Book 46: “a book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit”

This was a strange, but very enjoyable one. Hard-bitten Cleveland journalist Billy Chaka is sent to Tokyo to interview a washed-up pop star and ends up getting mixed up in a dark tale of murder, blackmail, and the supernatural. I realized within the first chapter that if I imagined the narrator voice in my head to be a cynical, alcoholic, sarcastic, Eddie-Valiant-in-Roger-Rabbit type private investigator, the narration worked perfectly. It was an entertaining, pulpy, schlocky romp through the neon-lit world of Tokyo nightlife, with a mystery that kept unraveling right up until the end.

Technically, the ‘place I’ve always wanted to visit’ in Japan is more the old castles and shrines rather than the ultramodern urban environments, but the book I’d originally selected for this one was way too long given the amount of time left in the challenge. I found this to be an enjoyable read, if a bit mindless. See my Jurassic Park review – I have a similar reaction to this one.