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A review by chaun_sox
Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama
5.0
I have to warn anyone attempting to read this, it is not mystery/thriller.
I see the term police procedural thrown around quite frequently to describe a story that basically follows a detective and maybe a couple of their direct subordinates as they investigate a case. Other than a few rare examples, the Kurt Wallander series by Henning Mankell, I rarely feel that police procedural is an accurate description. There are just too many crazy incidents with tons of chases, unrealistic/overly poetic or dramatized villains, and nearly miraculous epiphanies borne out of the most ridiculous of "clues". Realistically, most detective work is done sitting at a desk in their office delegating, watching surveillance footage, developing a strategy for solving a case.
Where those melodramatic plots fail to paint an accurate picture of detective work, Six Four overcompensates in a completely unexpected way. The majority of the novel takes place at the police station. The plot focuses almost entirely on interdepartmental relations during a tumultuous couple of weeks at the station with several different departments working on different and sometimes conflicting issues. The press is going crazy about disclosure, Tokyo headquarters is meddling, a long unsolved case is reemerging into the public eye on it's anniversary, and the main character's daughter has run away.
All of this to say, despite being a little worried because of the length of the book and the fact that this was the first book I've ever read where all the characters were Japanese, it turned out to be the best detective novel I think I've read. I highly recommend Six Four for it's uniqueness.
I see the term police procedural thrown around quite frequently to describe a story that basically follows a detective and maybe a couple of their direct subordinates as they investigate a case. Other than a few rare examples, the Kurt Wallander series by Henning Mankell, I rarely feel that police procedural is an accurate description. There are just too many crazy incidents with tons of chases, unrealistic/overly poetic or dramatized villains, and nearly miraculous epiphanies borne out of the most ridiculous of "clues". Realistically, most detective work is done sitting at a desk in their office delegating, watching surveillance footage, developing a strategy for solving a case.
Where those melodramatic plots fail to paint an accurate picture of detective work, Six Four overcompensates in a completely unexpected way. The majority of the novel takes place at the police station. The plot focuses almost entirely on interdepartmental relations during a tumultuous couple of weeks at the station with several different departments working on different and sometimes conflicting issues. The press is going crazy about disclosure, Tokyo headquarters is meddling, a long unsolved case is reemerging into the public eye on it's anniversary, and the main character's daughter has run away.
All of this to say, despite being a little worried because of the length of the book and the fact that this was the first book I've ever read where all the characters were Japanese, it turned out to be the best detective novel I think I've read. I highly recommend Six Four for it's uniqueness.