tokyo, Japan with many allusions to the US Army's 1964–1973 involvement in the Vietnam War.
Narrator and Point of View
The book is narrated by an unnamed third-person omniscient narrator; the point of view switches between major and minor characters.
Tone and Mood
The tone is procedural; the mood is thrilling and high-stakes.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is Robert Sand (the Black Samurai); the primary antagonist is Colonel Tolstoy.
Major Conflict
Sand's major conflict is that he must rescue Toki and kill Tolstoy before he carries out a massacre of an American town.
Climax
The novel reaches its climax when Sand achieves his goal and kills Tolstoy only hours before he is able to carry out his massacre.
Foreshadowing
Understatement
Allusions
Colonel Leo Tolstoy's name is an allusion to the famous 19th-century Russian author Leo Tolstoy.
