|
Publisher:
Perennial Dark Alley / HarperCollins |
Release
Date: September 21, 2004 |
ISBN:
0060516240 |
Awards:
|
Format
Reviewed: Paperback |
Buy
it at Amazon |
Read
an Excerpt |
Genre:
Mystery, noir |
Reviewed:
2004 |
Reviewer:
Robin Thomas |
Reviewer
Notes: some explicit content – sex |
Copyright
MyShelf.com |
|
Kinki Lullaby
Billy
Chaka series
By Isaac Adamson
“Kinki
Lullaby” by Isaac Adamson is the fourth installment in the
Billy Chaka series. The book provides more than just a good mystery;
it also gives the reader an opportunity to experience a very different
culture and an unusual art form. The story is set in Osaka Japan,
and “Kinki” is a word used to refer to the Kansai area
of Japan which includes Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and their surrounding
areas.
Billy
Chaka is a writer for the Cleveland magazine Youth in Asia. He has
traveled to Osaka to receive an award from the Kinki Foundation
for an article written almost eight years ago about Tetsuo Oyamada,
a young Bunraku puppetry prodigy. The National Bunraku Theater is
an artistic treasure that brings classical Japanese drama to life
with puppets. Billy meets Mr. Oyamada and finds out that Tetsuo,
his son, has been thrown out of the Bunraku and that he is being
asked to get him reinstated.
Meanwhile,
an American man who is staying in the room next to Billy’s
is murdered. As Billy attempts to understand what really happened
to Tetsuo, he also gets involved in the murder investigation, and
the two cases overlap. Billy learns a great deal about the darker
and more violent forms of puppetry, the Japanese mafia, and the
Osaka night life while investigating the two cases.
The
amount of detail about puppetry, the Japanese culture and nightlife
in the book is initially off-putting but as the story unfolds it
becomes clear that it is necessary to understand the subtleties
surrounding the two cases. The fast pace of the story and the odd,
quirky characters are enthralling. I recommend this book to readers
who enjoy the noir mystery genre and I personally plan to read the
other books in the series.
|