Squid Game meets Shōgun: the epic historical adventure behind the hit Netflix series, set in 19th-century Japan!

1878. An illegal battle royale rages throughout Japan. The Meiji government has stripped the samurai of their status, thrusting the country into political chaos. Former samurai Shujiro Saga is desperate for money for his ailing wife. When a newspaper advertises an enormous cash prize of ¥100,000 and calls all those with martial prowess to a mysterious midnight meeting outside a Kyoto temple, he rushes to attend.

There he finds that he has unwittingly joined a perilous tournament. Hundreds of samurai, ninjas, assassins and even government officials are travelling the dangerous roads from Kyoto to Tokyo, all competing for this life-changing cash prize. Participants must duel and eliminate each other for the right to pass checkpoints along the route, until someone is left the last samurai standing.

Beset by rival warriors, corrupt officials embroiled in a nationwide conspiracy, and the ghosts of Shujiro's past betrayals, Shujiro must form an alliance if he is to survive the battle royale. With Futaba Katsuki, a young girl also competing, and Kyojin Tsuge, a ninja with superhuman speed, Shujiro navigates this terrifying and fast-moving adventure.

But there's one looming question from which Shujiro cannot shake himself free: who has organised this deadly competition, and why?

A page-turning, historical thriller, Last Samurai Standing is the first in a series of sprawling epic adventure novels behind the live-action Netflix series of the same name.