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A review by constantreader471
Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama
4.0
A GoodReads friend sent me this book 1 and 1/2 years ago and I put off reading it because it is 635 pages long(643 if you count the author interview). It is more focused on Japanese society than the mystery. The first 500 pages are about infighting/power struggles within the Japanese police and their difficult relationship with the press. The unsolved kidnapping/murder of a seven year old girl is always hovering in the background, and does not come into focus until near the end for a stunning, unexpected climax. The case is known as "Six Four."
The narrator and main character is Mikami, press director for Prefecture D, a regional police headquarters. Mikami has 3 people working under him. Prefecture D has several hundred police.
By way of contrast, Buffalo, NY, with about 700 police, has 1 PR person.
Mikami is caught in the middle between competing sides in the power struggle and between the press and his superiors demand that he withhold information that the press wants.
If you like a traditional mystery, this may not be for you. I started reading this book 6 months ago, and put it down, because of the interminable infighting/press demands.
This book was a bestseller in Japan and then in the UK, where my GoodReads friend bought it. Thank You Nancy!!
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
The narrator and main character is Mikami, press director for Prefecture D, a regional police headquarters. Mikami has 3 people working under him. Prefecture D has several hundred police.
By way of contrast, Buffalo, NY, with about 700 police, has 1 PR person.
Mikami is caught in the middle between competing sides in the power struggle and between the press and his superiors demand that he withhold information that the press wants.
If you like a traditional mystery, this may not be for you. I started reading this book 6 months ago, and put it down, because of the interminable infighting/press demands.
This book was a bestseller in Japan and then in the UK, where my GoodReads friend bought it. Thank You Nancy!!
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.