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A few years ago if it got to the 13th of the month and I was only on my second book, I'd be mildly panicking.  But anybody who thinks that life in the bush is quiet and boring ... all I can say is come stay here for a few weeks and see if you can keep up the pace!  We've been unbelievably busy in the last month or so - it's like living in a perpetual motion machine at the moment!

So apologies to authors whose books are stacking up around here (both those that I should have reviewed and those that I should have read).  Perpetual motion is, at best, a temporary thing and I'm starting to crave a little quiet time in front of the fire.  (Mind you - it's Eurovision this weekend, and Clunes Booktown, and the Talbot Farmers Market, and I'm hoping time to collect our second minature piglet ... so June, I'm sure things will settle down in June.)

From the Blurb:

January 6, 2002.  The body of Yoshino, a female insurance saleswoman, is found at Mitsue Pass, an eerie inland spot in the southernmost region of Japan, rumoured to be home to ghosts.  A young construction worker, Yuichi is soon arrested by the Nagasaki police on suspicion of strangling the victim.

Opening Lines:

Route 263 runs north and south some forty-eight kilometres, connecting Fukuoka and Saga Prefectures and straddling Mitsue Pass in the Sefuri mountain range.

BOOK DETAILS
BOOK INFORMATION
ISBN
9781846552380
Year of Publication
BLURB

Villain, the first novel by Shuichi Yoshida to be translated into English, is the story of a murder: a tale of desperation set in desolate seaside towns, online chat rooms and love hotels.

January 6, 2002. The body of Yoshino, a female insurance saleswoman, is found at Mitsue Pass, an eery inland spot in the southernmost region of Japan, rumoured to be home to ghosts. A young construction worker, Yuichi, is soon arrested by the Nagasaki police on suspicion of strangling the victim.

As Yuichi and his lover try to elude the police, the events that led up to the murder and its aftermath unfold. Moving back and forth in time, we learn the stories of the victim, the murderer, and their families - stories in which both Japan's past and future are written, revealing the inner lives of men and women who are not everything they appear to be.

Villain depicts loneliness and alienation in contemporary Japan more searingly than ever before. Part police procedural, part dirty realism, Shuichi Yoshida's drama pushes his characters to the razor's edge of despair.

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Submitted by Karen on Fri, 13/05/2011 - 07:11 pm