A young woman is brutally murdered on a remote mountain road. A young construction worker, Yuichi, is on the run - but is he guilty?
This is the dark heart of Japan; a world of seedy sex hotels and decaying seaside towns; a world of loneliness, violence and desperation.
As the police close in on Yuichi and his new lover, the stories of the victim, the murderer and their families are uncovered. But these men and women are never what they appear to be...
Publisher: Vintage Publishing
ISBN: 9780099526650
Number of pages: 304
Weight: 213 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 18 mm
Yoshida has been compared to Stieg Larsson for his pairing of lurid crime and social critique, but his tone is less sensationalist, more melancholic...Yoshida exposes cruelty and alienation at all levels of Japanese society - New Yorker
A gripping psychological thriller which shows a very different Japan from the neon-lit Tokyo we are more used to - Financial Times
It isn't hard to see why it has caused a sensation among readers and critics in Japan. Villain is a superlative crime novel with intriguing twists - Sunday Times
A novelist of truly international stature - The Times
A complex and powerful exploration of the lives of a victim, killer and their families and friends... Villain is a moving and disturbing novel about loneliness, lies and the gap between expectation and reality. Highly recommended - Guardian
I was fortunate enough to receive an advance copy of 'Villain' and from the moment I started it, I couldn't put it down. 'Villain' is an atmospheric and tense tale of the murder of a young... More
thrilling, and entertaining book, which makes you feel for the murderer more than the victim.
Having looked for some highly-recommended Japanese crime fiction, I decided that this sounded ideal.
Having now read it, I’m really not sure about it. It’s not bad but, for me, the tone varied quite a bit - starting...
More
Please sign in to write a review
Would you like to proceed to the App store to download the Waterstones App?
