SHIBUMI by Trevanian (unabridged) is presented by Blackstone Audio and comes with what is perhaps the best audiobook app available (see FEATURES, below).
HONORS: 2006 Audie® Award Finalist
Nicholai Hel is the world’s most artful lover, and its most accomplished and highly paid assassin. Genius, mystic, master of language and culture, Hel’s secret is his determination to attain a rare kind of personal excellence, a state of effortless perfection—shibumi.
Self-contained, this audiobook app is perfect for your commute, on a trip, or while relaxing. Based on a library-quality recording, this app was built especially for your iPhone and iPod Touch. No unreadable text, no endless scrolling on a tiny screen. The audio is of higher-than-normal quality, making for a great listening experience that will not tire your ears or grate on your nerves.
NOTICE: This app includes the exact same 5-star recording offered elsewhere at much higher prices. It was professionally recorded by Blackstone Audios talented narrator Joe Barrett. You are not buying yet another amateur or volunteer narration. No clicks, background noises, throat clearing, mispronunciations, tinny voices or monotones will be found here.
“Trevanians seventies-era storytelling loses nothing in this audio treatment….Reader Joe Barrett embodies the authors voice ably, whether hes enigmatic assassin Nicholai Hel, narcissistic agency head Mr. Diamond, or a laughable Basque sidekick.” (AudioFile)
•EXPERIENCE. About 17 hours of narration. Created as a Folium enhancedAudio™ edition, this book includes extra functions and features not found on lesser players.
•PLAYER CONTROLS. Includes listen (play), pause, multi-speed fast forward/reverse, jump ahead/back, chapter skip, volume control, one-touch chapter- and bookmark browser. There is also a “scrub” bar that finds any point inside the chapter with just a tap.
•SLEEP TIMER. Have you ever fallen asleep watching TV or listening to a book? If so, youll love this feature. Once set, the book will stop, place a bookmark, and allow you to jump back to where you probably began dozing.
•CLEAR & ELEGANT DESIGN. Simple, clean, intuitive, and smarter than average.
•CHAPTER TIMINGS. Always know how much time it will take to finish a chapter. Plus, the progress bar at the top of the screen shows how far into the book you’ve come.
•OFFLINE LISTENING. You are airplane-ready! Once downloaded, listen uninterrupted without threat from a lost network connection. Downloads are usually just 5-10 minutes, but depend upon your network speed.
•AUTO-BOOKMARKING. The player remembers where you stopped listening and returns to that exact spot when you open the book again.
•TELL-A-FRIEND. An easy way to recommend the book to your friends or Twitter feed.
•FEEDBACK. Share your ideas for books, functions, and features. We are very responsive to our listeners and appreciate all feedback and ideas.
RATING: 12+ for themes common to the spy-thriller genre.
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Nicholai Hel, born in the ravages of World War I China to an aristocratic Russian mother and a mysterious German father, and raised in the spiritual gardens of a Japanese Go master, survives the destruction of Hiroshima to emerge as the world’s most artful lover and its most accomplished and highly paid assassin. Genius, mystic, master of language and culture, Hel’s secret is his determination to attain a rare kind of personal excellence, a state of effortless perfection—shibumi.
Now living in an isolated mountain fortress with his magnificent Eurasian mistress, Hel faces his most sinister enemy, a super-monolith of espionage and monopoly. The battle lines are drawn: ruthless power and corruption on one side, and on the other, shibumi.