踏影而行

by Hideo Yokoyama, 橫山秀夫, 康逸嵐 (Translator)

368 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2007

About the author

Hideo Yokoyama (横山 秀夫) worked as an investigative reporter with a regional newspaper north of Tokyo for 12 years before striking out on his own as a fiction writer. He made his literary debut in 1998 when his collection of police stories Kage no kisetsu (Season of Shadows) won the Matsumoto Seicho Prize; the volume was also short-listed for the Naoki Prize. In 2000 his story Doki (Motive) was awarded the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for Short Stories. His 2002 novel Han'ochi (Half Solved) earned a Konomys No. 1 and gained him a place among Japan's best-selling authors. He repeated his Konomys No. 1 ranking in 2013 with 64 Rokuyon (64), his first novel in seven years. Other prominent works include his 2003 Kuraimazu hai (Climber's High), centering on the crash of JAL Flight 123 that he covered as a reporter in 1985; the World War II novel Deguchi no nai umi (Seas with No Exit, 2004); the police novel Shindo zero (Seismic Intensity Zero, 2005); and the story collection Rinjo (Initial Investigation, 2004).

Source:http://www.booksfromjapan.jp/authors/...

Reviews

[Mizuki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stepping on Shadow is a satisfying and neatly written thriller by Hideo Yokoyama.

We are first introduced to our MC (a thief) on the day of him getting released from prison and slowly we learned his dark past: he once fell in love with a young woman whom his own twin brother was also in love with. After the young woman chose him over his twin, the younger twin turned to criminality for the thrill, and his actions eventually resulted in his own death and the death of the brothers' parents in a tragic fire.

Now years after the tragedy, the MC is left with no family, the young woman he loved but couldn't marry and...the 'ghost' of his younger twin, whispering into his ears as the MC moved through his dangerous life as a lowly thief trying to survive in a big city. And troubles are indeed coming his way as both cops and criminals from the underground society were chasing after him.

It's never explained whether the supposed 'ghost' of the younger twin is a real ghost, the MC's delusion or his subconscious mind talking to himself, but I like how this pair of twin interacting with each other throughout the story; I like the MC's internal conflicts and his relationships with those around him (e.g. cops, other thieves, his lover, etc). I also like how the mystery of the tragic fire that killed the MC's twin and parents is explained in the very end.

Among the different stories in this book, I like the story about the MC accepting a request from a fellow thief to play 'Santa Claus' for an orphaned little girl during Christmas.

PS: but I don't really like how the young woman (the MC's love interest) is being described as passively waiting for *years* for the MC to pick her up and give up his criminal activities.

5 stars.

[Shirlee Chia · Rating 3 out of 5]

就一本推理小說來說是無可挑剔了。但是故事裡面的女人們都像影子般淺薄地存在著，讓我覺得有點...該說是不平嗎？還是生氣？總之就是有點不爽。
那個叫葉子的媽媽桑也太厲害，下至小混混，上至裁判官都和她睡過。再這樣下去，她可能會當起首相夫人的。明明故事一開始她就只是個嫁給了壞男人的不幸女人。雖然也不是不可以，但總覺得看不順眼。
還有久子。雖然啟二一直在說修一有多喜歡她，但在我看來修一他根本把久子視作糞土吧？呼之則來，揮之則去的那種感覺？
真的，作為推理小說真的不錯。但我一個女子怎麼看怎麼不順眼。男人看的話，可能就不會覺得有違和感了吧？
從小偷視角去推理這個著眼點對我來說蠻新穎的。修一也很有特色，腦袋聰明，長相好像還不錯？妥妥的原·人生勝利組。因為家裡的橫禍自甘墮落（？了。其實我覺得這可能是他的應對機制吧。為了不發瘋或倒下的應對機制。也可能是想了解弟弟的過去吧？反正作者沒說，就像他也剛好忘記為久子那裡給個交代那樣。
所以最後修一有跟久子在一起嗎？修一又是為什麼當小偷的？不是恨父母才當小偷的，那是因為恨啟二嗎？嗯嗯，那就帶著疑問讀下一本書好了。

[BaiLing · Rating 3 out of 5]

這次的主角很特別，是個A咖「潛入師」(夜間潛入住家偷竊)，外號「夜潛真壁」的真壁修一。他的搭檔，是耳中傳來的雙胞胎弟弟啟二的聲音。這寄宿在修一中耳的啟二，說不清楚是鬼魂還是修一的心電感應或者是修一自我人格分裂，其實早已不在人間──修一和啟二同時喜歡上小時候的同學安西久子，久子選擇了一流大學高材生，以檢察官為職志的修一，自此，啟二開始自暴自棄，成為闖空門的小偷。有天，傷心的母親帶著啟二自焚，還連累到想要搶救他們的父親。修一遭受這樣的打擊後，拋開似錦前程和久子，也走進罪犯的那一邊。

七個故事一開始，修一正潛入屋內開始「工作」時，因發現屋子的女主人準備要謀殺丈夫，匆忙逃出後被捕。吃完兩年牢飯後，修一仍想追查女人到底有沒有殺夫，卻接二連三發現了敗德的警察、陷入女人關係而被慫恿殺人的小偷同業；又破了派出所所長為包庇女兒而誣陷他人；黑道為追卷影帶，到處砍殺修一同行；聖誕潛入被虐小女孩家，當一年一度的聖誕老公公；只見過一次面的扒手被黑道毆打致死後，替他找到安養院裡的父親，傳達兒子的死訊；安西久子終於去相親，對象恰好也是雙胞胎之一，然而這對兄弟個性迥異，最後演變成為恫嚇、爭產、殘殺手足的恐怖事件。

雖說還是很有「人性」的內容，角色的安排也非常脫俗，不過卻沒有閱讀作者其他作品時那種掩卷後胸腹中餘溫久久不散的感動。是看太快了？抑或口味還是喜歡傳統原味？又或者是因太沒有想像力，跟不上創新的點子？

還是要再看一遍就會有比較好點的感想？

[沊 沊 · Rating 3 out of 5]

雙胞胎背景其實還可以表演得更精采。(雙胞胎的私心)

[Joseph Chung · Rating 4 out of 5]

橫山秀夫擺脫警察小說的冷硬派短篇作品。 故事大多精彩, 線索的伏筆隱藏得太好, 一不留神就會錯過, 加上譯文非常生硬, 造成了極大的閱讀障礙。建議要一次過把一個短篇讀完, 否則忘了某些伏筆, 到最後又要翻到前頭重看一遍。