Cover Reveal Contest: Susan Spann's BLADE OF THE SAMURAI

Once again, it's cover reveal time. Susan Spann, author of CLAWS OF THE CAT (Minotaur, July 2013), just received the cover art for her second novel, BLADE OF THE SAMURAI (Minotaur, July 2014), and it is breathtaking! But in true ninja fashion, Susan refuses to reveal it all at once. Instead, she's parceled it out in tantalizing chunks. You must travel--stealthily, of course--from blog to blog and piece it all together. Here is the portion she shared with me:

To whet your appetite even further, here's a description of the story (which I've read and enjoyed even more than I did CLAWS OF THE CAT!):

June, 1565: Master ninja Hiro Hattori receives a pre-dawn visit from Kazu, a fellow shinobi working undercover at the shogunate. Hours before, the Shogun's cousin, Saburo, was stabbed to death in the Shogun's palace. The murder weapon: Kazu's personal dagger. Kazu says he's innocent, and begs for Hiro's help, but his story gives Hiro reason to doubt the young shinobi's claims.

When the Shogun summons Hiro and Father Mateo, the Jesuit priest under Hiro's protection, to find the killer, Hiro finds himself forced to choose between friendship and personal honor.  

The investigation reveals a plot to assassinate the Shogun and overthrow the ruling Ashikaga clan. With Lord Oda's enemy forces approaching Kyoto, and the murderer poised to strike again, Hiro must use his assassin’s skills to reveal the killer’s identity and protect the Shogun at any cost. Kazu, now trapped in the city, still refuses to explain his whereabouts at the time of the murder. But a suspicious shogunate maid, Saburo's wife, and the Shogun's stable master also had reasons to want Saburo dead. With the Shogun demanding the murderer's head before Lord Oda reaches the city, Hiro and Father Mateo must produce the killer in time ... or die in his place.

Now, to reward her faithful and intrepid ninja readers, Susan has devised a contest. If you leave a comment on any of the five reveal tour posts this week, you'll be entered into a drawing to win one of three fun prizes--and yes, multiple comments means multiple entries, though there's a limit of one comment per person per blog post and a limit of one prize per person. The prizes include a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble, a ninja mug, and a set of ninjabread men cookie cutters:

(Because, as Susan says, all cookies secretly want to be ninjas.)

So visit Kerry Shaefer's Swimming North to comment on yesterday's cover art snapshot and Heather Webb's Between the Sheets for tomorrow's. On Friday, you can view the entire cover reassembled on Susan's blog. All comments must be left on participating blogs before midnight Pacific Time on Sunday, October 27, 2013. Limit one prize per person. Limit one eligible comment per blog post, for a total maximum of five entries per person.

May the Force be with you. (Oh wait, wrong book.) Gabarimasu! Good luck and have fun!

BLADE OF THE SAMURAI: A Shinobi Mystery can be preordered here.