"tokyo" by Mo Hayder

Tokyo By Mo Hayder
Originally uploaded by pointybunny

Alternate Titles: The Devil of Nanking and Tokio
ISBN#

Quick: Very gruesome, hard to put down thriller set in Asia.
5/5 claws

Recently I randomly chose "tokyo" simply because of the title since I hadn't heard of the author before. What a fantastic find! This book has turned out to be my favorite I have read this year.

The story takes place partially in Nanking, China and Tokyo, Japan in two alternating story arcs that eventually meld together perfectly. Many writers have based their stories in Tokyo, Japan but few have actually been able to accurately describe Tokyo and bring a feeling of Japan with them. Since the author has lived and worked in Tokyo she has brought a feeling of authenticity with her that is refreshing. I used to live there as well and little details scattered through the story brought me right back in memory.

The first story line follows the fall of Nanking, China to the Japanese and the atrocities that were committed there after take over. There arent too many books available that give some history of the Rape of Nanking and many readers may not even be familiar with the history at all. The Nanking storyline goes into gruesome details and can be very unsettling at times.

The main character is an English woman named "Grey" who has gone to Tokyo to find missing film footage from the fall of Nanking. She works as a bar hostess while attempting to track down the missing film. While she is there she meets a Yakuza boss and just how does he fit in with her quest?

Tokyo is a literally "a page turner". I couldn't put it down, many people may find it too violent or graphic because Mo Hayder does not mess around. The characters are well done and interesting, the story is fast paced and exciting. All in all, I will be searching out more books from this author!

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Woke Up WAY To Early

I was having a nightmare that someone came and took Meggy away from me saying I was a bad mom. I guess the spanking episode of last night really stayed in my mind. I was so mad at T last night I didnt talk to him for a long time but then when he came to bed he asked me if I was mad at him and we talked about the punishment system and he said he didnt think that the naughtly corner was working and he got mad and said he would just leave it all to me. I told him that wasnt what I wanted, we have to both be doing the same thing. He said he would back me up, lets see how it goes.

Its pouring rain today.

The New Year = New Problems

I decided I should keep my blog more to date in the New Year. I have so much I want to write about and so much to remember hopefully I wont forget as much as I did last year. T's business has failed and he has decided to give up New Zealand and try and go back to the US. Not sure what is going to happen. I dont know how I feel about it. Since his business has gone under he has been severely depressed and doesnt do much but sit on the couch and play video games. This week he has played about 9 hours per day at least. We always said we werent going to punish Meggy with spankings but with a naughty corner which I have been doing faithfully. It works so well that when I tell her that she is naughty she goes right to the corner. Tonight though she was trying to get his attention while he was playing games and he spanked her so hard her bottom was bright red and sore. I know it hurt because I intervened and he hit my hand. It hurt alot. I guess one reason I came to my blog was because I wanted somewhere I could hash it out in my mind and make sense of it. I know we will argue about this and the two types of discipline will confuse her. He isnt a violent man so I dont know where this coming from, is this a sympton of his depression? Should I be worried?
I love our life now and I dont want anything to change. Here is hoping 2008 can turn out better.