Hideo Yokoyama

The nightmare no parent could endure. The case no detective could solve. The twist no reader could predict. For five days in January 1989, the parents of a seven-year-old Tokyo schoolgirl sat and listened to the demands of their daughter’s kidnapper. They would never learn his identity. They would never see their daughter again. For the fourteen years that followed, the Japanese public listened to the police’s apologies. They would never forget the botched investigation that became known as Six Four. They would never forgive the authorities for their failure. For one week in late 2002, the press officer attached to the police department in question confronted an anomaly in the case. He could never imagine what he would uncover. He would never have looked if he’d known what he would find.

A Novel

Six Four

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SIX FOUR: A TENSE INVESTIGATION IN THE AFTERMATH OF AN AIR DISASTER - PERFECT FOR FANS OF SPOTLIGHT AND AFTER THE CRASH. 'He's a master' New York Times Book Review 'Very different . . . to almost anything out there' Observer 1985. Kazumasa Yuuki, a seasoned reporter at the North Kanto Times, runs a daily gauntlet against the power struggles and office politics that plague its newsroom. But when an air disaster of unprecedented scale occurs on the paper's doorstep, its staff are united by an unimaginable horror, and a once-in-a-lifetime scoop. 2002. Seventeen years later, Yuuki remembers the adrenaline-fuelled, emotionally charged seven days that changed his and his colleagues' lives. He does so while making good on a promise he made that fateful week - one that holds the key to its last unsolved mystery, and represents Yuuki's final, unconquered fear.

Seventeen

A collection of four novellas: each taking place in 1998, each set in the world of Six Four, and each centering around a mystery and the unfortunate officer tasked with solving it. SEASON OF SHADOWS "The force could lose face . . . I want you to fix this." Personnel's Futawatari receives a horrifying memo forcing him to investigate the behaviour of a legendary detective with unfinished business. CRY OF THE EARTH "It's too easy to kill a man with a rumour." Shinto of Internal Affairs receives an anonymous tipoff alleging a Station Chief is visiting the red-light district - a warning he soon learns is a red herring. BLACK LINES "It was supposed to be her special day." Section Chief Nanao, responsible for the force's 49 female officers, is alarmed to learn her star pupil has not reported for duty, and is believed to be missing. BRIEFCASE "We need to know what he's going to ask." On the eve of a routine debate, Political Liaison Tsuge learns a wronged politician is preparing his revenge. He must now quickly dig up dirt to silence him. Prefecture D continues Hideo Yokoyama's exploration of the themes of obsession, saving face, office politics and inter-departmental conflicts. Placing everyday characters between a rock and a hard place and then dialing up the pressure, he blends and balances the very Japanese with the very accessible, to spectacular effect.

Prefecture D

Thriller

Louise Heal Kawai

North Light

Tokyo tapes nr 6-4

La pesadilla que ningún padre podría soportar. El caso que ningún inspector podría resolver. El giro que ningún lector podría prever.En enero de 1989, una niña de siete años fue raptada al norte de Tokio. Los padres nunca llegaron a saber la identidad del secuestrador. Tampoco volvieron a ver a su hija. Nombre en clave del caso: Seis Cuatro.Más de una decada despues, el jefe de prensa de la policía se ve obligado a volver sobre el suceso, cuyo estigma no se ha diluido en el tiempo: el fracaso de la investigación sigue siendo motivo de escándalo. Pero el veterano Mikami no aspira ya a resolver el crimen, solo pretende tender una mano a la familia de la víctima y contribuir de algún modo a limpiar la reputación del cuerpo. Sin embargo, tras detectar una irregularidad en el expediente, Mikami acabará desvelando el móvil de un delito que encierra secretos inimaginables.

Seis cuatro

Sei Quattro

1985. Kuzumasa Yuki, esperto reporter presso il "Kita Kanto Shinbun", affronta quotidianamente le complesse dinamiche della sua redazione, tra ambizioni e lotte di potere. Ma quando la notizia di un disastro aereo senza precedenti raggiunge il giornale, i colleghi rimangono sconvolti da quell'immane tragedia e finalmente fanno gioco di squadra per tentare di realizzare lo scoop della vita. Diciassette anni dopo, l'adrenalina e le emozioni provate durante la settimana che cambiò per sempre la sua vita sono ancora vivissime nella memoria di Yuki, che ripensa anche a una promessa fatta in quel giorno fatidico e che ora ha deciso di rispettare. Ma ciò che ancora non sa è che mantenere la parola data lo costringerà a fare i conti con il proprio passato e ad affrontare la più grande delle sue paure. Hideo Yokoyama, acclamato autore di Sei Quattro, torna con un romanzo ai confini del thriller, un libro che cattura l'attenzione del lettore sin dalle prime pagine, mostrando il dietro le quinte di una redazione giornalistica: i precari equilibri interni, le rivalità, la rigorosa etica del lavoro giapponese. Dopo aver lavorato per anni come giornalista d'inchiesta, Yokoyama sceglie di raccontarci con la sua voce inconfondibile il lato più oscuro del "quarto potere", un mondo dove la moralità viene spesso sacrificata in nome dell'interesse personale, offrendoci al contempo uno spietato ritratto del Giappone, con le sue profonde contraddizioni e le sue rigide strutture sociali.

Uno sette

SIX FOUR. THE NIGHTMARE NO PARENT COULD ENDURE. THE CASE NO DETECTIVE COULD SOLVE. THE TWIST NO READER COULD PREDICT. For five days in January 1989, the parents of a seven-year-old Tokyo schoolgirl sat and listened to the demands of their daughter's kidnapper. They would never learn his identity. They would never see their daughter again. For the fourteen years that followed, the Japanese public listened to the police's apologies. They would never forget the botched investigation that became known as 'Six Four'. They would never forgive the authorities their failure. For one week in late 2002, the press officer attached to the police department in question confronted an anomaly in the case. He could never imagine what he would uncover. He would never have looked if he'd known what he would find.

Kuusikymmentäneljä

A Financial Times Translated Fiction Book of the Year Translated from the Japanese by Louise Heal Kawai Minoru Aose is an architect whose greatest achievement is to have designed the Yoshino house, a prizewinning and much discussed private residence built in the shadow of Mount Asama. Aose has never been able to replicate this triumph and his career seems to have hit a barrier, while his marriage has failed. He is shocked to learn that the Yoshino House is empty apart from a single chair, stood facing the north light of nearby Mount Asama. How can he live with the rejection of the work he had put his heart and soul into, the dream house he would have loved to own himself? Aose determines that he must discover the truth behind this cruel and inexplicable dismissal of the Yoshino house and in doing so will find out a truth that goes back to the core of who he is. Plotted with the subtlety of his bestselling masterpiece Six Four, The North Light is Yokoyama at his elusive, tantalising and surprising best.

The North Light

Jonathan Lloyd-Davies

Zwei Kriminalfälle aus der Präfektur D: Als sich Kriminaldirektor Osakabe weigert, regulär in den Ruhestand zu gehen, ist die kunstvoll ausbalancierte Versetzungsliste des Polizeipräsidiums Makulatur. Da Verwaltungsinspektor Futawari Druck von seinem Vorgesetzten bekommt, muss er herausfinden, warum sich Osakabe so unkooperativ verhält: Dieser will unbedingt einen alten Fall, der nie aufgeklärt werden konnte und der auch Osakabes Familie betrifft, abschliessen. - Die junge Kommissarin Hirano von der Spurensicherung erscheint nicht zum Dienst. Am Vortag war ihr ein schöner Erfolg gelungen, als durch ein Phantombild, das sie gezeichnet hatte, ein Ganove dingfest gemacht werden konnte. Abteilungsleiterin Nanao versucht zu erfahren, was seit gestern passiert ist, aber Hiranos Spuren, denen Nanao folgt, sind rätselhaft und widersprüchlich ... - Hideo Yokayamas Kriminalgeschichten fesseln und lassen in die immer noch von Riten und Zwängen gefesselte japanische Gesellschaft hineinblicken, in der Frauen systematisch benachteiligt werden. Heikko Deutschmann und Jodie Ahlborn lesen sehr gefällig je eine Erzählung.

Zwei

Der 49-jährige Sochiro Kaji genießt als vorbildlicher Polizist einen tadellosen Ruf – bis er sich eines Tages vor seine Kollegen stellt und berichtet, seine Frau getötet zu haben. Im anschließenden Verhör gibt er an, dass seine Frau an Alzheimer erkrankt war und ihn gebeten habe, ihr Leben zu beenden. Der Fall scheint aufgeklärt, doch Kriminalkommissar Kazumasa Shiki findet keine Ruhe. Als er auf eigene Faust weiterermittelt, stößt er in der Wohnung von Sochiro auf eine geheimnisvolle Kalligrafie mit dem Text: "50 Jahre – ein Leben". In Shiki keimt der Verdacht, dass Sochiro sich mit fünfzig das Leben nehmen wollte. Shiki beschließt, das Rätsel um jeden Preis zu lösen – und taucht immer tiefer ein in die dunkle Geschichte eines Ehepaares, für das der Tod keine Sache des Zufalls war.

Kazumasa Yuuki werkt al jaren als verslaggever bij de North Kanto Times. Hij is een einzelgänger en bemoeit zich liever niet met de kantoorpolitiek van de krant. Maar als er honderd kilometer van Tokio een Boeing van Japan Airlines neerstort, een vliegtuigcrash van ongekende omvang, verandert alles. De redactie staat voor een ongelooflijke uitdaging, en als Yuuki tot coördinator van het vliegtuignieuws wordt benoemd, staan alle verhoudingen op scherp. Er ontvouwt zich een intrigerende, complexe machtsstrijd tussen media, overheid en politie. Japan Airlines nr. 123 geeft een fascinerend en messcherp beeld van de Japanse samenleving, waar niets is wat het lijkt.

Hideo Yokoyama

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