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Billy Chaka #4
Kinki Lullaby
Wisecracking reporter and reluctant detective Billy Chaka is back. His latest misadventure finds him in Osaka to accept an award for an article he'd written years before about a teenage Bunraku puppet prodigy named Tetsuo. Billy quickly learns he may have been summoned for more than the award -- Tetsuo has been expelled from Osaka's most prestigious theater company following a bloody, unexplained incident involving a fellow puppeteer.
While Billy tries to unravel that mystery, an American man in the hotel room next door is found brutally murdered. Investigating the homicide and its bizarre link to the young puppeteer plunges Billy into a shadowy world where dreams and reality violently intermingle and people are never who they seem. It's a world not far removed from that of the Bunraku theater that flourished in Osaka hundreds of years ago, stylishly recast for the neon-lit urban stage with decrepit gangsters, clueless expatriates, dangerous women, and one seriously deranged hotel employee. Two parts noir and one part playful irreverence, Kinki Lullaby is a sly whodunit that unfolds with the twisted charm of a fever dream.
While Billy tries to unravel that mystery, an American man in the hotel room next door is found brutally murdered. Investigating the homicide and its bizarre link to the young puppeteer plunges Billy into a shadowy world where dreams and reality violently intermingle and people are never who they seem. It's a world not far removed from that of the Bunraku theater that flourished in Osaka hundreds of years ago, stylishly recast for the neon-lit urban stage with decrepit gangsters, clueless expatriates, dangerous women, and one seriously deranged hotel employee. Two parts noir and one part playful irreverence, Kinki Lullaby is a sly whodunit that unfolds with the twisted charm of a fever dream.
368 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2004
4 people are currently reading
89 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Adamson
13 books93 followersIsaac 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 13, 2019
More like a 3.5, really. I sped through this book just like the other 3 Billy Chaka mysteries, and as far as the mystery itself goes, I enjoyed it. However, this one is a bit darker than the others (animal violence, gorier murder) and has a more serious tone overall. There's lots of philosophizing on various aspects of Japanese culture, from bunraku puppetry, to Osaka's economy and the character of its people, to the experiences foreigners have living in Japan. You can probably learn some things from this book, but once again I felt a little untrusting because of odd translation errors (for example, writing "Yumeshima Island," which is basically saying Yume Island Island). I know Adamson has visited Japan, but I keep wondering how much experience with it he really has (in comparison to his character who is supposed to be fluent in Japanese and very well versed in the culture).
One part I didn't miss is that this time around, there aren't any overdone, over-detailed fight scenes showing off Billy's martial prowess (which he apparently maintains despite never being shown to work out or practice).
There isn't as much humor in this volume either - mostly restricted to a bevy of Wizard of Oz references.
Finally, this book offered no resolution for Billy's future at all. The previous books seemed to suggest he might be ready for a change, as he contemplates growing older etc., and that thread is almost entirely ignored here.
That said, I'd look forward to one more wrap-up Billy Chaka novel. Go home and marry Sarah, dude. Stop getting beat up and almost killed in Japan.
One part I didn't miss is that this time around, there aren't any overdone, over-detailed fight scenes showing off Billy's martial prowess (which he apparently maintains despite never being shown to work out or practice).
There isn't as much humor in this volume either - mostly restricted to a bevy of Wizard of Oz references.
Finally, this book offered no resolution for Billy's future at all. The previous books seemed to suggest he might be ready for a change, as he contemplates growing older etc., and that thread is almost entirely ignored here.
That said, I'd look forward to one more wrap-up Billy Chaka novel. Go home and marry Sarah, dude. Stop getting beat up and almost killed in Japan.
May 7, 2023
Fun and easy to read. Twists and turns in an entertaining voice.
July 28, 2013
As a reader, I sometimes like to move away from the standard mystery settings and venture into exotic locales. When done well, the setting can almost become a character of its own that adds just as much to a book as the humans that populate its pages. Isaac Adamson does it very, very well in KINKI LULLABY, the fourth in the Billy Chaka series, all of which are set in different cities in Japan. KINKI (meaning Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and the surrounding areas) is mostly set in Osaka. What Adamson does is to immerse us not only in today's pop culture in that city but its past as well, bringing the reader fascinating information about the Bunraku puppets which originated hundreds of years ago. That magic combination of past and present leads to an extremely interesting reading experience.
Billy Chaka is a writer for an Asian teen magazine published in the US. Several years earlier, he had written an article about a Bunraku puppet prodigy by the name of Tetsuo Oyamada. Billy has been invited to Osaka to accept an award for that article. He finds the whole thing somewhat strange, but it begins to make sense when he finds that the award is being sponsored by Tetsuo's father, Daichi Oyamada, who needs Billy to find out some information for him. In Bunraku puppetry, it takes years to achieve mastery of the form. At 13, Tetsuo was the youngest performer ever given the honor of appearing as a leg operator at the prestigious National Bunraku Theater. He has been expelled from the troupe after an unexplained violent incident, after which he disappeared. Mr. Oyamada wants to know what happened and hopes to get his son reinstated into the theater.
Meanwhile, an American is killed at the hotel where Billy is staying and Billy finds a strange woman hiding in the stairwell. He begins to wonder if he was the target, as he had jokingly given the man his name tag shortly before the incident. Billy moves around in a dark world as he investigates the link between the Tetsuo situation and the homicide. It's almost as if he's living a modernist Bunraku play, with its strange twists and turns and ever more deviant and weird characters populating the pages, almost a series of hallucinations.
It's actually senseless to even attempt a plot summary of this book, as it is full of threads and sub-threads. I liken it to a Pachinko machine: all the balls are rolling around and clanging together haphazardly but ultimately, each falls into its place. You win the game by controlling the speed of the balls and directing them into special pockets which earn you a prize. Adamson definitely won the game with this book. His style of writing is very visual, and he keeps the adrenaline flowing throughout. Billy Chaka is a great character, and I loved the wit and energy of the book.
Billy Chaka is a writer for an Asian teen magazine published in the US. Several years earlier, he had written an article about a Bunraku puppet prodigy by the name of Tetsuo Oyamada. Billy has been invited to Osaka to accept an award for that article. He finds the whole thing somewhat strange, but it begins to make sense when he finds that the award is being sponsored by Tetsuo's father, Daichi Oyamada, who needs Billy to find out some information for him. In Bunraku puppetry, it takes years to achieve mastery of the form. At 13, Tetsuo was the youngest performer ever given the honor of appearing as a leg operator at the prestigious National Bunraku Theater. He has been expelled from the troupe after an unexplained violent incident, after which he disappeared. Mr. Oyamada wants to know what happened and hopes to get his son reinstated into the theater.
Meanwhile, an American is killed at the hotel where Billy is staying and Billy finds a strange woman hiding in the stairwell. He begins to wonder if he was the target, as he had jokingly given the man his name tag shortly before the incident. Billy moves around in a dark world as he investigates the link between the Tetsuo situation and the homicide. It's almost as if he's living a modernist Bunraku play, with its strange twists and turns and ever more deviant and weird characters populating the pages, almost a series of hallucinations.
It's actually senseless to even attempt a plot summary of this book, as it is full of threads and sub-threads. I liken it to a Pachinko machine: all the balls are rolling around and clanging together haphazardly but ultimately, each falls into its place. You win the game by controlling the speed of the balls and directing them into special pockets which earn you a prize. Adamson definitely won the game with this book. His style of writing is very visual, and he keeps the adrenaline flowing throughout. Billy Chaka is a great character, and I loved the wit and energy of the book.
August 15, 2013
I wish I could rate this with a half star between 3 and 4 simply because Isaac Adamson doesn't really innovate much when it comes to noir detective tropes aside from re-locating the standard noir plot to Japan (in this, his fourth Billy Chaka book, it's Osaka). The care with which he does so, displaying his knowledge of Japanese culture, and especially pop culture is enough to keep the reader interested however. It never really feels like you get enough detail on the protagonist himself, though, Chaka coming off as a reluctant everyman detective with a bit of a soft spot. You can tell when he does something that seems out of character, but beyond that, not a lot stands out about him. It's definitely successful enough to make one track down the earlier books, just to get a better idea as to who Billy Chaka actually is and to make me at least a little anxious to see the film currently being produced based on the first book in the series "Tokyo Suckerpunch".
September 17, 2011
Issac Adamson never fails to disappoint with this return of his protagonist with an attitude Billy Chaka. Always classy Billy Chaka finds himself in waist high in trouble and intrigue in this novel of murder, mystery and hilarity.
Billy Chaka returns to Japan to accept and award for an article he's written in his youth about a troubled, yet gifted Bunraku puppeteer, Tetsuo. While staying his hotel he finds that a murder has taken place and the victim is a fellow American. As he tries to wrap this around his head he returns to the Bunraku scene only to be plunged into a new psychedelic adventure where things are not always as they seem.
This book is one of many of my favorites by author Issac Adamson, if you're into adventure, mystery, the noir scene with a splash of anime like adventure, this book is a must have in your collection.
Billy Chaka returns to Japan to accept and award for an article he's written in his youth about a troubled, yet gifted Bunraku puppeteer, Tetsuo. While staying his hotel he finds that a murder has taken place and the victim is a fellow American. As he tries to wrap this around his head he returns to the Bunraku scene only to be plunged into a new psychedelic adventure where things are not always as they seem.
This book is one of many of my favorites by author Issac Adamson, if you're into adventure, mystery, the noir scene with a splash of anime like adventure, this book is a must have in your collection.
February 5, 2014
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. Thus began my love of Billy Chaka.
I highly recommend 'Kinki Lullaby' and the other books in the Billy Chaka series.
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. Thus began my love of Billy Chaka.
I highly recommend 'Kinki Lullaby' and the other books in the Billy Chaka series.
February 3, 2015
much much darker than the other billy chaka books. it's almost difficult to believe it's the same billy chaka as in the previous 3 books in the series. It feels as though the author wrote the first three books, not really ever satisfied with Billy, and wanting to slightly reinvent him each time. He achieved that with Kink Lullaby.
February 4, 2008
this book has the requisite wacky, tarantino-anime charm, but something gets a little lost in translation. it's maybe grittier than the other three books, or maybe that's my imagination. a fine read, of course, but it's no hokkaido popsicle.
June 15, 2009
I had to have this book and while it's not my favorite, it is still a very satifying and fun read. Addamson takes you places you'd never go by yourself, and at the end of the read, you want to start all over again. All four of his books had that effect on me and very few authors do that.
June 17, 2010
It took me awhile to get into, but after a certain point I was anxious to learn what the next chapter would reveal. I'm not sure I really understand how everything connects, but it was a very descriptive book, which I love.
January 29, 2016
For the final entry in the Billy Chaka series, Adamson dials back the heavy Murakami influence, presenting a more conventional neo-noir tale in the Tokyo underworld. It's certainly entertaining, but after three books of increasingly genre-bending surrealism, it sometimes seems like a step back.
August 14, 2007
Adamson's last book in the Billy Chaka adventures takes an eerie turn in this dark VERY noirish book.
November 29, 2012
All of the novels in the Billy Chaka series are fantastic. I can't express adequately enough how much you should read them. Do it now!
July 24, 2014
Probably the darkest Billy Chaka adventure I have read. Worth a read if you have been following Billy Chaka's adventures through the other books.
December 1, 2014
I have never read anything by this author before so I have nothing to compare it to, but it is very slow and disjointed in the beginning. I just never got into the story.
December 6, 2017
Onvan : Kinki Lullaby - Nevisande : Isaac Adamson - ISBN : 60516240 - ISBN13 : 9780060516246 - Dar 368 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2004
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews