Three Assassins

by Kotaro Isaka

[kentholloway]

An AMAZING book. Like many people, it was from watching the movie Bullet Train that put me onto this author. Since I saw the movie, I'm putting off reading the book because I don't want the reading experience to be tainted by memories of the movie. So, I chose Three Assassins to begin with.

As many have pointed out, the translation is a bit stilted. From my limited knowledge of linguistics, however, this is to be expected as Japanese is not an easy language to translate. Despite some clunky phrases here and there though, the overall experience was a refreshing, highly entertaining crime fiction read.

The book is more of a character study than an action novel. And trust me, there are so many interesting characters to study in this one. Each of the assassins in the story are a joy to 'watch' and learn their particular personality traits. The protagonist, Suzuki, is the cardboard 'Everyman' with which everything happens. The REAL stars of the show are the assassins and they were worth every moment of the read in my opinion.

I'm a very slow reader by nature. I have a tendency to read every word of a book. If I don't comprehend a sentence, I usually go back and re-read it. That's why it usually takes me so long to read a book. But this one, I finished in less than 48 hours. That is a sign of an excellent book for me. I simply couldn't put the thing down.

I'll be reading The Mantis as soon as it's out, then will tackle Bullet Train. Can't wait for the ride!