Thrillers has always been my favorite genre book. Swedish and Japanese writers have made a mark in the literary world of thrillers, even though they have contrasting writing styles and environments. Japanese mysteries can be slow in pace, but capable enough to keep you bonded once the story gets serious. After reading three of Keigo’s works, I still was far away from reading the book which I had heard the most after ‘The Devotion of Suspect X’ among his works – ‘Journey Under the Midnight Sun’. As with his other stories, I expected this also to be a murder mystery taking its time to unfold with bit complex human emotions and relations.
A man is found murdered in an
abandoned old building and Detective Sasagaki is assigned the case. The
investigation follows and Sasagaki can narrow down to a few suspects
whom he considers as a suspect meticulously. The lady who was one of the main
suspects was found dead presumably suicide. The case remains unsolved over time. The remaining story travels with the life of the victim’s son and the suspect’s daughter. Sasagaki; to whom the case almost becomes an obsession
follows them all the years right from childhood to when they become adults
meticulously working on other possibilities of the crime. The girl grows up to
be a beautiful lady who grows up to succeed in almost everything that she
ventures in right from her school days. The boy however gets a dark undertone to
his life. Does Sasagaki solve the crime finally? Were the kids involved in any
way? How did the kids’ life turn out to be? becomes the rest of the story.
Keigo is definitely a master in
maintaining the suspense. Even though we get enough hints as to the
perpetrators of the crime, we definitely are in the dark about the connection.
We get a feeling that a person performed the crime but there are no ways to
find a connection till the end which according to me is brilliant. Keeping us
on the tenterhooks! The story takes its slow pace and happens over two decades. We can see a lot of references like the video games, the
places, the shops, etc over the period across Japan which superbly keeps us
aware of the changing world in the period. The kids’ characters have been
very interestingly set. We are not able to make out their characters but there is a kind of aura around them that clicks us off in the right/wrong
way based on how you see it. The story has been explained from the point of view
of various characters which gives multiple shades to the story. The story seems
to be complex but on the way we start building up the connections. The girl’s
character was written interestingly. She has her warm and
cold moments which builds up the tension and creates ambiguity around her. The
boy’s character arc is always kept in the dark. Details and attention are very
important points in this book as in other works of Keigo. The only negative part
for me was that many points were left ambiguous in their
natures even after the read. I was not fully convinced of the cause-and-effect
part of the novel.
I used to think that a thriller
has to be extremely pacy to keep us at the edge of our seats and keep churning
out the pages. But then Keigo comes up with stories that take time and
keep us in the run at the same time. His stories do not solely focus on how the
investigation comes up to catching the person who committed the crime but it
focus on the complex human relations, the detailed mindset of the perpetrator
and the victim, and the circumstances. This is definitely a must-read for those
who would like to ponder over and question and find a solution to each
circumstance and put together a puzzle as you read a book. A definite yes for
thrill and crime lovers.
Book-o-Meter
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