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Detective Hiroshi #1
The Last Train
THE LAST TRAIN is the gripping new Tokyo-based mystery by multi-award-winning author Michael Pronko
Detective Hiroshi Shimizu investigates white collar crime in Tokyo. He’s lost his girlfriend and still dreams of his time studying in America, but with a stable job, his own office and a half-empty apartment, he’s settled in.
When an American businessman turns up dead, his mentor Takamatsu calls him out to the site of a grisly murder. A glimpse from a security camera video suggests the killer was a woman, but in Japan, that seems unlikely. Hiroshi quickly learns how close homicide and suicide can appear in a city full of high-speed trains just a step—or a push—away.
Takamatsu drags Hiroshi out to the hostess clubs and skyscraper offices of Tokyo in search of the killer. She’s trying to escape Japan for a new life by playing a high-stakes game of insider information. To find her, Hiroshi goes deeper and deeper into Tokyo’s intricate, ominous market for buying and selling the most expensive land in the world.
When Takamatsu inexplicably disappears, Hiroshi teams up with ex-sumo wrestler Sakaguchi. They scour Tokyo’s sacred temples, corporate offices and industrial wastelands to find out where Takamatsu went, and why one woman would be driven to murder when she seems to have it all.
After years in America and lost in neat, clean spreadsheets, Hiroshi confronts the stark realities of the biggest city in the world, where inside information can travel in a flash from the top investment firms to the bottom of the working world, where street-level punks and teenage hostesses sell their souls for a small cut of highly lucrative land deals.
Hiroshi’s determined to cut through Japan’s ambiguities—and dangers—to find the murdering ex-hostess before she extracts her final revenge—which just might be him.
THE LAST TRAIN is the gripping new Tokyo-based mystery by multi-award-winning author Michael Pronko
Detective Hiroshi Shimizu investigates white collar crime in Tokyo. He’s lost his girlfriend and still dreams of his time studying in America, but with a stable job, his own office and a half-empty apartment, he’s settled in.
When an American businessman turns up dead, his mentor Takamatsu calls him out to the site of a grisly murder. A glimpse from a security camera video suggests the killer was a woman, but in Japan, that seems unlikely. Hiroshi quickly learns how close homicide and suicide can appear in a city full of high-speed trains just a step—or a push—away.
Takamatsu drags Hiroshi out to the hostess clubs and skyscraper offices of Tokyo in search of the killer. She’s trying to escape Japan for a new life by playing a high-stakes game of insider information. To find her, Hiroshi goes deeper and deeper into Tokyo’s intricate, ominous market for buying and selling the most expensive land in the world.
When Takamatsu inexplicably disappears, Hiroshi teams up with ex-sumo wrestler Sakaguchi. They scour Tokyo’s sacred temples, corporate offices and industrial wastelands to find out where Takamatsu went, and why one woman would be driven to murder when she seems to have it all.
After years in America and lost in neat, clean spreadsheets, Hiroshi confronts the stark realities of the biggest city in the world, where inside information can travel in a flash from the top investment firms to the bottom of the working world, where street-level punks and teenage hostesses sell their souls for a small cut of highly lucrative land deals.
Hiroshi’s determined to cut through Japan’s ambiguities—and dangers—to find the murdering ex-hostess before she extracts her final revenge—which just might be him.
THE LAST TRAIN is the gripping new Tokyo-based mystery by multi-award-winning author Michael Pronko
348 pages, Paperback
First published May 5, 2017
796 people are currently reading
2588 people want to read
About the author
Michael Pronko
15 books225 followersMichael Pronko is an award-winning, Tokyo-based writer of murder, memoir and music. His writings on Tokyo life and his taut character-driven mysteries have won critics’ awards and five-star reviews. Kirkus Reviews called his second novel, The Moving Blade, “An elegant balance of Japanese customs with American-style hard-boiled procedural” and selected it for their Best Books of 2018.
Michael also runs the website, Jazz in Japan, about the vibrant jazz scene in Tokyo and Yokohama. He has written regular columns about Japanese culture, art, jazz, society and politics for Newsweek Japan, The Japan Times, Artscape Japan, Jazznin, and ST Shukan. He has also appeared on NHK and Nippon Television.
A philosophy major, Michael traveled for years, ducking in and out of graduate schools, before finishing his PhD on Charles Dickens and film, and settling in Tokyo as a professor of American Literature at Meiji Gakuin University. He teaches contemporary American novels, film adaptations, music and art.
Michael also runs the website, Jazz in Japan, about the vibrant jazz scene in Tokyo and Yokohama. He has written regular columns about Japanese culture, art, jazz, society and politics for Newsweek Japan, The Japan Times, Artscape Japan, Jazznin, and ST Shukan. He has also appeared on NHK and Nippon Television.
A philosophy major, Michael traveled for years, ducking in and out of graduate schools, before finishing his PhD on Charles Dickens and film, and settling in Tokyo as a professor of American Literature at Meiji Gakuin University. He teaches contemporary American novels, film adaptations, music and art.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 188 reviews
April 3, 2019
There are times when accidental finds prove to be the best book reading experiences. This was one of those, as I picked-up Michael Pronko’s series debut to fulfil a reading challenge. When an American man falls before a speeding commuter train in Tokyo, it does not garner that much shock in the Japanese capital, as suicide by rail is a common occurrence. However, Detective Hiroshi Shimizu is summoned to help with the investigation, more because of his knowledge of English than because anyone queries a crime. However, after viewing the video footage, Detective Shimizu notices a woman accompanied the man and it is not entirely certain if she might know something to help the investigation. Learning that this woman may have worked as a hostess at one of the many clubs around the city, Detective Shimizu begins sifting through them in the hopes of piecing things together and bringing some answers to the Americans. What begins as a simple inquiry soon explodes as many of the other ‘foreigner rail suicides’ have similar traits. Might there be a woman out there, targeting foreign businessmen and making their deaths look self-determined? The race is on, even after Detective Shimizu has a suspect in mind, as she is ready to start a new life on the other side of the world. Using the case to distract him from his own recent loses, Hiroshi Shimizu will stop at nothing while there is a killer on the loose. A well-developed police procedural with a Japanese flair, sure to entice those who enjoy something a little different in their reads.
I have often found myself enjoying other international police procedurals that steer away from the traditional American story. While most of them also permit the reader to experience other linguistic and cultural experiences—read: translation and written by a national of the country used in the setting—Pronko writes effectively about Japan while being an American and knowing what appeals to that reading base. The Hiroshi Shimizu character is both the quintessential Japanese detective yet full of all things American. His backstory is one that bridges the two conflicting cultures, having been educated in the States and yet still holding his Japanese background close to the chest. Shimizu is also working through the recent deterioration of his relationship, using the case to distract him from great loss. His understanding of both cultures helps propel him through this case, while also entertaining the reader with each passing chapter. Pronko fills his novel with other interesting characters, all of whom help create the ultimate Japanese experience for the reader. This not only supports Hiroshi Shimizu, but also offers a flavourful addition to the narrative that I found highly unique. Taking what would (unfortunately) be a common occurrence in Japan and turning it into a criminal matter is a wonderful idea, giving the reader an inside look on the culture of Japanese understanding of suicide and the fast-pace nature of the city. Pronko immerses the reader in all things Japanese throughout, using words, customs, and cultural references to leave little doubt when the novel takes place. This is certainly a treat for lovers of police procedurals and should not be a book overlooked by those who want a wonderful read that does not diminish in its intensity.
Kudos, Mr. Pronko, for a wonderful opening to this series. I will have to get my hands on the next novel to see what Detective Hiroshi Shimizu has in store for us next.
This book fulfils Topic #4:The Initial Hook in the Equinox #7 Reading Challenge.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
I have often found myself enjoying other international police procedurals that steer away from the traditional American story. While most of them also permit the reader to experience other linguistic and cultural experiences—read: translation and written by a national of the country used in the setting—Pronko writes effectively about Japan while being an American and knowing what appeals to that reading base. The Hiroshi Shimizu character is both the quintessential Japanese detective yet full of all things American. His backstory is one that bridges the two conflicting cultures, having been educated in the States and yet still holding his Japanese background close to the chest. Shimizu is also working through the recent deterioration of his relationship, using the case to distract him from great loss. His understanding of both cultures helps propel him through this case, while also entertaining the reader with each passing chapter. Pronko fills his novel with other interesting characters, all of whom help create the ultimate Japanese experience for the reader. This not only supports Hiroshi Shimizu, but also offers a flavourful addition to the narrative that I found highly unique. Taking what would (unfortunately) be a common occurrence in Japan and turning it into a criminal matter is a wonderful idea, giving the reader an inside look on the culture of Japanese understanding of suicide and the fast-pace nature of the city. Pronko immerses the reader in all things Japanese throughout, using words, customs, and cultural references to leave little doubt when the novel takes place. This is certainly a treat for lovers of police procedurals and should not be a book overlooked by those who want a wonderful read that does not diminish in its intensity.
Kudos, Mr. Pronko, for a wonderful opening to this series. I will have to get my hands on the next novel to see what Detective Hiroshi Shimizu has in store for us next.
This book fulfils Topic #4:The Initial Hook in the Equinox #7 Reading Challenge.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
December 15, 2017
When I interviewed Michael on my blog last year, he described The Last Train as ‘more whydunit than whodunit’ and having now read the book I can certainly understood why he said that. Much of the excitement of the book comes from following detective Hiroshi Shimizu in his attempts to identify and track down the mysterious woman who committed the murder. The trail leads Hiroshi from the flashy malls and smart high-rise buildings to the decidedly seedier world of hostess clubs and bars. As the author explains, “…in the novel, I wanted to look beneath the surface. The giant skyscrapers and constant construction are amazing, but there’s a lot going on behind the go-go big-city bright-lights, and a lot of it not so good.”
As the investigation progresses, Hiroshi begins to understand the threat he faces from vested interests who may be involved in the shady dealings he starts to uncover. He also starts to realise just what a clever and ruthless opponent he is up against and to get an inkling of the motivation that drives her. When the full facts are revealed you may find yourself questioning where true justice lies.
What really sets The Last Train apart from other run-of-the-mill crime thrillers for me was its Tokyo setting. I loved learning all about Japanese culture and customs. Take this scene in which Hiroshi and his boss, Takamatsu, drink sake together in the traditional manner.
‘The master pulled back a brown curtain over a glass-sided refrigerator filled with sake bottles. He pulled out two small chilled glasses from the top shelf and set these on the upper counter inside small, square, cedar wood boxes. The master shuffled the dozen or so bottles inside the fridge until he found the ones he wanted. Carrying these to the counter, he hoisted the large bottle of cold sake and, cradling it in the crook of his arm, poured out the clear, clean liquid. The sake flowed gently over the top of the lip of the glass into the box, arousing the aroma of cedar and fresh rice. He poured out sake from a different bottle for Hiroshi and placed both bottles on the counter so that each displayed the artful calligraphy of their labels.
They bowed down like penitents to take the first sip without spilling. Then they plucked up the small, thumb-sized glasses for a silent toast before downing the second gulp. Finally, they poured the spill-over from the cedar box into the glass, took another sip, and set their half-full glasses back inside the wet cedar boxes.’
The book cleverly brings to life the intriguing juxtaposition of ancient and modern that exists in Japan. So you have temples and prayer rituals, the elaborate customs for greeting and for drinking tea. But at the same time you have the modern malls full of shops selling up-to-the-minute designer goods and the latest technology, and the packed subways and neon-lit sidewalks of Roppongi.
‘People streamed out of subway exits, slid out of taxis, and stepped off bus after bus. Hordes of office workers in dull gray pants and dark skirts blocked corners, shouting directions into their cell phones to those yet to arrive. Fashion-conscious hipsters, mini-skirted amateurs, and yakuza wannabes walked to their favourite places to play, eat, drink, or work.’
The work culture with its emphasis on drinking with colleagues after work, to my eyes at least, seems particularly alien and the position of women quite regressive with real antipathy in some quarters towards women whose behaviour is considered ‘un-Japanese’.
I really enjoyed The Last Train for both its compelling storyline and its use of Tokyo as a location. Luckily for me – and I suspect, other readers – the author is working on two further books in the series: Japan Hand, which explores the relationship between Japan and the American military bases; and Thai Girl in Tokyo, which has two great female characters navigating the dangers of Shibuya’s underground nightlife. Both books are due for publication in 2018.
As the investigation progresses, Hiroshi begins to understand the threat he faces from vested interests who may be involved in the shady dealings he starts to uncover. He also starts to realise just what a clever and ruthless opponent he is up against and to get an inkling of the motivation that drives her. When the full facts are revealed you may find yourself questioning where true justice lies.
What really sets The Last Train apart from other run-of-the-mill crime thrillers for me was its Tokyo setting. I loved learning all about Japanese culture and customs. Take this scene in which Hiroshi and his boss, Takamatsu, drink sake together in the traditional manner.
‘The master pulled back a brown curtain over a glass-sided refrigerator filled with sake bottles. He pulled out two small chilled glasses from the top shelf and set these on the upper counter inside small, square, cedar wood boxes. The master shuffled the dozen or so bottles inside the fridge until he found the ones he wanted. Carrying these to the counter, he hoisted the large bottle of cold sake and, cradling it in the crook of his arm, poured out the clear, clean liquid. The sake flowed gently over the top of the lip of the glass into the box, arousing the aroma of cedar and fresh rice. He poured out sake from a different bottle for Hiroshi and placed both bottles on the counter so that each displayed the artful calligraphy of their labels.
They bowed down like penitents to take the first sip without spilling. Then they plucked up the small, thumb-sized glasses for a silent toast before downing the second gulp. Finally, they poured the spill-over from the cedar box into the glass, took another sip, and set their half-full glasses back inside the wet cedar boxes.’
The book cleverly brings to life the intriguing juxtaposition of ancient and modern that exists in Japan. So you have temples and prayer rituals, the elaborate customs for greeting and for drinking tea. But at the same time you have the modern malls full of shops selling up-to-the-minute designer goods and the latest technology, and the packed subways and neon-lit sidewalks of Roppongi.
‘People streamed out of subway exits, slid out of taxis, and stepped off bus after bus. Hordes of office workers in dull gray pants and dark skirts blocked corners, shouting directions into their cell phones to those yet to arrive. Fashion-conscious hipsters, mini-skirted amateurs, and yakuza wannabes walked to their favourite places to play, eat, drink, or work.’
The work culture with its emphasis on drinking with colleagues after work, to my eyes at least, seems particularly alien and the position of women quite regressive with real antipathy in some quarters towards women whose behaviour is considered ‘un-Japanese’.
I really enjoyed The Last Train for both its compelling storyline and its use of Tokyo as a location. Luckily for me – and I suspect, other readers – the author is working on two further books in the series: Japan Hand, which explores the relationship between Japan and the American military bases; and Thai Girl in Tokyo, which has two great female characters navigating the dangers of Shibuya’s underground nightlife. Both books are due for publication in 2018.
June 3, 2021
What a unique story we are treated to in The Last Train. Great title incidentally and beautifully told with passion and pathos.
We quickly learn who is the murderer but we don’t get the why they kill other than an implied motive of financial gain.
The homicide department desperately needs the services of an English speaker as the case involves foreigners and Hiroshi fits the bill. He has not been out much in recent weeks mopping about in his special office all by himself, pleaded not to mix after his relationship breakdown. So the move into a more active role may help him plus he has good accounting skills and this case seems to involve large investments.
He is a very considered operator and the rest of the team quickly warm to him. His boss Takamatsu is a less open policeman with a whiff of corruption and irregularities in a previous case and their differences make for a good partnership. They socialise a great deal too, even before Hiroshi joined the murder squad and being Japan this involves wild nights on the town, too much alcohol and fuzzy recollections.
So the murderer. We follow their story in parallel with the investigation which is a good old fashioned police procedural but set in Tokyo.
This approach of the police being many steps behind the allusive assailant, coupled with the rich culture and Japanese life becoming so real, rising from each page ensures the novel is interesting and full of action and mystery.
We wonder how the killer acts with such little respect for life until their backstory is slowly shared.
We move from one of judgement to understanding and empathy as revenge seems to be the motive and a metering out of a different but deserved justice.
After Scandinavian Noir we seem to be able to access more stories which could be seen as a new trend and rediscovered writings forming Oriental Noir. I have read a number of novels now set in Japan. In The Last Train I gain a new author and fresh excitement into this alien world to me.
I love the culture here set around the world of clubs and nightspots where hostesses are the professional escorts and a rich tapestry of sex and intrigue abounds. A night out for the two detectives appears little different to the case they must pursue visiting clubs where no one is keen to assist the police.
The action and thrilling set pieces are brilliant transcribed into words that have energy and pace so the book rattled along like the many train journeys around the city.
I was left every time I picked up the story with fresh nuances and a desire to read on and solve the mystery of the case - not who did it but why.
A riveting read opening up a fresh vista of a foreign world. I loved the space for reflection, Chinese proverbs and personal growth through meditation and martial arts. I feel I have walked those streets, ate the simple meals and cowered as an express thundered through the station.
We quickly learn who is the murderer but we don’t get the why they kill other than an implied motive of financial gain.
The homicide department desperately needs the services of an English speaker as the case involves foreigners and Hiroshi fits the bill. He has not been out much in recent weeks mopping about in his special office all by himself, pleaded not to mix after his relationship breakdown. So the move into a more active role may help him plus he has good accounting skills and this case seems to involve large investments.
He is a very considered operator and the rest of the team quickly warm to him. His boss Takamatsu is a less open policeman with a whiff of corruption and irregularities in a previous case and their differences make for a good partnership. They socialise a great deal too, even before Hiroshi joined the murder squad and being Japan this involves wild nights on the town, too much alcohol and fuzzy recollections.
So the murderer. We follow their story in parallel with the investigation which is a good old fashioned police procedural but set in Tokyo.
This approach of the police being many steps behind the allusive assailant, coupled with the rich culture and Japanese life becoming so real, rising from each page ensures the novel is interesting and full of action and mystery.
We wonder how the killer acts with such little respect for life until their backstory is slowly shared.
We move from one of judgement to understanding and empathy as revenge seems to be the motive and a metering out of a different but deserved justice.
After Scandinavian Noir we seem to be able to access more stories which could be seen as a new trend and rediscovered writings forming Oriental Noir. I have read a number of novels now set in Japan. In The Last Train I gain a new author and fresh excitement into this alien world to me.
I love the culture here set around the world of clubs and nightspots where hostesses are the professional escorts and a rich tapestry of sex and intrigue abounds. A night out for the two detectives appears little different to the case they must pursue visiting clubs where no one is keen to assist the police.
The action and thrilling set pieces are brilliant transcribed into words that have energy and pace so the book rattled along like the many train journeys around the city.
I was left every time I picked up the story with fresh nuances and a desire to read on and solve the mystery of the case - not who did it but why.
A riveting read opening up a fresh vista of a foreign world. I loved the space for reflection, Chinese proverbs and personal growth through meditation and martial arts. I feel I have walked those streets, ate the simple meals and cowered as an express thundered through the station.
June 25, 2019
The question is not Who but Why? Why would a beautiful young Japanese woman murder a drunken middle-aged American businessman? Why would she not merely push him off the train platform, but instead hurls him bodily? Why would she then slip into a cab and alight at the Yushima Tenjin Shinto shrine where she offers up a prayer plaque?
Michiko Suzuki. The name means nothing without a context, without a backstory. Author Michael Pronko supplies these incrementally with cryptic conversations and fragmented memories. Until some of the pieces fall in place, Michiko Suzuki remains an opaque presence: “Her lips were set as rigid as a Noh mask.” (Location 112)
Detective Hiroshi Shimizu, in contrast, might be described as wearing his heart on his sleeve. Emotions overwhelm him. His long-term girlfriend, an American, has recently left him, unable to adapt to the reality of Japan behind the picturesque shrines and ceremonies. There are social expectations that cannot be ignored. Friendships entail obligations, and as a new hire in the Tokyo Police Department, Hiroshi has numerous obligations. She can't understand why he buries himself in work and spends long evenings drinking with colleagues.
Educated in America, he is fluent in both the English language and the unspoken nuances of the western world. He was hired to work white collar crime, to liaison with law enforcement agencies outside of Japan. His expertise is in credit card fraud, theft, blackmail, embezzlement. However, a hard-drinking, chain-smoking, street-wise detective named Takamatsu has taken him under his wing to clue him into the sketchy underbelly of the city. Fed up, the girlfriend leaves and boxes of her packed possessions still fill the apartment. Hiroshi cannot summon the energy to ship the boxes. It would confirm the finality of his aloneness.
When Takamatsu draws the train fatality case, he orders Hiroshi to the grisly scene at the platform. Repulsed, Hiroshi argues that surely this must be a case of suicide. Case closed. Takamatsu counters: “Foreigners don't commit suicide ….Not in Tokyo anyway.” (Location 245) Hiroshi argues: “It looks like a suicide.” Takamatsu counsels: “'How things look and how they are...' Takamatsu shrugged.” (Location 282) He has another reason for insisting on a thorough investigation. The authorities don't like mysterious deaths of wealthy foreigners.
Amid the fragments of the victims body the police discover a packet of business cards which lead them to the Roppongi, a red light district vividly described by Pronko: “The overhead writing in all the Japanese scripts, romaji, hiragana, katakana and kangi blurred with foreign words into a cross-word puzzle of decadence and desire. Light cascaded out of these mini-marquees that climbed the buildings like electric ivy.” (Location 628) Behind the wealth and faux glamour are the discreetly hidden power brokers, fed by the money that pours into these venues. They are an invisible feudal network in a symbiotic relationship with the competing foreign businesses hungry for corporate intelligence and connections.
Pronko draws a grim picture of this new Japan where small businesses are victimized by extortion, swallowed by developers, and destroyed by boom and bust cycles. Changing values and fractured social classes are illustrated in a simple conversation. The detectives interview an aged worker in one of the nearly defunct factories. The man is surly and reticent. One of the detectives, an ex-sumo wrestler named Sakaguchi, speaks up. “Sakaguchi switched into his thick Osaka accent and said, 'This place reminds me of my uncle's shop. Shops like this built this country....You still machine parts here?....We made everything in our time.' The man said, his focus shifting toward Sakaguchi. 'Until the big companies cut our orders and let us rust to death.'” (Location 3480)
By far, the most intriguing character in this book is the beautiful murderer Michiko Suzuki. However, the supporting cast is a colorful collection as well. Takamatsu is deep into dangerous off-the-books undercover activities and displays an alarming lack of caution. Hiroshi finally gets an assistant named Akiko. She is sharp-witted and and resourceful. This is the first in what promises to be an entertaining and informative mystery series.
Michiko Suzuki. The name means nothing without a context, without a backstory. Author Michael Pronko supplies these incrementally with cryptic conversations and fragmented memories. Until some of the pieces fall in place, Michiko Suzuki remains an opaque presence: “Her lips were set as rigid as a Noh mask.” (Location 112)
Detective Hiroshi Shimizu, in contrast, might be described as wearing his heart on his sleeve. Emotions overwhelm him. His long-term girlfriend, an American, has recently left him, unable to adapt to the reality of Japan behind the picturesque shrines and ceremonies. There are social expectations that cannot be ignored. Friendships entail obligations, and as a new hire in the Tokyo Police Department, Hiroshi has numerous obligations. She can't understand why he buries himself in work and spends long evenings drinking with colleagues.
Educated in America, he is fluent in both the English language and the unspoken nuances of the western world. He was hired to work white collar crime, to liaison with law enforcement agencies outside of Japan. His expertise is in credit card fraud, theft, blackmail, embezzlement. However, a hard-drinking, chain-smoking, street-wise detective named Takamatsu has taken him under his wing to clue him into the sketchy underbelly of the city. Fed up, the girlfriend leaves and boxes of her packed possessions still fill the apartment. Hiroshi cannot summon the energy to ship the boxes. It would confirm the finality of his aloneness.
When Takamatsu draws the train fatality case, he orders Hiroshi to the grisly scene at the platform. Repulsed, Hiroshi argues that surely this must be a case of suicide. Case closed. Takamatsu counters: “Foreigners don't commit suicide ….Not in Tokyo anyway.” (Location 245) Hiroshi argues: “It looks like a suicide.” Takamatsu counsels: “'How things look and how they are...' Takamatsu shrugged.” (Location 282) He has another reason for insisting on a thorough investigation. The authorities don't like mysterious deaths of wealthy foreigners.
Amid the fragments of the victims body the police discover a packet of business cards which lead them to the Roppongi, a red light district vividly described by Pronko: “The overhead writing in all the Japanese scripts, romaji, hiragana, katakana and kangi blurred with foreign words into a cross-word puzzle of decadence and desire. Light cascaded out of these mini-marquees that climbed the buildings like electric ivy.” (Location 628) Behind the wealth and faux glamour are the discreetly hidden power brokers, fed by the money that pours into these venues. They are an invisible feudal network in a symbiotic relationship with the competing foreign businesses hungry for corporate intelligence and connections.
Pronko draws a grim picture of this new Japan where small businesses are victimized by extortion, swallowed by developers, and destroyed by boom and bust cycles. Changing values and fractured social classes are illustrated in a simple conversation. The detectives interview an aged worker in one of the nearly defunct factories. The man is surly and reticent. One of the detectives, an ex-sumo wrestler named Sakaguchi, speaks up. “Sakaguchi switched into his thick Osaka accent and said, 'This place reminds me of my uncle's shop. Shops like this built this country....You still machine parts here?....We made everything in our time.' The man said, his focus shifting toward Sakaguchi. 'Until the big companies cut our orders and let us rust to death.'” (Location 3480)
By far, the most intriguing character in this book is the beautiful murderer Michiko Suzuki. However, the supporting cast is a colorful collection as well. Takamatsu is deep into dangerous off-the-books undercover activities and displays an alarming lack of caution. Hiroshi finally gets an assistant named Akiko. She is sharp-witted and and resourceful. This is the first in what promises to be an entertaining and informative mystery series.
June 29, 2017
Thrilling, enthralling mystery
The Last Train is a sensational mystery that reveals an underside of Tokyo few people see. A suspensful page turner, The Last Train is filled with rich, complex characters. As the mystery unfolds, you feel like you're walking in Detective Hiroshi Shimizu's shoes, as he works to unravel not just the who, but why of the murders he's investigating.
The Last Train captures Tokyo life with crisp prose: "Out of the underpass, toward the station, people walked briskly in one homeward-bound herd."
The Last Train is an exciting, labyrinthine thriller.
The Last Train is a sensational mystery that reveals an underside of Tokyo few people see. A suspensful page turner, The Last Train is filled with rich, complex characters. As the mystery unfolds, you feel like you're walking in Detective Hiroshi Shimizu's shoes, as he works to unravel not just the who, but why of the murders he's investigating.
The Last Train captures Tokyo life with crisp prose: "Out of the underpass, toward the station, people walked briskly in one homeward-bound herd."
The Last Train is an exciting, labyrinthine thriller.
April 6, 2020
I really liked the first half of this book . I really liked the different location it was set in. I thought the story moved at a good pace and that the dialogue was good and for the most part the story made sense. I liked the first half way more than the second half which lagged a little bit. I often don't like who the bad person is but in this book it did not bother me that much. I was not crazy about the back stories which brought down the book for me-they did affect the tempo. I thought the main characters were good. I just thought the difference from the first half to the second half was just too much back stories and I could only give this book 3.4 stars. It is not horrible and if you really need something to read and maybe you can give it a spin.
September 20, 2020
Ingeniously realized Tokyo police procedural about homicides masquerading as suicides by defenestration into oncoming trains. Reluctant Homicide Detective Hiroshi Shimizu soon knows the "who" perpetrating the murders but the interesting thrust of the book is the search for the "why". What I found entertaining was the stark originality of the characters and plot premise. It's most assuredly not a "me too" police procedural/serial killer hunt.
January 9, 2020
4.5 stars
A fine first effort by Pronko. Many parts of Japan come alive to me in this book for the first time, in spite of my interest and study of Japan for 50 years now. The author has lived in Japan for decades, and his authority about the culture and behaviour of people in Japan is superb.
The mystery is very good, while the villain is clearly seen from the first chapter. That this evil person slowly becomes more human, and even sympathetic, is a tribute to Pronko's skill.
As usual with my reviews, please first read the publisher’s blurb/summary of the book. Thank you.
Michael Pronko
Very nice. The first third includes a somewhat haphazard investigation, slowly paced, along with terrific detailed descriptions of modern Japanese life, culture and homes.
In the second third, the real investigation begins to yield some results and the paces picks up.
In the final 1/3, our police heroes zero in on the villain, no longer a villain to us, and Hiroshi's sympathy for her is admirable.
Throughout there is fine prose, sometimes exquisite, and much of my favourite kind of character: The Philosopher-detective.
A fine first effort.
Notes and some very fine quotes:
His overstuffed suit and rambling walk marked him as a foreigner, and a very drunk one. His knees popped and locked like a cheap robot with rundown batteries. He swayed from the booze inside him, or something more, beyond the fatigue and freedom of Tokyo.
-
His building was eight stories high and sat on a hill whose steep slope was tiring to climb at the end of a long day. In the morning, the angle seemed to rush him downhill toward work faster than he wanted. From below, the city looked gray on gray with the heavy rain, but once he was eight floors up, the nightscape of Tokyo unveiled itself like a glistening dream.
-
Everything was a trap if you looked at it closely—the boxes, framed photos, the apartment, his office. Sleeping in the office, on the sofa or waking up to take calls at all hours was like college dorm life, with the feeling that everything in life was still coming and nothing at all was yet settled.
-
As the body bag rolled past them, Takamatsu, Hiroshi, Sakaguchi, and the younger detectives all bowed their heads with their palms together in prayer. Each of the train workers folded their hands and bowed their heads as the body rolled down the platform, into the elevator and out to the waiting ambulance.
-
“As for motive,” continued Akiko, “If it’s a woman killing a man, I can think of a million reasons.”
-
We learn some background of the villain.
-
“Anguish rules most people’s lives. With their troubles as their main focus, they live off-balance and disordered.” Hiroshi looked down at the gravel. “I guess that’s why people become detectives. They want balance and order.” “That’s why people become monks, too!” The abbot smiled.
-
A lovely meeting with the abbot of the temple.
Looking across the courtyard, the abbot continued, “I instructed the young monks today to contemplate death as they worked.”
“You wanted them to learn about death?”
“I wanted them to learn from death.”
The abbot looked at Hiroshi with an intensity that made him turn away. “Death is a strict teacher, but the lessons are crucial.”
Hiroshi managed to look up at him again and replied, “It’s hard to learn about death, about desire.”
“It’s harder not to,” the abbot said, and turned and walked away.
Hiroshi bowed to the abbot’s receding figure. He stood there and felt the wind—moist with impending rain—blow across the temple grounds. He stood listening to the rustle of tree leaves and the clack of the ema swinging into place, wondering if his senses—the feel and sound and look of the world—were all an illusion, too.
-
“Falling leaves return to their roots,” he said, quoting a Chinese saying.
-
Sato sensei liked to talk about the Japanese spirit—part of the falling leaves returning to roots, he said—in old stories like the Chushingura with the 47 ronin, master-less samurai who avenged their master’s honor after waiting for years. He talked about how the soul of modern civilization—not just in Japan, but in America, too—had lost direction.
“Honorable revenge was necessary. It was a form of justice. But now,” he shook his head. “Now, who would notice?”
“Justice is still a matter of honor, isn’t it?”
“For those ronin, it was more important than death. They knew how to suffer small disgraces in pursuit of their goal.”
“But sensei,” Michiko protested. “In Japan, women have always been ronin.”
Sato sensei grunted, “Times have changed.”
“But that’s stayed the same,” she insisted. “Women are still in exile, enduring their suffering, waiting for their moment.”
-
Sei Shonagon’s The Pillow Book and the classic treatise of bushido—Hagakure, In the Shadow of Leaves.
-
Hiroshi finds the small, broken woman as she dies:
A small crystal bottle slipped partway out of her bag, broken open so the scent of lotus flowers drifted up as the perfume became diluted with blood and rain. Her face pointed skyward, untouched, her eyes closed into two gentle brushstrokes and for a moment her lips looked as flushed as if she’d just been kissed, turning pale as they cooled. Hiroshi leaned over her to push back a bloodied strand of hair. He brushed his fingers over her cheek, a moment’s comfort before her soul slipped away. He pulled her shawl over her as the raindrops washed her skin clean.
.
A fine first effort by Pronko. Many parts of Japan come alive to me in this book for the first time, in spite of my interest and study of Japan for 50 years now. The author has lived in Japan for decades, and his authority about the culture and behaviour of people in Japan is superb.
The mystery is very good, while the villain is clearly seen from the first chapter. That this evil person slowly becomes more human, and even sympathetic, is a tribute to Pronko's skill.
As usual with my reviews, please first read the publisher’s blurb/summary of the book. Thank you.
Michael Pronko
Very nice. The first third includes a somewhat haphazard investigation, slowly paced, along with terrific detailed descriptions of modern Japanese life, culture and homes.
In the second third, the real investigation begins to yield some results and the paces picks up.
In the final 1/3, our police heroes zero in on the villain, no longer a villain to us, and Hiroshi's sympathy for her is admirable.
Throughout there is fine prose, sometimes exquisite, and much of my favourite kind of character: The Philosopher-detective.
A fine first effort.
Notes and some very fine quotes:
His overstuffed suit and rambling walk marked him as a foreigner, and a very drunk one. His knees popped and locked like a cheap robot with rundown batteries. He swayed from the booze inside him, or something more, beyond the fatigue and freedom of Tokyo.
-
His building was eight stories high and sat on a hill whose steep slope was tiring to climb at the end of a long day. In the morning, the angle seemed to rush him downhill toward work faster than he wanted. From below, the city looked gray on gray with the heavy rain, but once he was eight floors up, the nightscape of Tokyo unveiled itself like a glistening dream.
-
Everything was a trap if you looked at it closely—the boxes, framed photos, the apartment, his office. Sleeping in the office, on the sofa or waking up to take calls at all hours was like college dorm life, with the feeling that everything in life was still coming and nothing at all was yet settled.
-
As the body bag rolled past them, Takamatsu, Hiroshi, Sakaguchi, and the younger detectives all bowed their heads with their palms together in prayer. Each of the train workers folded their hands and bowed their heads as the body rolled down the platform, into the elevator and out to the waiting ambulance.
-
“As for motive,” continued Akiko, “If it’s a woman killing a man, I can think of a million reasons.”
-
We learn some background of the villain.
-
“Anguish rules most people’s lives. With their troubles as their main focus, they live off-balance and disordered.” Hiroshi looked down at the gravel. “I guess that’s why people become detectives. They want balance and order.” “That’s why people become monks, too!” The abbot smiled.
-
A lovely meeting with the abbot of the temple.
Looking across the courtyard, the abbot continued, “I instructed the young monks today to contemplate death as they worked.”
“You wanted them to learn about death?”
“I wanted them to learn from death.”
The abbot looked at Hiroshi with an intensity that made him turn away. “Death is a strict teacher, but the lessons are crucial.”
Hiroshi managed to look up at him again and replied, “It’s hard to learn about death, about desire.”
“It’s harder not to,” the abbot said, and turned and walked away.
Hiroshi bowed to the abbot’s receding figure. He stood there and felt the wind—moist with impending rain—blow across the temple grounds. He stood listening to the rustle of tree leaves and the clack of the ema swinging into place, wondering if his senses—the feel and sound and look of the world—were all an illusion, too.
-
“Falling leaves return to their roots,” he said, quoting a Chinese saying.
-
Sato sensei liked to talk about the Japanese spirit—part of the falling leaves returning to roots, he said—in old stories like the Chushingura with the 47 ronin, master-less samurai who avenged their master’s honor after waiting for years. He talked about how the soul of modern civilization—not just in Japan, but in America, too—had lost direction.
“Honorable revenge was necessary. It was a form of justice. But now,” he shook his head. “Now, who would notice?”
“Justice is still a matter of honor, isn’t it?”
“For those ronin, it was more important than death. They knew how to suffer small disgraces in pursuit of their goal.”
“But sensei,” Michiko protested. “In Japan, women have always been ronin.”
Sato sensei grunted, “Times have changed.”
“But that’s stayed the same,” she insisted. “Women are still in exile, enduring their suffering, waiting for their moment.”
-
Sei Shonagon’s The Pillow Book and the classic treatise of bushido—Hagakure, In the Shadow of Leaves.
-
Hiroshi finds the small, broken woman as she dies:
A small crystal bottle slipped partway out of her bag, broken open so the scent of lotus flowers drifted up as the perfume became diluted with blood and rain. Her face pointed skyward, untouched, her eyes closed into two gentle brushstrokes and for a moment her lips looked as flushed as if she’d just been kissed, turning pale as they cooled. Hiroshi leaned over her to push back a bloodied strand of hair. He brushed his fingers over her cheek, a moment’s comfort before her soul slipped away. He pulled her shawl over her as the raindrops washed her skin clean.
.
May 25, 2017
What ingredients do you need to cook up an engaging police procedural set in Tokyo? I’d say you ought to have a conflicted detective not sure what the hell he was doing. Perhaps he's reeling from a relationship gone sour, possibly on the verge of alcoholism, and wondering if he still could cut the mustard personally and professionally. You ought to have a victim that English-language readers could readily identify with, say an American businessman finding himself out of his depth in a strange foreign land. Throw in insights into life on the seedier side of Japan, say in the hostess bars and love hotels of Roppongi, and you’d have a pretty spicy dish. But what else would you need to set your creation apart from the rest?
Ahh, a villain.
And it’s the villain that marks Pronko’s first crime novel as something both familiar and surprising. Familiar because every hard-boiled tale needs a femme fatale, but surprising because this one, Michiko, is not your typical ninja-esque slinky-sleeved assassin as seen on TV. No. She’s a dutiful daughter, a respecter of the Japanese feminine ideal, but also independently minded, she's prepared to do whatever it takes to exact justice as she sees fit. To man up in a man’s world. No small order in Japan.
As Pronko dishes up observations on life in Tokyo, we can’t help but learn what spices flavour the city, how crime is as much a consequence of a rigid society's ills as any individual's, and delicious ironies are sprinkled throughout. I chuckled when some sumo-sized thugs trying to intimidate our hero set off the overweight buzzer on a typically tiny Tokyo lift. And you’d be a cold fish indeed not to feel sympathy for the villain.
Pronko spends a little too long tying up loose ends after the mystery is solved to my taste, but it's a small quibble to make of an accomplished first novel. And he has two more in the series being edited now. I’ll definitively be tucking in to the full course. Highly recommended for lovers of crime thrillers or anyone with an interest in Japan.
I was lucky enough to interview the author, and he talked more about the experience of writing The Last Train at the link below. Enjoy!
https://patricksherriff.com/2017/05/2...
Ahh, a villain.
And it’s the villain that marks Pronko’s first crime novel as something both familiar and surprising. Familiar because every hard-boiled tale needs a femme fatale, but surprising because this one, Michiko, is not your typical ninja-esque slinky-sleeved assassin as seen on TV. No. She’s a dutiful daughter, a respecter of the Japanese feminine ideal, but also independently minded, she's prepared to do whatever it takes to exact justice as she sees fit. To man up in a man’s world. No small order in Japan.
As Pronko dishes up observations on life in Tokyo, we can’t help but learn what spices flavour the city, how crime is as much a consequence of a rigid society's ills as any individual's, and delicious ironies are sprinkled throughout. I chuckled when some sumo-sized thugs trying to intimidate our hero set off the overweight buzzer on a typically tiny Tokyo lift. And you’d be a cold fish indeed not to feel sympathy for the villain.
Pronko spends a little too long tying up loose ends after the mystery is solved to my taste, but it's a small quibble to make of an accomplished first novel. And he has two more in the series being edited now. I’ll definitively be tucking in to the full course. Highly recommended for lovers of crime thrillers or anyone with an interest in Japan.
I was lucky enough to interview the author, and he talked more about the experience of writing The Last Train at the link below. Enjoy!
https://patricksherriff.com/2017/05/2...
May 20, 2018
This book was engaging enough to keep me turning the pages, but never enough to genuinely make me care about the characters and what was happening to them. There are a number of plot devices used as a shorthand for actual character development - broken relationships, corrupt cops, lascivious men ready to take advantage of hostesses, and the unpardonable sexual assault as character development for the female character. They do not fit well together into the whole and I was constantly taken out of the story every time the main character's ex-girlfriend is mentioned, indicating that I should feel the angst of the character even though there is not much in the writing to actually justify that. I kept reading the broadly predictable plot in the hope that the antagonist would get the nuance and depth that would make me want her to win. The poorly written sexual assault backstory isn't what she, and the readers, deserved.
August 1, 2020
Set in Tokyo, Detective Hiroshi is on the hunt for a beautiful woman who killed an American business man by pushing him onto the train tracks.
A well-written, nicely paced and at times complex read featuring a strong female villainous. As i got to know Michiko more and what motivated her i found myself rooting for her. It was an interesting peek into Japanese culture especially the hostess world and how women as a whole are treated in Japan. Detective Hiroshi has problems with the women in his life, works long hours, and drinks too much. Police are all the same no matter what country.
The author is an American professor of American literature in Japan so nothing was lost in translation. I look forward to spending time with Detective Hiroshi again.
Heaven has no rage, like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury, like a woman scorned. Amen.
A well-written, nicely paced and at times complex read featuring a strong female villainous. As i got to know Michiko more and what motivated her i found myself rooting for her. It was an interesting peek into Japanese culture especially the hostess world and how women as a whole are treated in Japan. Detective Hiroshi has problems with the women in his life, works long hours, and drinks too much. Police are all the same no matter what country.
The author is an American professor of American literature in Japan so nothing was lost in translation. I look forward to spending time with Detective Hiroshi again.
Heaven has no rage, like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury, like a woman scorned. Amen.
December 9, 2022
Detective Hiroshi is in a bad way, His wife has left him, and he spends almost all of his time in his office. He doesn't even go home.
Then an American is ran over by a train. Is it suicide or murder? Because he is fluent in English, Hiroshi is roped into the investigation. It seems there is camera footage of the victim being consorted by a woman. She looks like she may be a hostess, so Hiroshi has to start hitting the bars.
I was expecting something more Spenser-esque, to be honest. This isn't a bad book, but not what I expected. Much of it is an examination of manners and the Japanese economy.
Then an American is ran over by a train. Is it suicide or murder? Because he is fluent in English, Hiroshi is roped into the investigation. It seems there is camera footage of the victim being consorted by a woman. She looks like she may be a hostess, so Hiroshi has to start hitting the bars.
I was expecting something more Spenser-esque, to be honest. This isn't a bad book, but not what I expected. Much of it is an examination of manners and the Japanese economy.
February 26, 2018
Excellent ! Captured my attention and imagination from almost the first page. A good thriller and extremely interesting picture of today’s Tokyo (somewhere I have never been). Much better than other novels I have read about contemporary Japan.
Also as a journalist I just want to say that this book is very well edited— which I greatly appreciate! No typos and no stumbling syntax to throw off the reader’s concentration.
Also as a journalist I just want to say that this book is very well edited— which I greatly appreciate! No typos and no stumbling syntax to throw off the reader’s concentration.
May 16, 2017
Hiroshi is a forensic accountant for the Tokyo police, who gets more than he bargains for when he helps out an old friend on an investigation. Did that American throw himself in front of the train, or was he pushed?
Well plotted, with good flashbacks showing the villain’s motivation. The protagonist is also fleshed out well, with lots of light humorous touches because he doesn’t take himself too seriously. His new assistant and the sumo cops add to the small bites of hilarity, although some of that was lost in the scene that shows the Tokyo police find it perfectly okay to rough up a suspect; at least they put the shoulder back where they found it.
Michael Pronko is one of my fave non-fic writers; his essays on Japan are simply amazing. So it was a bit of a surprise to find that, in comparison to the smooth syntax of his non-fiction writings, this feels almost stilted, not nearly as graceful. It did get better as it went on, but early there was an overabundance of “He said.” Since most conversations are between two men, it’s useless, in addition to being boring. He did use “gurgled” once, which made me grin.
And the ending left me unsatisfied. The last death, be it suicide or not, doesn’t sit well with me as a fitting closeout for that character, especially after the reveal of the DVD, but maybe it’s a cultural thing. Other than that, it’s a good fun story with great characters that I did enjoy more as it went on.
3.5 pushed up to 4/5
Well plotted, with good flashbacks showing the villain’s motivation. The protagonist is also fleshed out well, with lots of light humorous touches because he doesn’t take himself too seriously. His new assistant and the sumo cops add to the small bites of hilarity, although some of that was lost in the scene that shows the Tokyo police find it perfectly okay to rough up a suspect; at least they put the shoulder back where they found it.
Michael Pronko is one of my fave non-fic writers; his essays on Japan are simply amazing. So it was a bit of a surprise to find that, in comparison to the smooth syntax of his non-fiction writings, this feels almost stilted, not nearly as graceful. It did get better as it went on, but early there was an overabundance of “He said.” Since most conversations are between two men, it’s useless, in addition to being boring. He did use “gurgled” once, which made me grin.
And the ending left me unsatisfied. The last death, be it suicide or not, doesn’t sit well with me as a fitting closeout for that character, especially after the reveal of the DVD, but maybe it’s a cultural thing. Other than that, it’s a good fun story with great characters that I did enjoy more as it went on.
3.5 pushed up to 4/5
February 6, 2020
At times depressing (but perhaps depressingly accurate) in its depiction of corruption within the Tokyo police force, harsh gender norms, and hostess life.
That would be fine, if the writing were compelling (it's often dragged down by what seem to be attempts at more "literary" prose...which sometimes just make me wonder, "why that verb? when in the history of the English language has that verb been used that way?")...if the story were compelling (ok, it's clear early on that it's revenge, the rest of the book is just dragging out the minutiae of the why)...if the mystery was suspenseful (half the time the protagonist and/or his coworkers on the police force are just plain incompetent to prevent us from cutting to the chase; too many moments in the story where I was like "Really? You're going to notice this suspicious thing and just let it slide? And how on earth does what you're doing qualify as investigation?")
Slices of life from Japan -- interesting! But stylistically and structurally, I'm left feeling not that impressed. Worst of all, I stuck around until the end hoping that the mystery would get more interesting, reveal some more depth...but alas, some shocks but no surprises, nothing that had me rethinking what happened earlier in the book.
I don't think I'll be reading subsequent books in this series.
That would be fine, if the writing were compelling (it's often dragged down by what seem to be attempts at more "literary" prose...which sometimes just make me wonder, "why that verb? when in the history of the English language has that verb been used that way?")...if the story were compelling (ok, it's clear early on that it's revenge, the rest of the book is just dragging out the minutiae of the why)...if the mystery was suspenseful (half the time the protagonist and/or his coworkers on the police force are just plain incompetent to prevent us from cutting to the chase; too many moments in the story where I was like "Really? You're going to notice this suspicious thing and just let it slide? And how on earth does what you're doing qualify as investigation?")
Slices of life from Japan -- interesting! But stylistically and structurally, I'm left feeling not that impressed. Worst of all, I stuck around until the end hoping that the mystery would get more interesting, reveal some more depth...but alas, some shocks but no surprises, nothing that had me rethinking what happened earlier in the book.
I don't think I'll be reading subsequent books in this series.
April 21, 2018
The Last Train by Michael Pronko will keep the readers on edge. A gripping thriller, it is full of suspense that will hit several emotions at once, nervousness, excitement, fear, hope and glee, as the genre is meant to be. However, what sets it apart is its linguistic eloquence. Yet, it is not another cheap thrill full of clichéd rhetoric, but a sophisticated Le Carre type. Set in Japan, it is a detective story in element. Tokyo lights up to nightclubs full of pizzazz. Murder takes place in its shadow. A story unfolding almost mysteriously, as night taxis pick up passengers and drop them at shadowy gates. Unnamed characters referred to as 'she' and 'he' are not fully identified until chapter 3. Which is also when readers find out about their real names and their jobs of tracking down investment scammers. Elusive murderers at large hatch devious plots. A potent package of Japan's extraordinary ambiguities unveil.
May 26, 2017
Set in Tokyo, this exotic crime thriller is a lightning-fast chase to the finish line that you won’t soon forget.
Mystery novels are known for far-flung locations, but Tokyo isn’t often on the map. With The Last Train, Michael Pronko takes his adopted hometown and uses it as the setting for this unconventional take on the whodunit, which turns the genre on its ear and focuses not on the who, but the lightning-fast chase to the finish line.
Check out the rest of my review at BestThrillers.com.
Mystery novels are known for far-flung locations, but Tokyo isn’t often on the map. With The Last Train, Michael Pronko takes his adopted hometown and uses it as the setting for this unconventional take on the whodunit, which turns the genre on its ear and focuses not on the who, but the lightning-fast chase to the finish line.
Check out the rest of my review at BestThrillers.com.
April 5, 2020
What made this story interesting is that it takes place in Japan--misty and rainy weather, crowded trains and sidewalks, shrines, lots of prostitutes. Actually, the descriptions of all the prostitutes was a bit much, and gives the impression that too many Japanese women make their money like that. Any way, interesting!!
August 21, 2017
Being a huge fan of Japanese crime fiction I admit to being particularly intrigued by THE LAST TRAIN. Set in Tokyo the viewpoint of this novel, written by an ex-pat American professor of American Literature at Meiji Gakuin University who has now lived in that city for twenty years, was a large part of this appeal.
Whatever elements there are that feed into THE LAST TRAIN, they have combined to create a fascinating police procedural / serial killer with a reason novel interwoven with aspects of Japanese tradition and culture. Things get underway pretty quickly, when we're introduced to a victim being led away from a bar district, absolutely hammered drunk, only to have him fall in front of an underground train. Obviously the first part of the investigation is to decide if this American man was an extreme form of suicide or a murder. Enter our detective hero - Detective Hiroshi Shimizu, a man who remembers fondly his time studying in America. Filled with regret over the loss of his foreign girlfriend, he is pulled into a murder investigation in a most unexpected manner. Shimizu is a white collar crime investigator - much more at home in the world of financial shenanigans and spreadsheets, it's via his mentor, Takamatsu that he finds himself included in a murder investigation that rapidly becomes a serial killer hunt. When his Takamatsu goes missing Shimizu teams up with ex-sumo wrestler Sakaguchi to track down that most unusual of things - a female serial killer.
The outsider's viewpoint really works well in the way that Tokyo life is observed and described. There's lots of little gems of information imparted as the action proceeds - from the food / the night life / the way that the nightclub and hostess world works, and there's great humour. It was impossible not to laugh out loud at sumo-sized thugs setting off overweight alarms in lifts, and an elderly man prepared to use machinery lathes as a lethal weapon if necessary.
Interestingly, even though it's an outsider viewpoint, it has an intrinsically Japanese feel to the novel - there's much to learn about the society, there's much to learn about the people, and there's much to admire in creating a female serial killer who is believable, and, more importantly sympathetic understandable.
Even with a little bit of heavy lifting towards the end dragging everything into line, THE LAST TRAIN is a really good novel for fans of crime fiction in general, and Asian crime in particular.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/revi...
Whatever elements there are that feed into THE LAST TRAIN, they have combined to create a fascinating police procedural / serial killer with a reason novel interwoven with aspects of Japanese tradition and culture. Things get underway pretty quickly, when we're introduced to a victim being led away from a bar district, absolutely hammered drunk, only to have him fall in front of an underground train. Obviously the first part of the investigation is to decide if this American man was an extreme form of suicide or a murder. Enter our detective hero - Detective Hiroshi Shimizu, a man who remembers fondly his time studying in America. Filled with regret over the loss of his foreign girlfriend, he is pulled into a murder investigation in a most unexpected manner. Shimizu is a white collar crime investigator - much more at home in the world of financial shenanigans and spreadsheets, it's via his mentor, Takamatsu that he finds himself included in a murder investigation that rapidly becomes a serial killer hunt. When his Takamatsu goes missing Shimizu teams up with ex-sumo wrestler Sakaguchi to track down that most unusual of things - a female serial killer.
The outsider's viewpoint really works well in the way that Tokyo life is observed and described. There's lots of little gems of information imparted as the action proceeds - from the food / the night life / the way that the nightclub and hostess world works, and there's great humour. It was impossible not to laugh out loud at sumo-sized thugs setting off overweight alarms in lifts, and an elderly man prepared to use machinery lathes as a lethal weapon if necessary.
Interestingly, even though it's an outsider viewpoint, it has an intrinsically Japanese feel to the novel - there's much to learn about the society, there's much to learn about the people, and there's much to admire in creating a female serial killer who is believable, and, more importantly sympathetic understandable.
Even with a little bit of heavy lifting towards the end dragging everything into line, THE LAST TRAIN is a really good novel for fans of crime fiction in general, and Asian crime in particular.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/revi...
May 22, 2017
4 and 1 / 2 stars
Detective Hiroshi Shimizu is fluent in English and is a white collar crime specialist in part of the murder squad but Hiroshi has never investigated a crime per se. He is more familiar with spreadsheets and graphs. But he is very smart and determined and the other police officers like him. When his friend Lieutenant Takamatsu asks for his assistance on a puzzling case involving and English-speaker, Hiroshi reluctantly goes along.
American Steve Devaux is found dead in Tokyo. He was hit by a train, but video surveillance shows he was not alone when it happened. There was a woman with him. A woman committing a murder is almost unheard of in Japan.
After Lieutenant Takamatsu goes missing, Hiroshi takes on the assistance of another officer. Sakaguchi is an ex-sumo wrestler who teams up with Hiroshi after Takamatsu goes missing. Together Hiroshi and Sakaguchi investigate both Takamatsu’s disappearance and Devaux’ murder.
The crowding, the fast pace, the bright lights of Japan; all these are brilliantly illustrated in this book. The differences in culture between the Japanese and the Western mind are described in great detail. This novel is both well written and plotted. It reminded me a great deal of the novels of Barry Lancet in its descriptiveness and pace. The characters were likeable and even humorous in places. The action was well-paced and built the suspense nicely.
I want to thank Netgalley and Raked Gravel Press for forwarding to me a copy of this great book to read.
Detective Hiroshi Shimizu is fluent in English and is a white collar crime specialist in part of the murder squad but Hiroshi has never investigated a crime per se. He is more familiar with spreadsheets and graphs. But he is very smart and determined and the other police officers like him. When his friend Lieutenant Takamatsu asks for his assistance on a puzzling case involving and English-speaker, Hiroshi reluctantly goes along.
American Steve Devaux is found dead in Tokyo. He was hit by a train, but video surveillance shows he was not alone when it happened. There was a woman with him. A woman committing a murder is almost unheard of in Japan.
After Lieutenant Takamatsu goes missing, Hiroshi takes on the assistance of another officer. Sakaguchi is an ex-sumo wrestler who teams up with Hiroshi after Takamatsu goes missing. Together Hiroshi and Sakaguchi investigate both Takamatsu’s disappearance and Devaux’ murder.
The crowding, the fast pace, the bright lights of Japan; all these are brilliantly illustrated in this book. The differences in culture between the Japanese and the Western mind are described in great detail. This novel is both well written and plotted. It reminded me a great deal of the novels of Barry Lancet in its descriptiveness and pace. The characters were likeable and even humorous in places. The action was well-paced and built the suspense nicely.
I want to thank Netgalley and Raked Gravel Press for forwarding to me a copy of this great book to read.
September 15, 2023
I was intrigued into reading this book because of its cover photo and title. As the story is based in Japan I was even more interested in reading it haha. A thrilling mystеry set in Tokyo, TНE LАST ТRАIN by thе аwаrd-winning Miсhаel Рrоnkо follows а dеtеctivе's hunt for а murdеrеr who is аbout to esсаpe on thе finаl trаin.
I really enjoyed reading this book. The writing skills of the author is quite captivating and it kept me engaged throughout the book not giving me a chance to get bored at all. It was an unputdownable experience for me. Though we knew who was the killer very soon but why she had killed was a very interesting part to read. The plot has been written very nicely and the book is full of action and adventure. The twists and turns have been placed at the correct places. I just loved reading it.
It has been a very cozy and thrilling read for me. I will definitely recommend this book to people who love reading crime thrillers and murder mysteries. Grab your copy today. You will definitely enjoy it.
I really enjoyed reading this book. The writing skills of the author is quite captivating and it kept me engaged throughout the book not giving me a chance to get bored at all. It was an unputdownable experience for me. Though we knew who was the killer very soon but why she had killed was a very interesting part to read. The plot has been written very nicely and the book is full of action and adventure. The twists and turns have been placed at the correct places. I just loved reading it.
It has been a very cozy and thrilling read for me. I will definitely recommend this book to people who love reading crime thrillers and murder mysteries. Grab your copy today. You will definitely enjoy it.
August 8, 2024
Another series that has been on my TBR for ages. The book's opening scene sets the tone for this gripping mystery with a young woman hurling a foreign businessman in front of a speeding train. Gripping story, interesting characters, beautifully realized settings - all the ingredients you need for an engaging read that keeps you hooked.
November 20, 2025
Michael Pronko’s The Last Train was just the ticket! I’m not usually drawn to this genre, but I was in the mood for a police procedural with noirish undertones and this hit the spot. The novel offers plenty of vivid description, some sharp lines and a good balance between familiar types and fresher character twists. Having lived in spots between Roppongi/Azabu and Shinjuku/Shin-Okubo over the past thirty years, I especially enjoyed seeing how Pronko brings those areas to life as the backdrop for this rather dark tale.
April 30, 2017
It's kind of awesome and kind of daunting at the same time to be the first person to review a book. Pronko is my go to guy for all things Japanese. I've read 3 books of his nonfiction essays about Japan, so a majority of what I know about the country and its traditions comes from him. And now...more of the same, but in fictional form, a thrillingly fictional form. So it was easy to like and, of course, nice to see an author making such an easy transition from one genre to another. I do prefer my thrillers on the more mysterious side typically, but this was fun all the same, made more so by a striking different culture and well realized complex characters, including a terrific femme fatale of an antagonist, who in fact completely stole the limelight of the story. This book can be sort of described as a high speed chase across Tokyo, cops after criminals, heavily featuring (as the title suggests...and this is where that cultural difference plays into it) trains as oppose to the American standard of cars. Riding trains in Japan (crazy busy as they are) might not be the sort of thing you'd do recreationally, but in literary form this was indeed a fun ride and a great way to spend an afternoon. Recommended.
August 25, 2021
As murder weapons go, trains are effective and horribly messy as we find out in the first chapter. This is not a whodunit, We know Michiko is a killer and Hiroshi is charged with finding her. As the book proceeds we find out the actions and motivations that have lead them to this state. I have sympathy for both characters, Pronko does a great job of breathing life into these and others.
One character, that's quite real to me was the locomotive driver that hit the victim and another one prior. An acquaintance had the same experience, it was extremely traumatic for him.
As the book proceeds we find out about Hiroshi's ex-wife and how he doesn't fit into either Japanese or Western society. We also find out the chain of events that put Michiko on her path of retribution. All of this takes place against the backdrop of the 'Water Trade' and corrupt real estate developers.
Don't read this late at night, it will keep you up or give you nightmares.
One character, that's quite real to me was the locomotive driver that hit the victim and another one prior. An acquaintance had the same experience, it was extremely traumatic for him.
As the book proceeds we find out about Hiroshi's ex-wife and how he doesn't fit into either Japanese or Western society. We also find out the chain of events that put Michiko on her path of retribution. All of this takes place against the backdrop of the 'Water Trade' and corrupt real estate developers.
Don't read this late at night, it will keep you up or give you nightmares.
January 3, 2019
This Dan-Brownish book isn't bad for a first effort (#2 in the series is infinitely better!), despite some wonky English, some poorly-edited lines, and a less-than-satisfying climax.
Having lived nearly five years in Tokyo, I found the descriptions familiar, though it seems Mr. Pronko's grasp of Japanese religion is a little wobbly (he describes shaved-headed "monks" and an "abbot" counting beads in a Shinto shrine, though these are all clearly facets of Buddhism).
Anyway, I'm now well into #2 (The Moving Blade) and will continue to read the series as new books come out.
Having lived nearly five years in Tokyo, I found the descriptions familiar, though it seems Mr. Pronko's grasp of Japanese religion is a little wobbly (he describes shaved-headed "monks" and an "abbot" counting beads in a Shinto shrine, though these are all clearly facets of Buddhism).
Anyway, I'm now well into #2 (The Moving Blade) and will continue to read the series as new books come out.
December 26, 2018
Read this today. Quick fast moving Tokyo based murder thriller. Fair amount of local color. Enough that it's clear the writer, an American prof teaching in Tokyo, knows the culture. The antagonist was kind of a cut rate Lizbeth Salandar. Almost enough interesting quirks to make a fun film series. I'll read the next book in the series tomorrow and see if the protagonist is strong enough to sustain the series.
January 17, 2020
Very graphic, captivating, but not my favorite. Reason, I never felt I knew where the author was taking the reader, or at least taking this reader, me. During the journey, nonetheless, there we enough violent encounters that both repulsed me and kept me reading.
July 20, 2018
good descriptions of place. spare, almost noir-ish writing style in re to the minimal character development. am partial to japan setting, so extra star. will try the next from author.
June 25, 2019
Very good
I enjoyed it thoroughly. Good character development. Tightly plotted. Wonderful sense of time and locale. I look forward to reading more from this writer.
I enjoyed it thoroughly. Good character development. Tightly plotted. Wonderful sense of time and locale. I look forward to reading more from this writer.
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