Mantis

Fogarty-Tanaka #1

by Richard La Plante

In recent weeks, three young women have been brutally assaulted and murdered in the city of Philadelphia. Lt. William Fogarty, a time-toughened cop, hardened by personal tragedy, is shocked by the brutality of the crimes. His only lead comes from medical examiner Josef Tanaka. Half Japanese and half American, Tanaka, a skilled practitioner of the martial arts, claims to recognize the method used in the attacks: a karate strike known as nukite, or spear hand. Fogarty has nowhere else to turn.

An unlikely combination, Fogarty and Tanaka, forced together by circumstance and neither completely trusting the other, they conduct a desperate hunt, trawling the city streets of Philadelphia and into the dangerous underbelly of the killing arts.

Pursuing the Mantis, a creature who uses the flesh of his victims in a sadistic, macabre ritual of self-purification, while Fogarty and Tanaka endanger the lives of those closest to them as they inch perilously close to the precipice of their own worst fears and weaknesses.

Genres: Horror, Thriller, Crime, Fiction, Mystery

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Alex is The Romance Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Synopsis:
In recent weeks, three young women have been brutally assaulted and murdered in the city of Philadelphia. Lt. William Fogarty, a time-toughened cop, hardened by personal tragedy, is shocked by the brutality of the crimes. His only lead comes from medical examiner Josef Tanaka. Half Japanese and half American, Tanaka, a skilled practitioner of the martial arts, claims to recognize the method used in the attacks: a karate strike known as nukite, or spear hand. Fogarty has nowhere else to turn.

An unlikely combination, Fogarty and Tanaka, forced together by circumstance and neither completely trusting the other, they conduct a desperate hunt, trawling the city streets of Philadelphia and into the dangerous underbelly of the killing arts.

Pursuing the Mantis, a creature who uses the flesh of his victims in a sadistic, macabre ritual of self-purification, while Fogarty and Tanaka endanger the lives of those closest to them as they inch perilously close to the precipice of their own worst fears and weaknesses.

Mantis takes you on a nightmare ride that will have you holding your breath until the last page.

A rather unusual thriller about a policeman and a half Japanese/American medical examiner on the hunt for the most scary, creepy and unbalanced serial killer, who kills his victims in the most horrific and cruel manner.

All three characters are haunted in some way or other – Joey Tanaka, blames himself for accidently crippling his older brother in a karate championship, Bill Forgaty, unable to forgive himself for being the cause of his wife and daughter’s death and the killer’s mind, warped by the physical and sexual abuse he received as a child, trying to purify himself.

Gritty and gripping, fast paced twists in the plot, great character development, heart-stopping frightening leading to the final confrontation between the killer and Tanaka.

If you like reading books by Thomas Harris & Eric van Lustbader, you will enjoy Mantis.

[Dollie · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is a serial killer loose in Philadelphia. So far, he has killed half a dozen women and a man. He kills them by rupturing an artery in their throat. His name is Willard Ng (pronounced No One) and he thinks that he is a mantis. He even kills like a mantis. It’s up to a rough cop, Bill Fogerty, and his partner, Dr. Joey Tanaka, to find the murderer and try to put him out of commission before he kills anyone else. This is the only book I’ve ever read where the villain was so fucking bad that he ate someone’s cat after he sodomized and killed her. This dude was just plain bad. So bad that he even tears his own nose off at the end of the book when he’s fighting with Joey, who is trying to save his main squeeze, Rachel. Very quick read. It has a sequel, Leopard, but I don’t know if I’ll read that one.

[Wayne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plodding ... full of excessive detail

[John Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

When friends and I interviewed Donnie Yen in 1996, the future Ip Man star said he was offered the Mantis screenplay by producer Samuel Hadida but he passed on it. He should have taken it.

[Michele Brenton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I spotted this book mentioned in Linda La Plante's bio as having been written by her husband.
I read this many, many years ago and elements of the story have stayed with me for over twenty years. I must get hold of it again to see if it still lives up to what I remember about it.
As I remember it had a great feel of place and time and I remember liking the main protagonist and being very interested in his background and how he identified with the killer.
I recall it being extremely gory but I can skim over stuff like that if the writing is good enough to keep me interested in the people and the story so that wasn't a huge problem.

[Christopher Miller · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read LaPlante's "Tegne" a few times growing up, and managed to track this one down. This started off fast, but I was pretty disappointed. The killer's motivation is not compelling. Details of the killings are gratuitous, evoking more of an eye-roll than their intended shock.
The killer isn't even introduced until about the halfway point.
I'll have to reread Tegne soon, that remains an old favorite.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read these books when they first came out in the early 90's. I liked them so much I kept them for all these years. I decided to read them again as I couldn't remember details. Mantis did not disappoint! Excellent thriller not unlike the Hannibal Lecter series! Well worth and second (and third) read!

[Joshua Dahlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the killer in this book. I genuinely thought the idea behind it was great. Didn't really like the detectives though. Actually it's not that they were written poorly, they just didn't grab me. There was a lot of buildup to what seemed to me to be a flat ending. It did have some interesting parts but not overall all that interesting.

[Wisdom Siqhoza]

Riveting martial arts thriller. La Plante can stand on his own with the likes of Eric van Lustbader and Marc Olden.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chilling and depraved.

[Bob Box · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in 1994. An unusual and utterly gripping thriller.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a Thomas Harris fan and found this book to be similar in genre with major plot differences. The "Mantis" was definitely cut from the same cloth as many of Harris' more memorable culprits. Fogarty and Tanaka are a reluctant team that I would like to see more of. He also provided enough background on each to let the reader know the reasons both were the way they were and not so much as to be too much information. It was fast reading and definitely grabbed your interest from the get go.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a little dark. Almost like a Hannibal Lector.

[Holly Hilbrands · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good, but quite dark with some of the detail a bit hard to read. Still, good character development and storyline.

[Lenny Husen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this when it came out and still makes me sick to think of it. But a great, great serial killer novel, if you are into that sort of thing, which I was when I was in my 20's.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Gerard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vividly described martial arts action sequences. Engaging at times.