LIBRARY JOURNAL gives THE MASUDA AFFAIR a starred review.

[I. J. Parker]

Yes, even if they got my gender wrong and continue to compare me to aura Joh Rowland, I was very happy to get this.

Their comment: "Once again Parker has written a moving and beautiful tale, this time involving parental love and loss of a child. His depiction of an 11th-century Japan as a brutal society in which one’s fortune is made or lost on the whim of the most powerful will appeal to historical fiction fans and readers who enjoy Laura Joh Rowland."

That makes two stars for MASUDA AFFAIR, since it also got one from PW. That too is a step in the right direction. So far my books haven't managed more than one. CONVICT'S SWORD actually deserved better, but there is some luck involved in this. You have to find the right reviewer who is actually moved by the novel. So, I'm grateful.

The gender thing doesn't bother me, though it's really no longer much of a secret. The comparison with Rowland does bother me. We write very different books with very different aims.