The Apprentice [signed]

At a remote mountain inn in the northernmost reaches of Japan, a raging blizzard has brought together wayfarers who share only fear, distrust, and suspicion of one another. In the winter of 1903, the country is beset with smallpox and war is brewing between Japan and Russia. Strangers have been seen in the woods surrounding the inn and the small village nearby.In the flickering shadows of the crowded rooms, the apprentice, charged with running the inn during the owner's absence, finds himself strongly attracted to one of the performers lodged there. His involvement with the mysterious travelers plunges him headlong into a snow-clouded arena of violence and passion. Murder, first love, and heart-stopping chases through the snow drive the apprentice deeper into the entangled plottings of his enigmatic guests.