The 47th Samurai — Stephen Hunter

TO SURVIVE SAMURAI
More than 60 years after Earl Swagger spilled the blood of Captain Hideki Yano in the chaotic battle for Iwo Jima, Bob Lee Swagger has pledged to find Yano's sword so that his son Philip may honor his father's heroic legacy. But this blade is no ordinary military instrument. It's an ancient samurai sword -- a national treasure whose worth can only be measured in human lives.

YOU MUST BECOME SAMURAI
After the Yano family is murdered and the recovered sword stolen from their home, Swagger unearths a ruthless conspiracy reaching from Tokyo's dark, criminal yakuza underworld to the highest echelons of the Japanese government. The only certainty is that money, power, and sex can drive men of all nationalities to gruesome extremes. To win this game, Swagger must be willing not only to die ... but also to kill.