The second half of Takamura’s compelling crime epic—following Lady Joker, Volume 1 (2021)—plumbs the connections between corporate malfeasance and social immorality. It is well worth the wait for anyone interested in a panoramic portrait of modern Japanese society, including its dark corners, as well as fans of intelligent mysteries.” Brokenness is incorrect, nor are they desperate: the fire of hatred has been lite and it desires action—so they kidnapped and extort the CEO of Japan’s biggest beer company, Hindoe. The premise sounded so good - a plan to extort money out of a beer corporation - and I was glued to the book for about the first third of it. But once it moved away from the “Lady Joker” group who commit the crime and focused on the victim of the crime, the press, and the police - it just became very boring and moved painfully slow. I can’t allow myself to not finish a book (unless it’s completely terrible) - so I continued to work my way through it although it took way longer than it should have because I just kept getting bored. Eventually I started to speed read through it just to get it done. Takamura’s eye for detail and storytelling prowess are astonishing . . . It’s possible to read Lady Joker in various ways—as a mystery novel, a police procedural, or a cautionary tale of corporate risk management. I read it as an exploration of the original sin of human existence . . . The depth of empathy readers will feel for this book’s characters directly corresponds with the author’s insight on the intersections of human existence.”

Lady Joker: Volume 2 (Paperback) - Waterstones Lady Joker: Volume 2 (Paperback) - Waterstones

Lady Joker’ was originally published as ‘Redi jōkā’ in Japan in 1997 and was translated from the Japanese by Marie Iida and Allison Markin Powell. Both volumes open with a handy Dramatis Personae. Takamura’s challenging, genre-confounding epic offers a sweeping view of contemporary Japan in all its complexity.My thanks to John Murray Press U.K. Baskerville for an eARC and to John Murray Press U.K. Audio for a review copy of the unabridged audiobook edition, both via NetGalley, of ‘Lady Joker Volume 2’ by Kaoru Takamura. The audiobook is narrated by Brian Nishii. Despite its lengthiness and detailing, this was actually a straightforward crime plotted retelling to me. I know how it'll go as I have read the Glico-Morinaga case previously. No plot twists whatsoever, the tension was average and I actually don't really find their motive that convincing enough (except for Monoi and Koh, and Nunokawa for his family problems) but I digress on this as I remembered Handa said; “…to few crimes it could be the devil made me do it.” Still wondering on how they planned and initiated this huge and complex crime as none of the 5 men appeared in the post-kidnapping scene but I guess I need to wait for volume 2 later to know more about it. 3 stars to this first volume! This is the most complete crime story I have read in years. Greed, extortion, murder, disappearances, corruption and criminal gangs are all part of this vast epic that forms around one main crime – the kidnapping of the president and CEO of Hinode Beer by five societal outsiders whose only connection is a shared love of horse racing. In Lady Joker volume 1, we read of the development and unfolding of the plot and the immediate aftermath. Lady Joker volume 2 follows the investigation into the kidnapping over the course of the following year. The story is inspired by the unsolved Glico-Morinaga kidnapping that took place in 1984. The narrative moves between the conspirators, the executives of the company, journalists, and the police. This is a hard book to rate. The translation and writing style is wonderful, to an extent. I find the story quite wordy yet the minute details are what shapes the characters. Skimming the text would have portrayed the characters flatter than they are. I can definitely understand readers finding the characters flat regardless but to me, they felt very much so as I'd expect for a Japanese translated work.

Lady Joker, Volume 2 by Kaoru Takamura: 9781641293952

I'm also a little lost on where this book falls. It's set in the 90s so it feels like I could now place it under historical fiction but at the time of original publication (1997 I think), it would be deemed fiction? It's not really a thriller considering the incident wasn't all that thrilling. There's no mystery to the reader either, only to the police and media. Post-war Japan. Seiji Okamura is forced to resign from Hinode Beer, Japan’s largest beer conglomerate boasting the golden Chinese phoenix as their symbol, due to alleged disloyal political connections. He writes a scathing letter, to whom it may concern, claiming that corporate behemoths value profit more than human life and hinting at political interference and corruption. He compares the position of workers to that of soldiers in the war: ‘Second-class soldiers… act as bullet shields’ (p.7). In 1994 he dies in a special care home as a defeated man, suffering from dementia. Centered around an extortion case involving a beer company, Lady Joker would ordinarily be categorized in the crime or mystery novel genre, yet the book deserves to be called an exemplary literary work that depicts contemporary society . . . A magnum opus . . . It requires extraordinary skill to fully depict the ambivalence of Japanese society, in all its detail. Reading Lady Joker together with James Ellroy’s American Tabloid and the drama behind the Kennedy assassination serves as an intriguing comparison. Viewing a society through the lens of a crime is like examining a disease or a corpse to get at the person: it exposes the foundations of human existence.”Takamura’s challenging, genre-confounding epic offers a sweeping view of contemporary Japan in all its complexity.” The cynical nature of the capitalist society is also represented through the actions of the police. Their determination to try to locate the missing CEO and find the kidnappers is equalled by their resolve to prevent any kind of deal behind the eyes of the public. It is very evident that the people already appear to hold very little trust in business and political leaders. Thirdly there is very much familiarity with the journalists who dedicate their resources to following the key men of Hinode. Their ambition to establish the truth is done with the sole intention of getting that scoop piece of news that they can break ahead of their competitors at other publications. While this novel was written in 1997 in Japan, it can be argued that it’s condemnatory views of the actions of powerful businesses, the police and the press hold a mirror to those of us in the west in the current age will equally recognise. A novel that portrays withdevastating immensityhow those on the dark fringes of society can be consumed by the darkness of their own hearts.” I heard so much good things about this book and was so excited to be able to final read it, but it just didn't meet my expectations. I probably wouldn't have finished it, if it wasn't an ARC. I found it far too detailed and slow. And to make matters worse that detail did nothing to build a picture of the setting or give me much understanding of Japanese culture. Nor was there atmosphere or tension. It just felt like reams and reams of useless information. It was very long and only started to get going about 90% of the way in, which confused me, as I couldn't see how they could wrap up the story. Some how I missed that this was only volume one of the story! I don't think I'll ever find out how this ends.

Lady Joker, Volume 1 by Kaoru Takamura: 9781641293945 Lady Joker, Volume 1 by Kaoru Takamura: 9781641293945

Yet while there are acute observations of Japanese life there is also much that is recognisable about modern capitalism in Lady Joker. There is a lot of focus on the beer company and the trials and tribulations of Hinode will be recognised by many working in industries where one firm has a near monopoly of the market and remains desperate to hang onto its market share. There are multiple risks to the company, including from the kidnappers who threaten to damage their product, the opportunities for corporate exploitation by established and organised crime groups as well as the very real threat of having their finances scrutinised by the authorities. One of Japan’s great modern writers, this second half of Lady Joker brings Kaoru Takamura’s breathtaking masterpiece to a gripping conclusion. Like all literature, readers will take what they want from Takamura’s critique of Japanese society, but at the heart of the epic novel is a gripping crime story where the actual crime itself is almost secondary to the psychological ripples it sends through the boardrooms, police stations, press offices and homes of anyone connected. This is much more of a whydunit than a whodunit — and one that was well worth the wait.”This second half of Lady Joker, by Kaoru Takamura, the Grand Dame of Japanese crime fiction, concludes the breathtaking saga introduced in Volume One.