Puppet Master, vol.1

Puppet Master #1

by Miyuki Miyabe, Ginny Tapley Takemori (Translator)

Miyuki Miyabe’s bestselling mystery opens with a gruesome discovery in a Tokyo park, followed by an anonymous call to a TV station. As the police investigation gets underway, surprising turns of events suggest they may be up against a band of serial killers who ruthlessly manipulate their victims and their families, the police, and the media for the entertainment of the viewing public. With penetrating psychological insights into the minds of her characters and vivid portrayals of modern-day Tokyo, Miyabe maintains the tension in this fast-paced, five-volume blockbuster.

Available in e-book format in five separate volumes, to be released from December 2014 through February 2016.

Genres: Mystery, Japanese Literature, Fiction, Thriller, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Japan

295 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

See also 宮部 みゆき (Japanese language profile) and 宮部美幸 (Chinese language profile).

Miyuki Miyabe (宮部みゆき Miyabe Miyuki) is a popular contemporary Japanese author active in a number of genres including science fiction, mystery fiction, historical fiction, social commentary, and juvenile fiction.
Miyabe started writing novels at the age of 23. She has been a prolific writer, publishing dozens of novels and winning many major literary prizes, including the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize in 1993 for Kasha and the Naoki Prize in 1998 for Riyū [The Reason] (理由). A Japanese film adaptation of Riyû, directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi, was released in 2004.

Reviews

[Bella Azam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me after finished with this story: HUHHHHH
Also me: okay next book here i come

Its a shame this series doesnt get a physical release because it will be great to have this in collection with that stunning haunting cover. I read this on and off for months, not that i dont enjoy it but because im a mood reader so i tend to pick up many books at one time thus led me to having unfinished books mostly. But boy im glad i read this for my #januaryinjapan challenge cuz now im excited to continue with the series.

Its thrilling, fast paced and impactful. We open with the discovery of an abandoned hand in a park by a high school boy and this garnered media attention as the severed hand may well be connected to a missing girl case named Mariko. This then sets a wild goose chase of finding the sadistic killer who now preyed on the affected family members of Mariko Furukawa, especially the poor grandfather and the distraught mother and we also followed the tragic backstory of the boy, Shinichi Tsukada who discovered the hand.

Typical crime and thriller genre, what puppet master offered is the depth look into the police investigative methods of tracking criminals, the societal issues on treatment of women, the psychology behind motives of killings and how justice system is unfair towards normal citizens. Its fast paced and well written making the reading experience enjoyable. I really like the analysis of the killer patterns and behaviours, the psychological observations on the criminal's tendencies and giving a profile on our killers bcus its so damn fascinating learning about it.

Jumping between many characters perspectives can be jarring and a bit hard to follow through but this gave us glimpses to their thoughts and painted the whole pictures in broad so we try to make sense of the horrendous situation. I particularly was attached to the Shinichi's storyline with his loss of his whole family and the tragedy that followed him. Yoshio, the grandpa to Mariko was a strong man and its hard to see him in his misery of losing his grandchild and witnessing his daughter's descent into despair.

The ending. i was astounded by THAT ending. If this was a standalone, i will probably throw this book (or my tablet) to the wall but thank GOD ITS A SERIES. Cuz i need to know WHO THE HELL is responsible for all of this killing and we got 4 more books to go 😶. its gonna be one hell of a ride for sure.

[Kaya Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

Don't know what to think of that ending. But the book is excellent.

[Dxdnelion · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want a perfect crime and mystery book, this is for you!

This book is such a page turner, it captivate you from the start. It doesn't waste any time to just goes straight into the plot. The writing styles is so easy to digest, it is good for mystery/crime beginner to read.

"Seeing these attractive young women prancing around in the commercials, he couldn’t help thinking that their purpose wasn’t to advertise those products, it was something else altogether. It was an invitation: we are toys, beautiful toys! Toys you can use however you want—we don’t mind what you do with us. You can catch us, kill us, bury us, if you like."

The book greatly explain and give us a depiction of how crime was handle in Japan, society perspective on woman especially to those who involved with prostitution. How Police were never in a good term with the media.

There were few character perspectives which might be confusing as it keep switching to other people's story and their connection to the crimes. Weirdly, I didn't find this to be awful? like it makes the story to be more interesting. The killer move were quite predictable for this volume but I can sense some plot twist for others volumes. The ending basically giving us a hints that there is a mastermind behind this all. If you start this book, don't read the character description at the start, it gives major spoiler for the case! But if you don't mind the spoiler, then its okay.

As I mentioned, the crime were predictable but doesn't take your excitement on the case, you keep digging more on the case and its feel like you were there with the police. I do agree that i got goosebumps on some parts because it was creepy like hell.

Overall, I enjoy reading this first volume and its already promising that its a good book. Exactly what I want for a crime/mystery book.

[Juliet Valcourt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating police procedural that really delves into the lives of the characters and how they are affected by these murders. It also explores how vulnerable women are in modern society and why they are often victims of crimes.

The writing style is very cinematic and it’s easy to imagine it as a crime drama on TV. I finished this ebook in about a day and a half, so it’s a page turner. A warning though: don’t read the character list at the beginning because it gives away major spoilers. The ending was not a surprise to me because of this.

Memorable quote:

‘Seeing these attractive young women prancing around in the commercials, he couldn’t help thinking that their purpose wasn’t to advertise those products, it was something else altogether. It was an invitation: we are toys, beautiful toys! Toys you can use however you want—we don’t mind what you do with us. You can catch us, kill us, bury us, if you like.’

[Leila Safira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such an enjoyable read. Cold, methodical, neutral narration, as Japanese novel usually is. I love the ending, it’s a perfect mixture of tragedy and drama. But of course, I like it because I know it’s a series. Otherwise it’s going to be frustrating. Can’t wait to get the next volume!

[Yumiko Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Am disappointed the ending = 3.75 stars 🌟

[tatterpunk · Rating 4 out of 5]

FOUR STARS: I will probably read this again, although right now the thought is hard to stomach.

Miyabe does a lot in this book, and arguably that's to be expected -- it's what, 1000 pages in total and something like three volumes in the original language? So there's a lot to chew over here: the treatment of crime in Japan, the treatment of women, the nature of loss and violence, and so on, and so on. Vol 1 is an absolute stunner, with Miyabe putting her money where her mouth is and managing to build a compelling, horrific story that focuses on the victims of the crime, instead of its perpetrator.

But then Vol 2 and Vol 3 shift entirely to the perspectives of the killer and... and that is just not a pleasant place to be. Nor is it half as interesting. Vol 4 and 5 go back to assorted POV characters, sometimes including the killer (the latter sections being the weakest) but there's another switch: from social commentary and character-driven story to more plot-driven, as if Miyabe had trouble reconciling her keen eye as an observer of humanity with her knack for potboilers. Usually I'm much more comfortable with how she combines the two, but I think with Puppet Master the nerves she's hitting are a little too raw, a little too immediate, to feel like they belong in the same story as this book's ending. The two main characters of Vol 1 got the best endings, but everything and everyone else felt... a bit too pat? Almost as if Miyabe needed a whole new volume to really give the scope of all those stories justice, but she'd exhausted herself (understandable) and wanted to bring things to an end.

Still, there's so much here, and I have to admire that. Probably even more than I'm aware of given my ignorance of how violent crimes are treated in Japan's popular media, but there are still chilling and relevant observations about the expectations surrounding horrific violence, and how they affect even the most ordinary lives.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I can easily visualize each event happening in the book. It has enough shock impact and suspense to keep me reading and engaged.

Miyuki Miyabe has a gift of empathy that allows her characters to be more than victims vs perpretators. She also has enough understanding of human characters to know what motivates someone's actions however illogical they may seem at first.

If I have to mention any drawback, it would be the characters' voices. They are not so different from each other so none of the main characters particularly stood out save for Shinichi and Machiko.

Will read the rest of the volumes for sure!

[Amelie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Their names are very similar

[Elham · Rating 3 out of 5]

برسی پایین👇🏻
بدون اسپول 😌
1️⃣ درست مثل یک فیلمنامه نوشته شده بود
حتی گاهی مینوشت : صحنه اینجوری شروع میشه که ..
تو ذهنت میتونستی تصور کنی که داری سریال میبینی !
اینم بگم ، زاویه دید سوم شخص بود .
2️⃣سرعت داستان :
چون مثل یک سریال/ فیلم روایت میشد ، و تمام جزئیات و دیالوگ های بین پلیس ها ، کارگاه ها ، خبرنگاران ، خانواده ها و... تک تک گفته میشد ، در بعضی فصل ها سرعت بشدت پایین میومد.بعضی توضیحات برای افرادی که بشدت علاقه به جزئیات جلو رفتن پرونده داشتند ممکن بود جالب باشه ، ولی برای من نه
(این نظر شخصی من هست و ایرادی به داستان نمیگیرم،چون نوشتار بسیار جالبی داشت)
3️⃣شخصیت پردازی :
من تونستم با یکی از کارگاهان که تایم بیشتری باهاش بودیم ، پدربزرگ ، خبرنگار و پسرک کاملا اشنا بشم و ارتباط بگیرم که برای خودم جالب بود!
چون تو این شلم شوربا و اتفاقات پشت سر هم توقعی از شخصیت پردازی و ارتباط گیری نداشتم .ولی خوب اتفاق افتاده بود(در نظر داشته باشید که به علت ازدیاد شخصیتها دنبال شخصیت پردازی پرومکس نباشی:)
4️⃣یه نکته کمی رو مخ:
پرش بین زاویه دید ها و شخصیت های مختلف با موضوعی خاص ، گاهی باعث میشد قاطی کنی :) مثلا داره بین مکالمه دو کارگاه میگرده که یهو یه بخشی از دیالوگ های دو نفر دیگه رو هم میاره که مرتبط با موضوع بحث داشتند صحبت میکردند.
البته که به ساخت دقیق تر صحنه توی ذهن ما خیلی کمک میکرد.
5️⃣جزییات:
خیلی دقیق نشون میداد که چطوری جرم و جنایت تو ژاپن پیگیری میشه، دید مردم ژاپن نسب به زنان و مخصوصا اونهایی که جزو گروه زنان روسپی هستند رو هم خوب توصیف میکرد،درباره رابطه ی پلیس و رسانه هم جزئیات زیادی دستگیرمون میشد ، و یا این که چطور قانون دربرابر مردم عادی میتونه ناعادلانه برخورد کنه
6️⃣با این که سعی داشت قاتل یا قاتلین رو روانپریش نشون بده ، برای من خیلی اوایل قابل درک نبود ولی هرچی رفت جلوتر بیشتر فهمیدم داستان چی به چیه و همه چیز برام کاملا منطقی شد
5️⃣بعضی بخش هاش تو چند پاراگراف یا یک فصل کوتاه نحوه قتل یک انسان و داستان پشتش رو جوری توصیف میکرد که مو به تنت سیخ میشد :)
6️⃣حواست باشه:
ابتدای کتاب اسم شخصیت های اصلی رو نوشته به علاوه توضیحاتی درباره اونها نیازه بدونیم . اگر بخونی امکان تاحدی اس��ویل شدنت وجود داره.پس اینکار رو نکن :)در طول داستان هرکسی معرفی شد برگرد و توضیحاتش رو بخون
7️⃣ترجمه:
ترجمه بسیار روان خانم راضیه کریم پور .
جوری بود که حتی لحظه ای جای شک برام نذاشت که اینجا دقیقا چی شد ؟ نفهمیدم..دمشون گرم
بقیه جلد هارو مخونی ؟ اره
#استاد_عروسک

[Ahmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steve Wiggins' "Holy Horror" gave me enough courage to try to follow my curious dose of Hiromi Kawakami with murder and terror in Tokyo. I liked it a lot! The local color is rich, my spine was very well-chilled, and I easily overcame the mild copaganda. I will be reading more Miyuki Miyabe!

(I also read most of volume two, which focuses on the murderer side of the equation. This hollowed me out so thoroughly that I'm not sure I'll finish the series.)

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this -- I really did -- but it really sputtered out for me starting at about the 60% mark. I lost interest in whodunnit and really just wanted to get to the end. I won't be continuing this particular series -- not for me.

[Allegra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did not realise this had multiple volumes and now i cant find the other vols in translation and it finished w a cliff hanger .. awks

[Daisuke Tateishi · Rating 5 out of 5]

the author is under an influence of Stephan king.