Japantown: A Thriller

Written by Barry Lancet

Narrated by George Newbern

Named Best of Debut of the Year by Suspense Magazine and the winner of the Barry Award for Best Debut Novel.​

In this “sophisticated international thriller” (The New York Times Book Review), an American antiques-dealer-turned-reluctant-private-eye must use his knowledge of Japanese culture to unravel a major murder in San Francisco—before he and his daughter become targets themselves.

San Francisco antiques dealer Jim Brodie receives a call one night from a friend at the SFPD: an entire family has been senselessly gunned down in the Japantown neighborhood of the bustling city. As an American born and raised in Japan and part-owner of his father’s Tokyo private investigation firm, Brodie has advised the local police in the past, but the near-perfect murders in Japantown are like nothing he’s ever encountered.

With his array of Asian contacts and fluency in Japanese, Brodie follows leads gathered from a shadow powerbroker, a renegade Japanese detective, and the elusive tycoon at the center of the Japantown murders along a trail that takes him from the crime scene in California to terrorized citizens and informants in Japan. Step by step, he unravels a web of intrigue stretching back centuries and unearths a deadly secret that threatens not only his life but also the lives of his entire circle of family and friends. “Readers will want to see more of the talented Jim Brodie, with his expertise in Japanese culture, history, and martial arts” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Dec 17, 2013
• ISBN: 9781442370173

Barry Lancet

Barry Lancet is a Barry Award­–winning author and finalist for the Shamus Award. He has lived in Japan for more than twenty-five years. His former position as an editor at one of the nation’s largest publishers gave him access to the inner circles in traditional and business fields most outsiders are never granted, and an insider’s view that informs his writing. He is the author of the Jim Brodie series: The Spy Across the Table; Pacific Burn; Tokyo Kill; and Japantown, which received four citations for Best First Novel and has been optioned by J.J. Abrams’s Bad Robot Productions, in association with Warner Brothers. Visit Lancet at BarryLancet.com or on Twitter @BarryLancet.

Reviews for Japantown

[col2910_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Synopsis/blurb..........

FIVE BODIES. ONE CLUE. NOT A TRACE OF THE KILLER.

San Francisco antiques dealer Jim Brodie recently inherited a stake in his father’s Tokyo-based private investigation firm, which means the single father of six-year-old Jenny is living a busy intercontinental life, travelling to Japan to acquire art and artefacts for his store and consulting on Brodie Security’s caseload at home and abroad.

One night, an entire family is gunned down in San Francisco’s bustling Japantown neighbourhood, and Brodie is called on by the SFPD to decipher the lone clue left at the crime scene: a unique Japanese character printed on a slip of paper drenched in blood.

Brodie can’t read the clue. But he may have seen it before—at the scene of his wife’s death in a house fire four years ago.

With his deep array of Asian connections and fluency in Japanese, Brodie sets out to solve a seemingly perfect crime and at the same time learn whether his wife’s tragic death was more than just an accident. And as he unravels a web of intrigue stretching back centuries and connected to the murders in San Francisco, the Japantown killer retaliates with a new target: Brodie’s daughter.
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My Take......

Another debut author and another intriguing mystery set in part in present day San Francisco, part New York, part modern Tokyo and part Japanese village.

We open with the execution of a family of five and the placement of an indecipherable Japanese kanji (hieroglyphic) at the scene of the murders. Half-Japanese, half-American antique and art dealer, Jim Brodie gets called in by the police to help decipher the clue. Brodie, a widower is unable to ascribe a meaning to the kanji, but is determined to unlock the puzzle, as it may be connected to his wife’s death a few years previously.

Within a short period of time he is followed and attacked after confronting his pursuer, his stateside business is burgled and he is approached by the Japanese business magnate, whose family were slaughtered in the recent slaying. Katsuyuki Hara wants Brodie’s Tokyo-based PI team to start looking into the slaughter.

Brodie, with the blessing of the SFPD, heads to Japan to try to find answers for Hara, the police and more importantly himself as it may unlock the key to his wife’s death. The killer though, always a step ahead; has Brodie in his sights. In taking him on, he opens a can of worms which ultimately threatens his 6 year-old daughter.

Part murder mystery, part thriller, part history and culture lesson; Lancet introduces us to a modern-day Japan, still in the grip of its historic past.

Murder, family, revenge, betrayal, Japanese art, antiques, kanjis, martial arts, Tokyo, San Francisco, New York, Soga clan, Samurai, village-life, loyalty, business, corruption, technology, murder and greed all play a part in this enjoyable tale.

Satisfying, entertaining and a little bit different from what I’m used to reading. Quite unlike anything I have read for a few years, perhaps in the same ballpark as Barry Eisler’s John Rain, with their shared ethnicity and same likeability, durability and capability. I don’t feel like I need to visit Japan, because Barry Lancet’s already taken me there.

4 from 5

Thanks to Glen (Tracy’s friendly other half!) for alerting me to this mystery and thanks to Barry Lancet the author for arranging for his publisher to send me a copy.

[brianewilliams · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An exciting thriller - plan to read others in the series.

[zmagic69 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really wanted to give this book 5 stars but there are two reasons why I didn't.
First the good. This reminded me of old Dirk Pitt books, lots of action and ingenious bad guys. I also like the introduction to Japanese culture and the way the Japanese behave.
The two downsides were:
1. The bad guys behaving like those in James Bond movies where instead of just shooting Mr Bond they talk forever, giving Bond time to escape and or kill them.
2. Any of the chapters with the Brodie's kid in them. I was like enough already. Jenny the lead character's 6 year old was annoying, and the dialog between daddy and daughter was cloying, so much so that if she had played a bigger part, I doubt I would read other books by this author.
That said I will continue with the series, hoping the daughter is not a part of future plots.

[whoizme8 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lancet did a very good job writing this book. The characters were well drawn out and the plot just thickened and thickened. Enjoyed reading it very much because it was a "full bodied" mystery, not just a quick read. Obviously this is a book in which the main character has been written about in other books.J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the Isms" "Wesley's Wars" "To Whom It May Concern" and "Tell Me About the United Methodist Church"

[joeydag · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Suspense with quite a bit of blood and gore. Shadow power, conspiracy theories, ninja-like assassins! The writing is quick paced, but this is a bit shallow and a few too many plot twists and coincidences.

[nancyno5 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was fortunate to win this book through Goodreads First Reads giveaways. This is an ARC version.I liked Japantown. It was a quick thriller with copious amounts of action and the evilest bad guys.Barry Lancet's bonus to the story line was the international setting of Japan. Some reviewers felt the Japanese scenes were not always necessary and sometimes too long. I appreciated the historical aspects that Mr. Lancet shared in the story. To this reader, these informational pieces remade the typical suspense/thriller genre. Without the history, the story line would have no real basis.I do think since the novel was written in a 7 day format, parts of the story were rushed and left under developed. Some characters also were victims of this haste and turned out flat. The ninjas were super-cool (although extremely evil and cold-hearted). What I don't like about suspense/thrillers is the cliche of the evil guy spilling his guts before 'killing' the protagonist. It seems to be an inevitable part of the genre. Overall a decent read.