I was disappointed in this last of the seven Masao Masuto mysteries. The plot is as twisty and complicated as its possible to be, and although it's more or less resolved by the end, I found the conclusion entirely unsatisfying. What was missing was what I treasure most in these books, which is the way Masuto uses his intuition to suss out exactly what's going on. Here, Masuto seems able to divine how things will play out, but he doesn't seem to know the answers; a subtle distinction, I guess, but one that really bothered me.
Author Howard Fast is bitterer and angrier about the state of the world than I've seen him in other books. There's no idealism and no optimism here (as is certainly found in his early books); instead there is just despair at rampant corruption. He's not even upset about the class issues that distinguish the earlier Masuto books; he's just furious with amoral governments, war, destruction, greed. I don't blame him at all--but it makes for a less fun read that we've gotten in the other Masuto mysteries.
I really hoped for closure with this book, and that doesn't come at all, which is in some ways the saddest aspect of the book. Glad to have finished the series and glad there aren't more to come. I think I prefer younger Howard Fast to this angered older version.
One final point: I have glimpsed a few clues that Fast is homophobic in some of his other works: gays seem to be the one group whose dignity and rights he's not interested in protecting or defending (which is really sad). There's a fairly lengthy scene of homophobia here, kind of disguised as policemen verbally abusing a suspect; still disappointing and unnecessary.
Howard Fast, author of Spartacus, was fairly prolific, and under the alias of E.V. Cunningham wrote a mystery series featuring a Nisei detective named Masao Masuto, a member of the Beverly Hills Police. I wouldn't describe these brief books as mysteries but rather as literary canapes. Masao is US-born and thus a citizen, but retains much of his Japanese heritage. For the most part people are surprised to learn the B.H.P.D. hires "Chinese", and expect him to be another Charlie Chan. In this particular case, he and his Jewish partner foil a KGB operation. The charm of these stories lies in his Zen approach to solving cases.