Rating: 
Summary: Too Slow to get Going
Review: I bought this book on the fly in an airport because of a 3 hour lay over. The premise seemed interesting since I like histroical ficition so I decided to give it a try. Well after the first 75 pages and 2 hours of my life I can't get back I stopped. The book is way to slow to develop and does not hold interest. Wait for the movie.
Rating: 
Summary: How NOT to prevent a war
Review: Harry Niles is a cultural schizophreniac: a son of US missionaries, he is more at home in the Japanese demi-monde. He owns a jazz club, the "Happy Paris", where his lady-friend selects the records from a jukebox. Sounds a bit formulaic? Forget any preconceived ideas, because nothing and nobody in this book are remotely what they seem to be.
Other reviewers have already done a very creditable job in summarising the novel, so I will not repeat the exercise - except to remind the reader that Martin Cruz Smith does not write fluffy pulp with happy endings. The final spin is worthy of a grand master.
I read this book starting very early one morning after arriving in Europe with an 8-hour time difference. I did not put the book down until it was finished. Harry's character and motivations are beautifully portrayed, and his life as a foreigner in Japan is described in a way that rivals James Clavell's "Shogun" (one of my personal favourites) - but with more twists and turns, and set to darker music. Very, very much recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Slow to Get Going
Review: This is a well-researched book that gives the reader a good look at the seamier side of Tokyo and Japanese attitudes towards "Gaijin" in the years before WWII. It tells the story through the eyes of an American raised in Japan who grew up fraternizing with artists/pornographers/actresses and came to run a nightclub. The plot weaves back and forth from his youth, ostensibly "formative years" and December 5-6, 1941.I found that the flashbacks did not add much to the book. It only showed that every urban center has a seedy side. So also his girlfriend added nothing to the book except for an unlikeable character and a relationship that had all the warmth of an ice cube tray. The last stage of the book has some action and is far less stagnant than the first two thirds. As the attack on Pearl Harbor nears, his protection from the higher ups for whom he had done work, begins to falter. He also has to escape from his nemesis - a blood thirsty killer who had made his mark in the Rape of China. The book was filled with details that did nothing to move it along. The main character was interesting, the rest seemed like cardboard cut-outs. All-in-all the cultural aspects were fairly interesting and the last portion's action and intrigue lifted this to a three star. I give it only a lukewarm recommendation.
Rating: 
Summary: Gripping--Grabs you by the throat & doesn't let go......
Review: Harry Niles, the ne'er-do-well son of a Baptist missionary in Pre-WW II Japan is the protagonist of this fine thriller, a character closely patterned on the Rick Blaine character of Casablanca. Harry has had an adventurous youth growing up in the risqué Asakuza "arts" area of Tokyo under the rather derelict "supervision" of his Uncle. He's the proprietor of "The Happy Paris", actually an American Expat bar in Tokyo. Ostensibly a simple bar owner, Harry is in actuality a seemingly perpetual thorn in the side of the local Tokyo authorities-from the police to the military. The problem is Harry doesn't fit in with the form for a gaijin-a barbarian foreigner. Though definitely foreign, Harry has been raised in Japan virtually all his life and is, in terms of behavior, outlook and temperament, more Japanese than American. Moreover, his boyhood school chums have all grown into roles of prominence in pre-war Japan That Harry has in fact helped the authorities out in some singular cases diminishes their suspicions of him not one whit. And they are justified in their suspicions-for Harry is as American as they come in his heart-of-hearts and in fact is scamming the Japanese Navy. Or is he? That's the question vexing the authorities as they prepare for Pearl Harbor. How this all plays out forms the basis of an excellent suspense novel. A first rate novel, as it turns out, populated by interesting, exotic characters, a vivid presentation of pre-war life in Japan, complex plot twists and a very high level of suspense that sustains itself throughout the book. This is Smith at his best. He excels in the historical suspense novel and in Harry Niles has developed a truly engaging and absorbing character around which he has crafted a first class story.
Rating:
Summary: what a shame
Review: This book might have been good, I stopped after several chapters because of the banal, needless profanity. It's as if the author just discovered the f word and wants everyone to know it. But this seems common anymore, otherwise entertaining stories ruined by pointless, filthy dialogue.
Rating:
Summary: The Day Before Pearl Harbor - From The Japanese Perspective!
Review: This is a most unusual historical novel, an espionage thriller of sorts, but much more. Martin Cruz Smith's hero, Harry Niles, is even more unique then the tale he tells - the story of Japan on the eve of Pearl Harbor. The perspective is Japanese, interpreted for us by a chameleon. Harry Niles grew up in Japan, the son of American Baptist missionaries, zealous in their determination to bring the light of God to the Japanese. Harry's Uncle Orin, a devout alcoholic, baby-sat him as his parents wandered the country spreading the Word, with no knowledge of the Japanese language, or culture, and no desire to learn. The couple saw Harry as a "sort of amphibian, neither honest, nor stupid, neither adult nor innocent, neither American nor Japanese." And Harry, who ran wild in the streets of Tokyo, at home in the shady underworld, dance halls, and back-room card games, learned early to survive well in this environment - and became a master of the "artful scam." He survived Japanese school, where he was the only "gaijin," (foreigner), forever playing the Indian to the Japanese schoolboys' cowboy...or samurai, as it were. He also learned the aesthetics of Shinto, which he was more comfortable with than his parent's Christianity; as well as Japanese ethics, their world view in general, their take on international politics, etc.. The narrative switches back and forth between Harry's adolescence, and his present life, in early December, 1941. He owns the "Happy Paris," an American jazz bar, where a juke box provides the music, and his Japanese Communist lover, Michiko, selects the tunes. He is a con man with a heart of gold. Niles has more than an inkling that the Japanese are about to attack Hawaii - he is a man with many sources, and knows how to do simple addition. And 2+2 = Pearl Harbor. He needs to be on the last flight out of the country - otherwise the consequences won't be pretty. Japanese military and intelligence officials don't particularly care for him, and neither do the Americans, nor the Brits, for that matter. His last days in Japan, before the war, are filled with intrigue, suspense and murder. Cruz Smith writes a tight, taut narrative, as always. He is a master at building suspense, in a real life drama that is already fraught with tension. His research is impeccable and I learned much while enjoying the read. Descriptions of a meeting of the elite Chrysanthemum Club, where Harry tells the Japanese version of the upcoming hostilities, are both hilarious and informative; as is the scene where Harry plays catch with the Japanese Giants' baseball team. One minute you're laughing, the next you're biting your nails. Harry Niles is Smith's real masterpiece, however. Niles breathes life into every event and person that surround him. He is a perfect anti-hero on the surface. He is well aware of the multitude of contradictions that make-up his persona, and accepts them, even enjoys them, with a dark, sardonic humor. The scam has a whole new meaning in Harry's hands - his cons can cause war! Yet he is also a decent and kind man. Just beneath the surface, there exists the man who saved many Chinese lives in Japan's brutal rape of Nanking. And he continues to help both friends and strangers up until the novel's last page. Harry just doesn't want anyone to know. He doesn't want to be anyone's hero. This is one of Martin Cruz Smith's best works. The historical aspect and original point of view make it 5 Stars all the way! JANA
Rating:
Summary: Great historical perspective
Review: While this novel is historical fiction, it does a great job of teaching the reader about Japan in 1941. The research of Japan was great. For readers that don't understand the reasons for WWII from the Japanese perspective, this novel lays our the ground work. Too many novels treat the Japanese like "yellow devils". This work shows that there is a another point of view. I enjoyed the book. It challenged my way of thinking. It makes good summer reading.
Rating:
Summary: Great for understanding 3rd Culture Kids
Review: I won't retell the plot, but suffice it to say, one of the few books I've read where at the climax, I literally had to put the book down on my lap and say "Wow!!" I then went back and reread that paragraph and said "Wow!!!" My wife came in and said what is it, and I had to say that this was an incredible book. I really enjoyed the insights into a 3rd culture kid (one who grows up in a different culture than his own). The difference between Harry and his parents was especially interesting to me, as I am a Missionary with a child growing up in a different country. I've read Cruz's other books (Gorky Park, Red Square, Polar Star and Rose), and this one is much better than all of them.
Rating:
Summary: Between Two Times and Two Worlds
Review: Perhaps no American memory is as deeply engraved as the one showing Japanese bombers destroying most of the Pacific fleet in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. In the background is a memory of seemingly dishonest negotiations with Japanese diplomats in Washington, D.C. while the Japanese fleet got ready for its sneak attack. But equally strong memories must exist among Japanese who were in Japan at the time, as their nation was in the process of starting the great Pacific war. Martin Cruz Smith does something that's almost impossible. He takes us to the Tokyo of December 6, 1941 and lets us perceive what was going on in the minds of the Japanese as their Imperial expansion began its final, unsuccessful phase. Even more remarkable, he creates a character who's part American (by birth, tradition and family heritage) and part Japanese (by experience, friendship and preference). Inevitably, readers will be reminded of Casablanca's Rick waiting in Paris as the Nazis march in, planning to catch the last train with his new love. But our Harry is planning to get on the last plane out instead, and alone. He's got some complications to deal with . . . including an angry mistress who doesn't want to be left behind, the Japanese authorities looking into irregularities, a samurai with a grudge, and criminal interests on the look out for themselves. Like Rick, he's a saloonkeeper with an eye to the main chance . . . as well as a keen sense of survival. You'll see a seamier side of Tokyo than most tourists did, so the book is not for those with delicate tastes. You probably won't read a book this year that will shift your orientation as much as this one. The story's fascinating, the culture's strange but attractive, and the moment will be burned in your mind . . . just like the Day of Infamy itself. If you liked Gorky Park, you will probably find many of the same sorts of appeal here as we see the all-to-human side of our once bitter enemy . . . and now firm ally. After you finish this story, I suggest that you think about what benefits countries would gain from having more citizens who find themselves able to operate and live comfortably in either land. How can you become one of those citizens? What benefits can you provide? Sayonara.
Rating: 
Summary: Can't hold interest
Review: The exotic setting and customs are not enough to sustain the readers' interest for the duration of this prelude to WWII.
| 
