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明智小五郎事件簿 #4
猟奇の果
猟奇趣味のある青木愛之助は、秋の招魂祭で賑わう靖国神社で、友人の品川四郎そっくりの男を見かけて声を掛ける。
その男は人違いだといって去るが、彼は祭りの雑踏に紛れてスリを行っていたのだった。
品川の所業を疑う青木だが、当の品川にその気配はない。
その後、品川からも自分そっくりの男がこの世にいると告白され、二人は品川そっくりの「幽霊男」の行方を追うことになる。
だが、この追跡行の中で青木と青木の妻・芳江にも「幽霊男」の魔の手が伸びるようになる。
「幽霊男」は殺害した女の生首を弄ぶ悪魔趣味的な極めて危険な男であった。
命の危険にも晒される青木だったが、その最中にとうとう「幽霊男」を殺害してしまう。
思わぬ殺人を犯し、罪の意識にさいなまれる青木。しかし「幽霊男」は生きていた。
「幽霊男」は、その毒牙を芳江に向けるのだった。
そして幽霊男の背景には「白蝙蝠団」という犯罪組織があった。
悪魔のような知恵と技術をもった白蝙蝠団の恐ろしい陰謀が幕をあける。
その男は人違いだといって去るが、彼は祭りの雑踏に紛れてスリを行っていたのだった。
品川の所業を疑う青木だが、当の品川にその気配はない。
その後、品川からも自分そっくりの男がこの世にいると告白され、二人は品川そっくりの「幽霊男」の行方を追うことになる。
だが、この追跡行の中で青木と青木の妻・芳江にも「幽霊男」の魔の手が伸びるようになる。
「幽霊男」は殺害した女の生首を弄ぶ悪魔趣味的な極めて危険な男であった。
命の危険にも晒される青木だったが、その最中にとうとう「幽霊男」を殺害してしまう。
思わぬ殺人を犯し、罪の意識にさいなまれる青木。しかし「幽霊男」は生きていた。
「幽霊男」は、その毒牙を芳江に向けるのだった。
そして幽霊男の背景には「白蝙蝠団」という犯罪組織があった。
悪魔のような知恵と技術をもった白蝙蝠団の恐ろしい陰謀が幕をあける。
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First published August 10, 1987
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 20, 2018
In my last review of a book by Edogawa, "少年探偵団", I said, that, while enjoyable, the book suffered from some of the shortcomings that permeate the whole of his young boys series: repetition of situations, the characters that are amazing at dressing up as other characters (not as random characters, but as characters we have already met and whose face is supposed to be easy to recognize), the same nemesis as always, a kind of rushed ending... And I recommended his works for 'adults'. I was reading this book while writing that review and I was really enjoying "猟奇の果" and being surprised by it constantly.
Now, after finishing it, I have to say that the book is amazing, even if it has some of the shortcomings that I was complaining about in his young adult. But the level of writing, tongue-in-cheek moments, and the imagination and atmosphere creation is way better and brings the novel to a whole new level.
Here we have Aoki, a young bored man with too much free time and money and little to do with it. He is attracted to the bizarre, the strange, the dangerous... One day, while enjoying a carnival of your run-of-the-mill woman with beard and all those typical 'bizarre' characters (it was another era when this book was written), he watches one of his friends (who would never go to a place like this) doing strange things, and hiding something under a rock. He checks what his friend has hidden and discovers some empty wallets. Is his friend a thief on the weekends? The next time he meets this friend, Shinagawa, he asks him about the carnival. But Shinagawa denies any knowledge of what Aoki is asking about and tells him that he was never there. Aoki becomes more and more intrigued about his friend's behavior, till he discovers, to his surprise, that Shinagawa has a doppelganger who seems to be involved with the dark side of humanity.
What follows, in the first part of the book, is an amazing story around fear, curiosity, our desire to be thrilled, and a web of strange coincidences that evolve, envelop and involve our 'hero' to some surprising and quite creative developments. And then, great detective Akechi comes to the rescue and to untangle all the threads that Edogawa has been weaving in the first part of the book. And here is where it all goes a little bit out of rails. A rushed ending, loose ends to talk about for hours on end, a not very clear motivation for many of the characters that have appeared before... The first part of the book is great, but the ending of the book is rushed and kind of a letdown.
The best: the first part of the book, Akechi's appearance, the constant twists and surprises, the dark and moody atmosphere, the tongue-in-cheek writing style
The worst: the ending, the repetition of some situations, like , the many loose threads left without answering...
Other options: almost any of his other books for adults is a great option, like "孤島の鬼", "一寸法師", "盲獣"...; Natsuo Kirino or Kishi Yusuke would be modern options for the reader; you can also go Stephen King or similar for some 'dark' stories...
8/10
(Japanese Original)
Now, after finishing it, I have to say that the book is amazing, even if it has some of the shortcomings that I was complaining about in his young adult. But the level of writing, tongue-in-cheek moments, and the imagination and atmosphere creation is way better and brings the novel to a whole new level.
Here we have Aoki, a young bored man with too much free time and money and little to do with it. He is attracted to the bizarre, the strange, the dangerous... One day, while enjoying a carnival of your run-of-the-mill woman with beard and all those typical 'bizarre' characters (it was another era when this book was written), he watches one of his friends (who would never go to a place like this) doing strange things, and hiding something under a rock. He checks what his friend has hidden and discovers some empty wallets. Is his friend a thief on the weekends? The next time he meets this friend, Shinagawa, he asks him about the carnival. But Shinagawa denies any knowledge of what Aoki is asking about and tells him that he was never there. Aoki becomes more and more intrigued about his friend's behavior, till he discovers, to his surprise, that Shinagawa has a doppelganger who seems to be involved with the dark side of humanity.
What follows, in the first part of the book, is an amazing story around fear, curiosity, our desire to be thrilled, and a web of strange coincidences that evolve, envelop and involve our 'hero' to some surprising and quite creative developments. And then, great detective Akechi comes to the rescue and to untangle all the threads that Edogawa has been weaving in the first part of the book. And here is where it all goes a little bit out of rails. A rushed ending, loose ends to talk about for hours on end, a not very clear motivation for many of the characters that have appeared before... The first part of the book is great, but the ending of the book is rushed and kind of a letdown.
The best: the first part of the book, Akechi's appearance, the constant twists and surprises, the dark and moody atmosphere, the tongue-in-cheek writing style
The worst: the ending, the repetition of some situations, like , the many loose threads left without answering...
Other options: almost any of his other books for adults is a great option, like "孤島の鬼", "一寸法師", "盲獣"...; Natsuo Kirino or Kishi Yusuke would be modern options for the reader; you can also go Stephen King or similar for some 'dark' stories...
8/10
(Japanese Original)
Displaying 1 of 1 review