Rating: 
Summary: A Complex and Intelligent Read
Review: Martin Cruz Smith is one of the most the most skillful and versatile writers of contemporary fiction. His work is painfully researched (accounting for the relatively short list of published works) and beautifully written. 'December 6' is no exception, as Smith again demonstrates the range of his talents, this time setting the story in 1941 Tokyo. He spins the unusual story of Harry Niles, the son of American missionaries stationed in Japan. Alienated from his parents as they are off proselytizing in rural Japan, Harry is left to grow up on the streets of Tokyo. Much more Japanese in culture and beliefs than American, the enigmatic Niles, now an adult Tokyo nightclub owner, finds himself in a precarious situation on the eve of the Pacific World War II. Give Smith credit for creativity: this is certainly an unusual, if not bizarre, subject for a story. Harry Niles is a mysterious main character. Accepted fully by neither western nor eastern cultures, perpetually only a step ahead of (or behind) the law, the reader never knows exactly where to categorize Niles: hero, spy, traitor, patriot?. Supporting characters are likewise complex and unable to be easily quantified. Michiko, Harry's mistress: the cool and aloof juke-box jockey, yet also the submissive geisha. Ishigami, the sword-yielding samurai demon with a uniquely Japanese penchant for both honor and terror. Smith adroitly blends Japanese tradition in the background, avoiding the tendancy of many western authors writing of Japan to allow the culture to overshadow the story. The imminent war is portrayed from a uniquely Japanese, and fatalistic, perspective. Like all of Smith's novels, the characters and events are intricately woven in a complex fabric of intrigue and suspense, leading to a surreal, nearly mystical, climax. What 'December 6' lacks in sheer thrills and fast action of Gorky Park is compensated by the intelligent and convoluted story line and though-provoking characters. As with all of Smith's novels, 'December 6' leaves the reader anxiously awaiting his next effort.
Rating: 
Summary: Smith's Best Since Gorky Park, a must read.
Review: Let Martin Cruz Smith take you on a walk through Japan just before Pearl Harbor. You'll enjoy and you'll learn. Smith uses a character not unlike Rick in 'Casablanca' to take the reader to Tokyo in 1941. You'll take some time and feel the Rape of Nanking up close. You'll explore the 'inscrutable' geisha personality. You'll look into the Japanese psyche and understand why the attack on Pearl was inevitable. And if you believe that President Roosevelt knew that we needed to enter World War II, then you'll understand why economic sanctions worked in 1941, probably for the only time in history. Cruz' wonderful style brings his characters to life as well as ever. If you've enjoyed anything Martin Cruz Smith has written you need to read "December 6".
Rating:
Summary: A Mesmerizing Look Into Pre-war Japan
Review: Many of the other reviewers here have already hit some of the flaws in December 6 right on the head: not everyone is really going to know, four years in advance, just how the war will end. And the closing of the novel leaves too much unanswered, with some characters' fates not clearly delineated. What really made December 6 an interesting read for me were the flashback chapters which alternated with the present-day chapters (i.e., 1941). It is these chapters that show the young Harry Niles, outwardly a gaijin in a country that will never fully accept him, but inwardly just as Japanese as his ethnically Japanese friends. Smith renders with unsparing detail the artsy community of Asakusa and the people who are the greatest influences on the young Harry Niles, the witty artist Kato and the beautiful Oharu. These chapters do a remarkable job of drawing parallels between what happens to Harry in 1941 and his childhood, and showing just how and why Harry the boy becomes the man he is by the time Japan bombs Pearl Harbor. Overall a very absorbing read, even if flawed, for anyone who is interested in the years that led up to the clash of Japan's empire and America's "Arsenal of Democracy."
Rating:
Summary: Splendid Thriller Of Espionage, Theft and Sex in Japan
Review: Martin Cruz Smith has wrought yet another spellbinding, well crafted thriller in his latest, "December 6". Here he introduces us to roguish Harry Niles, the prodigal son of American missionaries and owner of the "Happy Paris", an American jazz-styled bar whose main attraction is the beautiful disk jockey Michiko; Harry's paramour. Harry is caught up in an interesting dilemna, how to flee Japan in the company of his other lover, the British Ambassador's wife, before Emperor Hirohito's military
forces launch their surprise attacks on British and American territories in the Pacific and East Asia. He's also been busy conning the Japanese Navy into thinking that Hawaii has secret tanks filled with oil that should have been shipped to Japan. But that's not the least of his worries. A homicidal Japanese colonel, a war hero newly returned from the China front, is in hot pursuit of Harry, hoping to avenge his honor and dignity, which he believes Harry stole one night on the outskirts of Nanking. Harry is a complex, fascinating character, torn between his love for Japanese culture and his American heritage, hoping to prevent a war between both nations. But regrettably, his schemes have led inexcuriably to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, placing both himself and Michiko in grave danger. How Harry manages to resolve these dilemnas is told in a swiftly paced, succinct resolution which will leave the reader breathless. Those interested in learning about life in Japan prior to December 7, 1941 as well as devout fans of Smith's oeuvre will not be disappointed with this well written thriller.
Rating:
Summary: No good deed goes unpunished should be the subtitle.
Review: I ate up "December 6" by Martin Cruz Smith. Smith is the author of "Gorky Park" and "Polar Star" with the Inspector Arkady Renko of the Moscow PD character. I'm a fan of the Renko series. "December 6" is a historical, intrigue novel set in 1941 Tokyo days before the Pearl Harbor attack. The main character Niles is an American expat club owner who grew up in Japan. He is neither totally American or can ever be Japanese, but he loves Japan and the Japanese. Think Rick in "Casablanca" and you have most of the character. The whole story takes place in about four days (with flashbacks for background) as Niles tries to get out of Dodge, avoid his enemies, and help his friends. No good deed goes unpunished should be the subtitle. I'm a sucker for historical novels. I found the pre-war Tokyo and China setting to be very interesting having been to Japan and read a bit on the political history of the period. However, I believe the author verges on histrionics in his explanation of the embargo as the cassus belli. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Mr. Smith Does His Homework
Review: I've always enjoyed Smith's books because they immerse you in a new world. He paints word pictures of a place and time so vivid that you actually seem to know them. This isn't just praise of Smith's writing expertise (although that is great) but of his incredible research talent. He must totally immerse himself in a historical environment before he puts a word on paper. I knew little about pre-war Japan before reading "December 6". With a fast-paced plot and Japan-raised American Harry Niles as guide, I was whisked through a crash course in Japanese history, culture, and psychology. Like most historical fiction, it requires some suspension of disbelief (gee, how DID Harry bump into all of the key figures in Japan that day?). I find so few books that so convince me of their time and place that I'll willingly ignore some plot contrivances.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but flawed
Review: Probably the single most important thing a book can do for you is hold your interest, and this one does. You can get a good idea of the plot by reading one of the other reviews on this site. I've already given this book my praise, that it holds your interest. It's more interesting to me to discuss the flaws. Flaw number one is the godlike omniscience of the hero, Harry Niles. He KNOWS exactly how history will unfold. He knows that America will win the war. It's a slam dunk. And he focuses on oil oil oil oil and oil as the five reasons that America will win. Isn't that topical. It seems to me that the victory over Japan was not a slam dunk. America was aided greatly by breaking the codes and therefore knowing when and where and with what strength Japan would attack. It is just too damn easy, after the fact, to say with certainty how things would develop. Let me suggest a reasonable alternative ending to that war. Let's say that FDR had a more conciliatory personality. He may have arrived at a negotiated peace that allowed Japan, and for that matter Germany, to hold on to some of their early winnings. What I'm saying is that the nearly unconditional surrender of the Japanese and Germans was not a foregone conclusion in 1941, but to Harry Niles it was. Funny how strong hindsight can be. In fact, several other characters in the book also had the same certainty of Japan's ultimate and total defeat, and this greatly impacted the big surprise ending. Sorry, but it's just a bunch of bull. My other complaint with this book is that it has what I call a "too cute" ending, which is rampant in modern novels. They don't tell us how things end. The author leaves us hanging, and we are supposed to draw our own conclusions. What happens to Harry Niles and his girlfriend Michiko? He's writing the damn story so he can tell us the damn ending, doncha think? We're supposed to operate on hints and figure it out for ourselves? No. No. No, I don't think so. Tell us the damn ending. You brought us this far, so tell us your damn ending. Don't just say "guess, stupid".
Rating:
Summary: Setting and Characters make for a must read.
Review: The setting, Imperial Japan in the days leading up to Pearl Harbor, and the characters, American business man and con artist Harry Niles and his Japanese mistress Michiko, make this a most interesting novel. Martin Cruz Smith has dramatically depicted an American who was raised Japanese -- his Southern Baptist missionary parents abandoned him to a Japanese nanny -- but remains forever an outsider. As the clouds of war gathered, the conflicts that turned Harry Niles inside out and threatened his very life make for a page-turning thriller.
Rating: 
Summary: Deception
Review: Amazon also sells this book under the title "Tokyo Station." They won't tell you this, and if you order the book and you've read "Tokyo Station" and complain to Amazon, you'll be told you should have read pages from inside the book before ordering. This, I imagine, will be true for other books published under more than one title. So beware.
Rating:
Summary: Mixed Bag
Review: Surprising deriviative of Casablanca, perhaps unnecessarily so, it still works as a unique--if somewhat turgid--insight into a fascinating culture. One person's "complicated" is another's "convoluted." The setting is never less than interesting, but the narrative is never quite satisfactory. The dialogue is unbelieveable at best, often belabored, and the plot's gimmick is telegraphed to anyone with a knowledge of Pearl Harbor. The prescience of the novel's key characters to universally agree that Japan will lose the war--literally 12 hours after the attack--is, well, ludicrous. But how else to make the ending play? Worth the read, but overpraised by critics. Smith has done better.
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