An absorbing investigation and memorable backdrop put this series launch on the right track.
In Pronko’s (Motions and Moments: More Essays on Tokyo, 2015, etc.) first foray into thrillers, a Tokyo detective investigates a death by train that may be just one in a series of murders.
It seems white-collar crime is Detective Hiroshi Shimizu’s specialty. His fluency in English makes him ideal for chasing down foreigners who’ve ripped off investors, among other things, and working with departments overseas. But he’s still a part of the homicide branch, so lead Detective Takamatsu calls Hiroshi to the scene at Tamachi Station, where a male foreigner’s mangled body lies on the tracks. Security cameras caught an earlier glimpse of a woman near the victim, but it’s unclear if his death was murder, suicide, or accidental. Evidence on the deceased leads the investigation to the various night clubs in Roppongi. Based on a theory that the unidentified female is a hostess (and a perfect cover for Takamatsu’s favorite pastime of drinking excessively), the detectives frequent the clubs. Hiroshi and his new assistant, Akiko, meanwhile, look into previous suicides by train, ones that might not be suicides at all. Discovering a link between the vics draws Hiroshi closer to a woman whose plan could put the detectives in a speeding train’s path. Pronko’s early introduction to the possible killer fosters sympathy with her perspective and back story. But there’s still mystery and suspense. Her motive isn’t initially apparent, and readers will surely anticipate a murder every time she strikes up a conversation with a man. Tokyo is welcoming without being exoticized; its foods are delicious but sometimes practical. Ramen noodles, for example, are excellent hangover comfort food. Pronko, for good measure, adds tasty metaphors: an inevitable hangover makes Hiroshi’s eyeballs feel “like they were roasted in salt.” Supporting characters occasionally steal the spotlight, especially Akiko, who excels at research (when paperwork proves essential to the case’s resolution), and Detective Sakaguchi, a former sumo wrestler.
An absorbing investigation and memorable backdrop put this series launch on the right track.Pub Date: May 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-942410-12-6
Page Count: 348
Publisher: Raked Gravel Press
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
