Tokyo Suckerpunch

Billy Chaka #1

by Isaac Adamson

Meet Billy Chaka, ace reporter for Cleveland's hottest-selling Asian teen magazine.  He's brash, savvy, and prone to hair-trigger fits of karate.  Billy's in Tokyo to cover the 19-and-Under Handicapped Martial Arts Championship and meet up with his friend Sato Migusion, the international renowned director of such cult film classics as Sex Up the Hotrod, Baby! But Sato never shows. Instead, the girl of Billy's dreams stumbles into a dive bar with tatooed Yakuza mobsters in hot pursuit.  Then Billy will start brawls in swanky corporate sex clubs, be offered a golf club membership by a secret religious order, meet a dog trained in the ways of the Samurai, and race stolen motorcycles through the neon-choked streets of Tokyo. Packed with enough over-the-top fists action to make Jackie Chan cry, and featuring the most lovable uncool hero since Austin Powers, this hilarious send-up is a pop culture potpourri of sub-epic proportion.

Genres: Fiction, Japan, Mystery, Humor, Contemporary, Crime, Asian Literature

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Isaac Adamson is the author of COMPLICATION, nominee for the 2013 Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original.

He also wrote TOKYO SUCKERPUNCH, DREAMING PACHINKO, and other Billy Chaka mysteries.

Isaac lives in Portland with his wife and children.

You can follow him on Twitter at @isaacadamson or find him on Facebook.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of course I enjoy reading, but there are only a handful of books that give me that feeling of unabashed fun. I cannot really qualify this statement, it is basically a general sense of giddiness as I read. The short list of my "giddy" books include 'Snow Crash' by Neal Stephenson and the fiction of Mark Leyner. Well, now I have to add 'Tokyo Suckerpunch' to that list. This work can basically be described as a hard-boiled detective novel set in modern Japan. By "modern Japan", I am referring to the collision of the postmodern with ancient tradition and all of the interesting scenarios that this brings about. All of the usual suspects are present, such as the Yakuza, youth gangs, bizarre religious sects, love hotels, and geisha. Adamson also has a dry, clever wit, which is something I am always a sucker for. My only possible complaint, without giving away too many spoilers, is that we don't get to learn as much as I wanted to know about the character Orange Blossom. I do realize that this is because the story is being told by main character Billy Chaka in the first person, and it would have been hackneyed to cart out some random guy to fill the reader in all at once. I also acknowledge that one of my weaknesses as a reader is that I always want all loose ends to be tied up and wrapped in a pretty bow sometime before the final page. Even though I approached this as one my fun, giddy reads, I also had a profound moment while reading. This occurred on pages 251-252, where Billy is walking through an area surrounded by teenagers. He is looking at their hair, fashion, and mannerisms and thinking about the futility of it all, that in a few short years those kids would lose the fight for individuality and look like typical office personnel and would suddenly be more concerned about insurance, mortgages, etc. I discussed this with my wife and we both agreed that we had this exact feeling anytime we walked through a mall where teenagers were gathered, even though we had never bothered to express these emotions in words. There seems to be an age somewhere in one's late 20's - early 30's where a person may realize that they are no longer as cool as the teenagers but they are not quite fully adults like their parents yet (whatever this means). The result is that they are slightly disdainful of both sides. Although I do not remember Billy's age being given in the book, I feel that Adamson identifies and nails this sentiment perfectly through the character's eyes. Obviously, I really enjoyed this book and will be on the lookout for the other three Billy Chaka novels.

[RandomAnthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Tadpole (http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/10...) and I met in Chicago he gave me Tokyo Suckerpunch. I gave him a purple wrestling mask and requested he wear it for a profile pic. He’s a better gift-giver than me. Tokyo Suckerpunch is like an action movie plot recounted by an intelligent guy at a party after way too much marijuana but before everybody gets all tired and hungry.

The novel’s main character/narrator, Billy Chaka, writes for a Cleveland-based magazine aimed at Asian youth. He's in Japan covering a martial arts tournament for handicapped youth. Chaka has built up a steady stream of relationships and credibility in the Japanese underground and, after an unfortunate encounter with Japanese mobsters, falls into a search for a beautiful Geisha named Orange Blossom. Tokyo Suckerpunch reads like a frenetic movie script and I wouldn’t be surprised if Adamson was hedging his bets on potential film rights. This book should be a movie. And not a film. A movie, like the kind you see on a Saturday afternoon in the summer and the theater AC is cranked down to 58 degrees and you expect to see cars blow up and people engage in elaborate, highly rehearsed martial arts sequences. Adamson is at his best with quick dialogue snippets and quirky character development, e.g. the private investigator with small bodyguards hiding in his office wall or the mob leader so afraid of earthquakes he keeps helicopters on call at all times. You want to read this book quickly. Adamson sometimes gets bogged down in his narrator’s internal reflection; he overuses Chakra's reflections as a narrative device. And the author also resolves pretty much the entire plot in the last twenty pages, leaving enough loose ends for about ten sequels. It’s no accident that this book is subtitled “Billy Chaka Adventure #1”. Would I read #2? Yes, especially if I were looking for a quick summer read and didn’t want to leave the loving arms of my air-conditioned prison of a bedroom.

So thanks, Tad. Tokyo Suckerpunch was fun like a solid summer blockbuster for which you don’t want to apologize. And yes, Tad, I’m still waiting for that profile picture. Don’t make me come down there.

[Isabel · Rating 1 out of 5]

i bought this used and on a whim. i knew it wasn't exactly going to be quality...but what i found was HORRIBLE. by the 8th page i was thoroughly disgusted. i made it through a whole chapter and stopped. here's why.

for starters, we're dealing with a white dude named billy chaka, who lives in tokyo as a writer for an asian youth magazine based in cleveland. he talks about how comfortable he is in japan. he apparently speaks like a native. he does this bartender some huge favor, and is repaid by being given this top top top shelf sake of which there only exist five bottles. two seconds later, he composes a beautiful love poem, in japanese presumably, and proceeds to write it out for said bartender WITH A BRUSH AND ON A SCROLL, thereby saving the bartender's marriage. he says he has "a thing for geisha". and recognizes one when she stumbles in drunk, and also recognizes that she isn't actually drunk but acting out a scene from some crappy movie. and when some yakuza guys come in to the bar, he kicks all of their asses. using moves he picked up while watching children's martial arts tournaments. this main character is like every obsessed nipponophile's wet dream-- we can only assume he's the author's alter ego. sprinkle liberally with unexplained and unnecessary "insider" references to japanese culture and we have a CRAP book. now, i realize that there's no way this can be entirely serious. but however tounge-in-cheek it the author was trying to make it, the result is entirely unreadable, though pretty funny in its ridiculousness. *shudder*

[My Bookshelf · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this during my senior year of NYU while working as an intern at Library Journal. I reviewed it for LJ, the text of which is here:

"Billy Chaka is not only a martial arts expert and star Asian teen journalist but also the wisecracking and surprisingly introspective protagonist of this pop culture-infused first novel. While on assignment in Japan, Billy learns that his filmmaker friend Sato Migusho has died when his house burned down. Suspecting foul play, he sets out on an adventure that will entangle him with Japanese gangsters, a secret religious cult, and a mysterious geisha, who becomes the object of his obsession. Strangely enough, Adamson's solidly written debut manages to live up to its name to a certain extent, delivering unexpected moments of poignancy, genuine comedy, and witty observation. Yet despite the main character's endearing nature, the novel falls victim to a plot that is both poorly conceived and somewhat predictable. It is also possible that Billy's immature antics and sarcastic sensibility will appeal only to an audience of a certain age, i.e., teenagers and college students. Recommended only for public and academic libraries with large fiction collections."

Reading that still makes me cringe.

[Turtle · Rating 4 out of 5]

My opinion of this book has somewhat lessened through a second read through. I still find it utterly fascinating but some of the jokes were a bit tasteless to me now. I still believe that Isaac Adamson has a superior knowledge of what it's like to live as a foreigner in Japan; which is what drew me to the series in the first place (being the anime fanatic I was in high school). But my perspective now has given me both a deeper appreciation of what Adamson had to share about Japanese culture and history and also just a little disdain as well. There are a few geographic issues in this book that I had a hard time swallowing the second time around. I'm pretty sure Kyoto and Tokyo aren't as close-by as the book would suggest. But those were just nit picky criticism. Having not lived in Japan (yet) I couldn't be sure if I was right or if Adamson was.

The supernatural element was intriguing, as was the mystery. There were just times where things felt a bit too cartoon-y. A bit too far fetched for me to take it seriously. The handicapped martial arts tournament being one. I mean, maybe I'm wrong and there are such things in Japan. But it seemed very... gimmicky to me for some reason. I can't quite nail down what bothered me to be honest.

Billy Chaka's amazing skills as a martial artist however, that bugged me. If he just knew some boxing moves. Or maybe was just an average joe-smo writer, I would have taken it better. But Chaka was dangerously close to being fantastic at EVERYTHING. He speaks Japanese so fluently that he can even translate puns or complex lyrical poetry? I knew sign language interpreters who've been signing for years that wouldn't dare touch Shakespeare so I find this just a bit far fetched. Different language but same lost in translation effects. He got punched out a few times and made mistakes that kinda sorta made up for it. But it didn't stop me from rolling my eyes whenever he started regaling the readers with his knowledge of the spinning spider kick jujitsu or other such convenient martial art he had tucked away.

Do I still like the book? Yeah. It has a kind of detective fiction/film noir tone that's hard for me to turn away from. One of the reasons I adore 'The Big Sleep'. It's got a deeper side too. Underneath all that crude humor and behind the satirical sideshows, it has a lot to say about the cultural differences between Japan and America. And what it is like to be fascinated with a world so dazzlingly exotic compared what we know in our day to day life (and by we, I mean us in the States, England, Canada... since this was printed in English). In a way, Chaka's obsession of the geisha Orange Blossom mirrors his own fascination with Japan itself, a country and culture that inevitable can't accept him completely just as he could never quite catch Orange Blossom (despite always being just so close).

But it has sort of fallen from a grace as a high place in my book shelf, I guess. It's still fun. I still will enjoy re-reading it from time time. Maybe once I get around to reading my old favorite (the sequel to this book) my tune will change. I always like Dreaming Pachinko more anyway.

[Mathias · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy the Billy Chaka novels. Mystery novels with a wild protagonist, Billy Chaka, a journalist for an American japanophile magazine that is prone to unexpected and sudden fits of kung fu. They take place in a version of Tokyo that is sort of a hyper-exaggerated version of what a lot of Americans THINK Japan is like and never let up on introducing a bunch of fun new and strange characters.

Suckerpunch is the first in the series of mystery novels so a bit more time is spent setting everything up and it isn't as focused on a particular topic as later books in the series.

These won't win any literary awards. They're just really fun and humorous quick reads. The sort of thing I like to throw in between reading lengthy wordy novels or if I'm plowing through an entire series and need a break from the author. They're even better if you have an interest in Japan through anime, j-pop, tokyo shock horror, their video game productions, their women, etc. All of these get their turn at some point through out the novels.

[Benjamin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Billy Chaka, the hero of Tokyo Suckerpunch, is a man with every necessary skill to survive in a detective suspense novel. He is also, implausibly, a full-time reporter for a martial arts magazine that covers handicapped martial-arts events.

By a serious of particularly unlikely coincidences, Billy Chaka ends up working for both a religious cult and the Japanese mob trying to find a geisha who may be immortal.

There's also a murder mystery and way more than you wanted to know about handicapped martial arts in there.

In short, this novel is unremittingly ridiculous, and not in a funny way. It is a conglomeration of every unfortunate stereotype about Japan (yakuza! geisha! secret corporate brothels!) and very little truth about Japan.

Plus, the hero is a tourist in his own story. He seems to do nothing. It's very irritating.

[Hunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a strange, strange, book. But it's also a really fun read. -- Billy Chaka is a writer for a popular teen sports magazine in the U.S. While covering a martial arts tournament in Tokyo, one thing leads to another and Billy gets tangled up with...everyone. The Yakuza, some other weirder group, a group of motorcycle-driving street toughs... You name it. Oh, and he has quite a thing for geisha.
The story sounds bizarre, but I really found it fun to read. The pacing is good, and the characters are interesting to say the least. The style is somewhere between action and that sort of film noir/pulp detective style. And there's just enough humor thrown in to keep it from getting old and overbearing.

[Adobe · Rating 3 out of 5]

A silly, fun little book with frequent excursions into the side alleys of Japanese pop culture, narrated by an amusingly hardboiled journalist with a weakness for geishas. In short, it's excellent brain candy, though some of the plot twists are jerkily unconvincing. Also, the "immortal geisha" sub-plot smacks of some joke allusion to an unknown Lafcadio Hearn ghost story. But whatever. It's the kind of a book that throws everything against the wall to see what sticks -- but it's successful often enough to make it worth the minimal investment of reading time.

[J.C.]

not very funny, totally un-original. our hero can do no wrong. need to kick 5 yakuza gangsters stuffing? he's the man. need a perfectly timed come back to some jerk who's mouthing off. he's the man. who is he? I don't know. I cant remember our hero's name (big deal) and there is absolutely no back story what so ever. we don't learn where this super protagonist came from, how old he is, ect. only that he can do no wrong.

boring.

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

I first read Tokyo Suckerpunch by chance way back in high school, having judged the now since out of print book only by its vibrant, Lichtensteinian cover. Though still no expert now, at the time my knowledge of Japan was virtually zero (approximately even keel with the author when he wrote this—more on that later). I remember finding the book an enjoyable page turner, but quickly forgot about it. At some point during the fifth year of my own time in Tokyo it came to me: 'I remember that book!' And so for fun I gave it another go, believing there might be some fun details, truths or relatable insights for someone now somewhat familiar with the story's chosen setting.

Ten plus years and some perspective has not been kind to my opinion of this amateur detective tale. Tokyo Suckerpunch is embarrassing in its crass absurdity and cultural disregard, and—published in 2000, a tail end vestige of a 90s decade heavy on juvenile 'tude— not in any way that is satirical or carries with it a more millennial sense of ironic self-awareness. Suckerpunch follows the dopily named Billy Chaka, a hotshot American reporter for a popular 'Asian teen rag' whose title, the completely unneeded non sequitur pun 'Youth in Asia,' is equal as prelude to the dopey. Billy is sent to Tokyo on an assignment to cover a handicapped youth martial arts tournament, but is quickly sucked into a murder mystery involving his cult film director friend, the Yakuza, a mysterious geisha and more. Not much needs to be said about the story—it proceeds at the pace of every uppercut and roundhouse kick—before eventually losing its way at a wrong turn for the supernatural.

The reader is given no real physical particulars about Chaka other than he wears wingtips, though most of the obvious can be inferred. He is, in his own opening words, 'hardwired for Geisha,' knows karate, and has a prodigious grasp of the arts and letters of Japan. (If your eyebrows have raised at this point, you're not alone. Chaka's mentioned-only young assistant back in Cleveland mirrors the not-buying-it sensibility of all the American women in the old Charisma Man comics). Massive weeb that he is (look it up), Chaka isn't exactly 'cool' ('lovably uncool' reads the blurb), but he is definitely cooler, at the very least, than everyone and their kāsan in Japan. This is no better exemplified than in the opening paragraphs, where we find 'Chaka-sama' pushing around a doting, servile, velly Japanese-y bartender who owes his marriage and his family's honor to our main man's impeccable Japanese language ability, shrewd negotiating, calligraphy skill and oh yeah, poetic prowess (I already mentioned he knows karate right?). It's not just that Billy is such a self-unaware and unapologetic Mary Sue with just the right amount of a-dork-ableness with which the Crunchy Roll binge watching cohort can properly self-insert, it's that he so easily parts the sea of Shibuya pedestrian traffic as frolicking top gun in a Japan that is at once facile, bumbling, oh-so-wacky and often menacing, but always under his thumb and honest approximately never. Adamson's Tokyo is to Japan what one of those Oirish (say it out loud) theme pubs decorated with shamrocks and Guinness signs is to Ireland. Except instead of saying 'Top o' the mornin' to ya!' to the wincing Irishman, you're giving the Japanese man a hearty 'Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto.' A list of all things 'Japan!' the author crams into literally the first five pages: Martial arts! Tacky themed shit! Sake! Kamikaze pilots! Cram school! Bizarre translations! Honor/Face! Calligraphy! Poetry! Kirin beer! Geisha! Yakuza! Kokeshi dolls! Period drama! Seriously. The first five pages.

Suckerpunch is a book that elbows Japan's ribs a lot because...reasons? Don't get me wrong. Japan is certainly not above being lampooned. But the caricaturing in Suckerpunch is not satire in that regard, at least not very good satire. Good satire has a clever and observant basis in authenticity—something this narrative is exceedingly low on. The novel could have existed as camp fun for its own sake, true, but that angle works better when we laugh as much at the main character as with him and his surroundings. Adam West's Batman, through his avuncular demeanor and cookie dough waist, was a constant reminder that the tongue was in the cheek. Thug-punching, sharp-talking Chaka is just smug and superior and capable enough to make that framework untenable.

So what are we left with? Despite what you may think, Tokyo Suckerpunch is not particularly offensive, at least not to someone like me who is not, even in our hyper-offended age, offended that easily. It's just too goofy, too unimportant and in the end too innocent (spoiler: Chaka doesn't even get the girl) to illicit any real chair scraping reaction. But the author's clear lack of authorial license to write this story in Japan (he sheepishly admitted in one undated interview that he had never even been to Japan at the time of writing it), is pretty damn apparent, and no amount of Googling grades of sake, Japanese swear words or 18th century Japanese theatre for the know-it-all protagonist to name drop really does much to cover that up. It's particularly unforgivable given the author's obvious talents. Suckerpunch is on its face—though it stumbles late—a mostly brisk and competent whodunnit otherwise.

[Sergei]

Потому что бывает так, когда не хочется ничего: вместо новой музыки хочется тишины, новые фильмы не вызывают интереса, книги задвинуты на дальнюю полку. И вообще непонятно что с этим делать и чем это кончится.
Потому что, как раз в такие дни хочется чего-то такого, что трудно выразить, сформулировать. И книжки американского писателя Айзека Адамсона — то, что нужно. Знакомьтесь: «Разборки в Токио», «Эскимо с Хоккайдо», «Тысяча лиц Бэнтен».

Потому что романы Адамсона — это детективы. Да-да, мы все знаем, что детективы бывают разные. Но жанр объединяет одно: он одинаково любим и гурманствующими эстетами (только они редко в этом признаются) и поклонниками чтения без затей.

Потому что эти книжки — больше чем детективы. Хотя и напоминают классику «нуара»: герой оказывается в центре событий случайно, среди тех, с кем ему доводится встречаться — сплошные негодяи, преступники, люди богемы и полицейские. А что вы хотели? Хорошего человека и в обычной жизни найти нелегко. А уж в тех обстоятельствах, в которых оказывается герой Адамсона — и подавно!

Потому что сюжеты романов Адамсона — это истории, начисто отрывающие от реальности, и уносящие в подпольный мир современной Японии. Все уже знают и привыкли к Японии Мураками, которая — от частоты встреч — стала не менее понятной, но зато почти родной. Но Адамсон видит Японию совершенно иначе. И этот взгляд не противоречит японскому классику, но дополняет, раскрашивает в ядовитые краски граффити. Япония здесь такая, какой вы её ещё не знали. Здесь мифы древности сплетены с мотодуэлью. Тайный орден охраняет гейшу-богиню. Служащие затерянного в горах отеля уделяют повышенное внимание кошкам и покойникам. Звезда рок-н-ролла — японский Курт Кобейн — умудряется погибнуть в двух разных местах одновременно. Охранники сходят с ума от истории рок-н-ролла. Современная Япония — снизу вверх. От добровольного бомжа до верхушки якудзы.

Потому что в центре всех этих головокружительных событий — матёрый журналист кливлендского журнала «Молодежь Азии», знаток Японии, неформальный духовный лидер азиатской молодёжи Билли Чака, который просто готов в лепёшку разбиться лишь для того, чтобы его преданные читатели могли прочесть репортаж с токийского чемпионата по боевым искусствам среди инвалидов-юниоров.

Потому что Билли Чака — классический авантюрист, в котором угадывается удачливый на приключения наследник Филиппа Марлоу и всех прочих великих и одиноких частных сыщиков, журналистов из книг Рэймонда Чандлера, Спиллейна и прочих творцов «крутого жанра». И везёт Билли Чаку — как утопленнику. Вроде бы уже и не рад, что связался, но деваться некуда. И только чувство юмора и исключительное везение помогает выбраться из воды пусть не сухим, но хотя бы более-менее целым.

Читайте похождения Билли Чака и вы поймёте — что ваша жизнь просто сказка!

[Sean Newgent · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has good ideas and good humor, it basically ticks every box for things I like. But the writing is so pedestrian and needs an editor. It reeks of the kind of things I wrote at 16. Had there been some finesse to the writing, I think the schlocky nature would have been amazing. But this is poorly constructed schlock and I would rather spend my time reading something else.

[charlotte | nonperformativereader · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️3.75 rounded up. Only took me four months to finish it lol

I can’t remember why I stopped in the middle, but I think it’s just because I got other books that interested me more. But the writing style really does make me chuckle in this

[Dano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilariously funny take on Japanese societal issues.

[Paul Close · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting Japan theme and cultural references.

[Luke Pennock · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this as a teen, it doesn't necessarily hold up that well but even as a kid I remember feeling like the second one was better. It's a pretty fun tale!

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I originally read the Billy Chaka series by Isaac Adamson about a decade ago. Back then I was much closer to my obsession with writers like Hunter S. Thompson and Chuck Palahniuk, along with my fascination of the cyberpunk of William Gibson and Jeff Noon. All of that to say I very much enjoyed, and still do, a frenetic story with a setting and/or characters that grab you, even if you can't necessarily put all the pieces together afterward. Sometimes reading really is an experience, and reading Tokyo Suckerpunch reminds me of all those authors in the best way.

One aspect of my love for this book that has faded a bit in the intervening years is my interest in anime, manga, J-rock/J-pop, and all things Japanese. I might have been the only person that actually enjoyed Tokyo Drift. Isaac Adamson clearly came from the same place of love and obsession, painting a pitch perfect American insider view of Japanese teen culture. Everything is filtered through a neon lens, but this is a work of pure entertainment not edification.

I enjoyed all the beats to this story. A classic mystery in the vein of Raymond Chandler with a gonzo version of Philip Marlowe. The Hunter S. Thompson vibe is also super present, especially with the 19-and-Under Handicapped Martial Arts Championship taking the place of the Mint 400 desert race from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Some readers might complain that the novel is derivative, but I feel it's a great homage to all its inspirations.

My physical copy of the book did have more than its fair share of typos, but blame that on a lax editorial process. The writing is still quick enough to keep the pace amped throughout. The first person point of view helps cement the classic noir novel feel (as well another comparison to works like Fear and Loathing or Fight Club).

There are a few moments when the action slows down enough for Billy Chaka to offer actual insight on life. At the end of chapter 12 he contemplates his place outside of normal society based on his choice to live as a foreigner in another country. At the beginning of chapter 16 Billy pontificates about rebellious teenagers growing up into conforming adults. Both of those bits of philosophy end similarly, with Chaka saying he'll forget his regrets the next day and "all those cliches adults invented, like c'est la view, shit happens, or que sera sera would one day become pillars of deep philosophical truth." Adamson brilliantly and succinctly uses such cliches along with his wisecracking main character to highlight the transience of life.

Fitting that this is a rare re-read of a book for me, to experience it at two very different points in my life. I first read and enjoyed it in my mid to late twenties as a single guy with a potential Japanese fetish. Now I can still enjoy it and tease out some of its hidden meaning as I near 40 as a married man and father.

But enough with the heady stuff. Just go read this fun, flashy neo-noir.

[Jason Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

So it turns out Tokyo Suckerpunch is out of print, but I was lucky enough to find a copy in a used bookstore. Reading books made out of paper and ink is weird, but I managed, thanks to Adamson’s engaging style sense of humor. I was a little let down by a meandering plot and not much payoff at the end, but if books are for getting lost in on a rainy day, you could do worse than this one.

I got my copy at a Half Priced Books, one I’d never been to and visited on a whim. Didn’t find it in the sci-fi aisle (which was appropriate as TSP’s not sci-fi). Didn’t find it in the mystery aisle (which threw me, since this is clearly a take on the traditional detective story). It was in the mainstream fiction section… but that is where they stow magic realism, right? Looks like I should have taken that as a bit of forewarning.

Because on the one hand a mash-up of genres seems like it would be a lot of fun. A journalist in Japan covering a martial-arts competition for a teen rag published in Ohio, on the trail of a mystery woman, pursued by the Yakuza and a secretive religious organization, and all of it wrapped around a dead B-movie director. Oops, that sentence had no verb. And TSP had no point, either, I’m afraid. The genre-mash suffered from a lack of cohesiveness.

Which is not to say it wasn’t fun to read, but only as a gaijin tourist in Adamson’s version of Japan. Some fun action scenes, some witty dialogue, some good moments straight out of your favorite noir library… but that’s about it.

The back-of-the-book blurb calls this a mix of The Big Sleep and Memoirs of Geisha, with some Chinatown thrown in. Can’t say I agree with that. The geisha parts of the novel are incidental, and have little or nothing to do with the plot. It’s an interesting choice for creating a femme fatale, but Adamson’s geisha might as well have been a faerie. And as for the Chandler reference—TSP’s main character, Billy Chaka, isn’t nearly as self-loathing as required for such a comparison.

Go ahead and read the book if you can find a copy. Or I’ll loan you mine. And if you find a copy of the sequels, let me know. It rains a lot in Seattle, so it’s nice to having something to curl up around when my e-reader is recharging.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so much fun. I found books 2 and 3 at book sales, but couldn't find this one ANYWHERE - the library system didn't have it, plus it's not available as an ebook. Finally I got a copy from AbeBooks, and plunged in.

I didn't really know what to expect from this book. It's sort of a murder mystery, with a ton of other plot threads thrown in. There are yakuza, a secretive religious order, a mysterious geisha, some wacky movie crew types, a private detective, a three-limbed martial artist... the list goes on.

The book definitely took some turns I was not expecting. They made the book much more interesting and made me excited to read the rest of the series.

A few quibbles:
- for a book about Japan, and about a character who speaks the language and has traveled there a lot, it was really ridiculous to Westernize the Japanese names (putting the family name last).
- some of the names also seemed really.... un-Japanese. Kwaidan in particular. And it's never addressed.
- there were a LOT, and I mean A LOT of typos. Words were missing in places, words that were spelled right most of the time had letters switched around in others (like 'yutaka' instead of 'yukata.'). This book could really have used a good proofreader.

Overall I'm thrilled to find a fun new series, and I highly recommend it.

[Turi Becker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up Tokyo Suckerpunch from the "Read and Return" shelf at the Incline Village library when I was up there last week, and I'm glad that I did. Really fun read. I'd have to describe it as Mark Leyner meets Tim Dorsey and vacations in Japan. (If you don't know those two authors, your reading habits are probably way too normal...) At any rate, the basic synopsis: Billy Chaka is in Tokyo covering the Junior Handicapped martial arts tournament when he stumbles into a plot involving the death of a filmmaker hero of his who was working on a script about - who else - Billy Chaka. Hijinks ensue. Not sure if I'll seek out the sequel, Hokkaido Popsicle, but I might read it if it happens to fall into my lap somehow.

[Judson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sort of a Shinto existentialist potboiler neo-noir shot through with the wisecracked inner monologue of Billy Chaka, the central journalist/martial artist/movie nerd/geisha obsessive Mike Hammer stand-in. Fun stuff. I never read Elmore Leonard but I imagine it to be quite like this, except take Leonard's every American detail and make it a Japanese cultural touchpoint. My favorite stuff was all movie related; Tokyo Suckerpunch itself is, in the novel, a screenplay unmade by Sato Migusho, a major background character who appears to be an amalgam of pretty much every Japanese film director since the New Wave. Can't wait for the movie version, which should be directed by Miike or there's no justice in this world.

[Greg Kerestan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Isaac Adamson's "Billy Chaka" novels are an American response to the Murakami house style: while Haruki Murakami brought American genre influences of cyberpunk, magic realism and noir to conventional Japanese character study and realist literature, Adamson writes from an American-in-Japan perspective on the weird, intricately detailed Murakami world. Sometimes, in this first volume, the homage can be a little heavy-handed, especially in Billy's romantic woes and the use of teeth as an all-too-real metaphor for emotional pain. But the book is breezy and quirky enough, albeit a fairly weak entry in the Chaka series. It may not be Murakami good, but when you've already read everything the master wrote, this is a fairly good quick fix.

[Chuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Billy Chaka is a writer for a teen martial arts magazine based in Ohio, named "Youth in Asia". He's also a World Class smart ass and kick butt martial artist with an addiction to Geisha Girls. Not surprisingly, when he goes to Tokyo and runs into a mysterious Geisha, sparks fly and lots of people get a boot to the head. I've always been fascinated by Japan in general and Tokyo in particular and Adamson does a great job of making you feel the sensory overload Tokyo is so famous for. If you're as addicted to pop culture as I am, then this series is for you. Now if they only found a way to sell it out of vending machines...

[Thor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really fun book. It takes a left hand turn about 3/4ths of the way through, that was disappointing twist. This book was tailored for me and I don't know that I would recommend it for everyone. It is a story set in Japan with lots of Japanese culture commentary. I love Japanese culture and this book represents the weirdest and most fantastic aspects, not only in the story, but also in meta-prose aspects (the plot and characters are over the top and entirely weird). This Japan is not the real Japan, but the Japan represented in Japan's own culture. I loved this book, but if you are not interested in Japan, Tokyo Suckerpunch would probably be too weird and extreme for you.

[Brandon Autry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is hilarious....it is the funniest book I have ever read. The editing is a little poor and some of the writing is a little poor in places, but it's a little expected for his first book. I read it cover to cover in about 2 days and laughed the whole way through. Every person I've recomended this book to has said pretty much the same thing,....it's very funny and I can't wait for the movie in '08.

[Brendan Sweeney · Rating 5 out of 5]

One day, my best friend and I walked into one of those discount bookstores that always pop up. Suddenly, a hot pink cover caught our eye. Taking a good look at the cover and reading the back cover, we knew we had to read this and we weren't disappointed.

I can't adequately convey just how awesome this book is. You -*NEED*- this novel. Now. Get it. Read it.

Why are you still reading this review? You should be acquiring this book with all haste and alacrity!

[Two-fisted History · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 2006, I walked into one of those random Discount Book Stores that pop up in random locations and random times like some kind of Gypsy Bookstore.

In one of the piles, we discovered this pink-covered book with the title, 'Tokyo Suckerpunch' Of course this must be a sign; two Nihonophiles discovering a book with a beaconic cover. We each picked a copy, and I read it in a couple days.

I highly recommend Tokyo Suckerpunch and the other books in the Billy Chaka series.

[Ev. · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's been a long, long time since I read this. I don't even remember if I particularly enjoyed this book.

I'm sure my opinion about this White Man Trolloping Through an East Asian Society would be different had I read this yesterday and not in 8th grade. :P Unless Adamson really did write something sans the white colonial narrative. In which case, woooo!

But I get the feeling that that was not the case...

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! It caught my eye one day in the downtown Portland,Or libary. It is a fun read with lots of wit, colorful characters/descriptions, action, under 19 handicapped martial arts world championship, yakuza, and a dog trained in the way of the samurai. WHat more can I say. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a goodtime.