Kazoku

by Tara A. Devlin

Yotchan’s only ever known one family; his brothers in arms. The yakuza. He’d die for them, and they’d die for him. But a job gone wrong might finally spell the end for all of them. An innocent woman is dead, leaving her young son an orphan and throwing their well-laid plans into chaos. It’s not long until those present at the scene of the crime start showing up dead, and Yotchan realises that the danger is far from over. A mother’s vengeance knows no bounds, and this one is now striking at them from beyond the grave. Can Yotchan and his brothers escape from her ghostly grasp, or will she drag them all down with her? And what will Yotchan’s boss, the only father figure he’s ever known, do when he realises that Yotchan has been lying to him all this time? Click the buy button right now to step back into Rakucho’s dark, seedy streets, and uncover the deadly truth that lurks in the shadows.
The Torihada Files is a series of stand-alone Japanese horror novels set within the same universe. Featuring ghosts, curses, and other supernatural horrors you’ll find only in Japan, each story in The Torihada Files can be read independently of the rest. Featuring illustrations by Emiru the Yurei.

240 pages, Paperback

Published October 16, 2019

About the author

Tara A. Devlin studied Japanese at the University of Queensland before moving to Japan in 2005. She lived in Matsue, the birthplace of Japanese ghost stories, for 10 years, where her love for Japanese horror really grew. And with Izumo, the birthplace of Japanese mythology, just a stone’s throw away, she was never too far from the mysterious. You can find her collection of horror and fantasy writings at taraadevlin.com and translations of Japanese horror at kowabana.net.

Reviews

[Icy_Space_Cobwebs · Rating 4 out of 5]

KAZOKU is Book 4 in the TORIHADA FILES Series. "Kazoku" is the Japanese term for "family," and here the conflict is between a soecialized type of family: a Yakuza clan, as contrasted with dysfunctional family, lack of family, and hope of family. Greed collides with Family, with horrifying Supernatural results.

[Shmumbler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each Torihada Files book has been enjoyable enough for me to finish in a single sitting, and this is far from an exception. Take a thrilling yakuza story, add in one deliberate and determined spirit, and top it off with a literal bloodbath of a climax, and you've got Kazuko.

Beyond that, though, one of my favorite aspects of these books is their continuity. Faces become familiar, and events among stories occur concurrently, though loosely. It makes the world feel so much more real and alive.

[KarenMichelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

💖 as fantastic as the other books! One of the few authors I will read anything they write. Awesome podcast too but that's a different review

[Serena Priestner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

Absolutely loved it, love how the character from an early book was linked in too. Took about to get hooked but once I was, loved it.

[Shed · Rating 4 out of 5]

First book for 2022. Yay.