Buddha Kiss

Rating:
Summary: Get on the Roller Coaster
Review: Having lived in Japan for several years, I think this book captures marvelously the humor and confusion that results when Westerners and Japanese try to psyche one another out. Added to that, it's a gripping and fast-paced thriller that is constantly surprising the reader with a new plot twist. This is modern Japan at its wickedest and wittiest.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting Japanese Thriller
Review: I really enjoyed this book! It was tough at the beginning (getting used to the Japanese character names and organizing who is who) but once I got that figured out it was terrific. I have read only one other book based in Japan and ironically my husband was reading it ("Memoirs of a Geisha") at the same time I was ready this one. Wow, are they different! This is a great thriller with twists, turns and a story line that is new and fresh. It also gives you a look into current day Japan from the point of view of a "foreigner". The dialogue is so good and really made me feel like I was there and getting a real flavor for how the Japanese communicate with each other. I can't wait to read "Silent Thunder" and "Samarai Boogie" both of which I understand use the Mori private eye character again.

Rating:
Summary: This is NOT "Memoirs of a Geisha"!
Review: I was a bit confused for the first couple of chapters of this galloping mystery, but then I realized that the principal characters were confused, too. There are three main proponents: Richard Mitchell, semi-novice financier from Yorkshire who has relocated to Tokyo to seek his fortune, Kazuo Mori, hard-boiled private detective (or "economic and social researcher"), who takes on a case involing the mysterious death of and old friend?s daughter, and Tamura, assistant manager of one of the most important branches of one of Japan?s most important banks, who wakes to find himself in a love hotel with the corpse of an attractive young woman... As the several threads begin to draw closer together, and as you begin to discern what the real threats are, you?ll find yourself staying up late to finish the book...