Blue Light Yokohama

By: Nicolas Obregon

Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan

Newly reinstated to the homicide division and transferred to a precinct in Tokyo, Inspector Iwata is facing superiors who don't want him there and is assigned a recalcitrant partner, Noriko Sakai, who'd rather work with anyone else. After the previous detective working the case killed himself, Iwata and Sakai are assigned to investigate the slaughter of an entire family, a brutal murder with no clear motive or killer. At the crime scene, they find puzzling ritualistic details. Black smudges. A strange incense smell. And a symbol - a large black sun. Iwata doesn't know what the symbol means, but he knows what the killer means by it: I am here. I am not finished.

As Iwata investigates, it becomes clear that these murders by the Black Sun Killer are not the first, nor the last, attached to that symbol. As he tries to track down the history of the black sun symbol, puzzle out the motive for the crime, and connect this to other murders, Iwata finds himself racing another clock - the superiors who are trying to have him removed for good. Haunted by his own past, his inability to sleep, and a song, "Blue Light Yokohama", Iwata is at the center of a compelling, brilliantly moody, layered audiobook sure to be one of the most talked about debuts in 2017.

©2017 Nicolás Obregón (P)2017 Macmillan Audio

Immersion into a different culture. Gave me a bird's eye view of police in a different part of the world.

I sometimes had to remind to keep up with all the characters and the roles they served. A actual puzzle in murder mystery/thriller story.

interminable and messy

Ugh. So many characters I couldn't keep track. I still don't understand the main character and what influenced him. I thought the book was wrapping up then saw there was still over 5 hours left. I doubt I'll read any subsequent works by the author.

A bit of a mess

Sluggish. Nonsensical. In desperate need of a good editor. If you're looking for a Japanese-styled crime novel, I would suggest you look elsewhere. It starts OK but quickly falls off and really lacks focus and cohesion. This one was really difficult to get through. And just when you think it should be over...there's still an unnecessary hour to go. It seemed as if it would never end. Good job with the narration, as you would expect from PJ Ochlan.

Started off good but became unbearable

Not worth the credit. I should have read the reviews first. Ends poorly. Save your credit

drowns in cliches

Japan seems to mostly serve as an exotic backdrop for this crime story that is one cliche after another. All the detective cliches AND all the cliches about Japan, that is.
It's almost like the writer had a list and was checking boxes while writing.
The characters often behave very unjapanese, which should be clear to anybody who has had more than superficial contact with them.
The story, and especially the side stories/flashbacks become tedious after a while.
And I have to admit I didn't make the end of the book.

If you want a standard crime novel with an exotic backdrop and nothing else, you might like this. If you're looking for something more I'm afraid you'll be disappointed.