Buddha Kiss

Kazuo Mori #2

by Peter Tasker

Buddha Kiss is a thriller that glows with the confidence of its insider perspective, blending headlines about cult poisonings in Japan and tales of Hong Kong money-market manipulation with a strong fictional basis. Peter Tasker, a British writer based in Tokyo where he also works as a financial analyst, sets up two unusual investigators: a Japanese private eye named Mori and a British securities expert named Mitchell. He turns the pair loose on separate murder and swindling cases that lead them to the bizarre Peace Technology cult and a sushi banquet featuring the dreaded delicacy of poisonous blowfish.

Genres: Crime, Japan, Mystery, Fiction

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

PETER TASKER is a founding partner of Arcus Investments, an investment management firm that specializes in Japanese securities. He has written several books on Japanese economics and society, including Japan 2020 (1997) and The End of the Japanese Golden Era (1992). He is the author of several novels and works of non-fiction in both English and Japanese, and has written for Newsweek, Financial Times, The Economist and other publications.

Reviews

[Yigal Zur · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun thriller. a great version of classical detective story based in Japan. it is great read

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wasn't my usual read, but I really enjoyed it. It's a complex thriller that thankfully never gets so complex it can't be followed. I recently watched the TOKYO VICE tv series and I really enjoyed the Japanese setting, so thought I'd give this book a chance since the setting is very similar. I find Japanese Culture fascinating.

This novel has a little bit of everything including detectives, cults, hot women, and much more. It's not a typical "financial thriller", as I sometimes find those boring. Overall a solid read.

[Alexander Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the apocalyptic aspects of this book, the realism was very enthralling! Funny how the smallest pawn can overthrow the King.

[Alan Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read - Zen, magic, business machinations, all set in hyper-modern Tokyo noir. Five stars!

[Babete · Rating 4 out of 5]

( Biblioteca )

[Michael Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a bit confused for the first couple of chapters of this galloping mystery, but then I realized that the principal characters were confused, too. There are three main proponents: Richard Mitchell, semi-novice financier from Yorkshire who has relocated to Tokyo to seek his fortune, Kazuo Mori, hard-boiled private detective (or “economic and social researcher”), who takes on a case involing the mysterious death of and old friend’s daughter, and Tamura, assistant manager of one of the most important branches of one of Japan’s most important banks, who wakes to find himself in a love hotel with the corpse of an attractive young woman. There are several memorable nemesises, too: Yazawa, the financial whiz-kid who drives Mitchell on with his unpredictable style, Ono, founder and godhead of a new cult, who seems to be behind the deaths of several of his female followers, and “Snowbird,” a warped but very professional yakuza. As the several threads begin to draw closer together, and as you begin to discern what the real threats are, you’ll find yourself staying up late to finish the book. Tasker is himself an English financier resident in Japan, and he writes with authoritative knowledge of both those worlds, so the story resonates with verisimilitude. Nor was I distracted by the “foreignness” of the world the author, and the characters, so ably move in.

[Lysergius · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somehow the story got submerged in a welter of insider information.

[John Fahey]

Holds your attention til the end.