Villain: A Novel (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)

Villain: A Novel (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)

A chilling and seductive story of loneliness, desperation, and murder, Villain is the English-language debut of one of Japan’s most popular writers.   A woman is killed at a ghostly mountain pass in southern Japan and the local police quickly pinpoint a suspect. But as the puzzle pieces of the crime slowly click into place, new questions arise. Is a villain simply the person who commits a crime or are those who feel no remorse for malicious behavior just as guilty? Moving from office parks and claustrophobic love hotels to desolate seaside towns and lighthouses, Shuichi Yoshida’s dark thriller reveals the inner lives of men and women who all have something to hide. “A psychological puzzle. . . . Engrossing and unsettling.” — The Wall Street Journal “A ripping good story of murder and secrets. . . . Yoshida writes with the cool confidence of a seasoned storyteller.” —Jessa Crispin, Books We Like (NPR.org) “A complex portrait of contemporary Japan. . . . A place where families have begun to fragment but old bonds still remain, and where loneliness drives people to acts they wouldn’t otherwise consider.” — The Columbus Dispatch “Powerful. . . . Set in the sterile world of online dating and love hotels, Villain is a moving and disturbing novel about loneliness, lies and the gap between expectation and reality. Highly recommended.” — The Guardian (London)   “A compelling examination of loneliness and desperation.” — Newark Star-Ledger “A convincing portrait of today’s Japan.” — The Week   “Shuichi Yoshida, Japan’s Stieg Larsson? . . . Villain is more than a typical ‘Whodunnit?’ suspense. . . . Yoshida focuses on the motivations behind the crime through his portrayal of  lost youth struggling to find direction and purpose. . . . Suspense junkies that get a taste for the Japanese twist on the genre after reading Villain can rest assured that there is more to come.” —Rosie Kusunoki Jones, “Japan Real Time,” a Wall Street Journal blog “Hypnotizing. . . . While the unfolding mystery holds our interest, Yoshida is really most concerned with exploring the alienation of his young characters and the lack of connective tissue between them. As the story takes a surprising turn toward the end, the author saves the biggest question for his readers: Who is the real villain: a killer who feels remorse, or a person who feels nothing at all?” — Booklist "[A] subtle but powerful novel about collective guilt and individual atonement. . . . Yoshida’s complex portrait of Japanese society leaves no doubt as to his characters’ actions, but tantalizing doubts about their meaning." — Publishers Weekly "Thrilling. . . . The sort of book that is difficult to put down. [ Villain ] lays out a panorama of modern Japanese society, a patchwork of composed people of various classes and occupations. . . . A modern literary achievement the like of which is rarely seen." — Japan Book News “A page-turning mystery. . . . Ably translated by Philip Gabriel . . . [it] will make you think and will leave you guessing right up to the very end.” —BSCReview.com Shuichi Yoshida was born in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1968. The author of nine books, he has won numerous literary awards in Japan and has also had several of his short stories adapted for Japanese television. Villain won the Osaragi Jiro Prize and the Mainichi Publishing Culture Award, two prestigious Japanese prizes. Yoshida lives in Tokyo. Yuichi turned on the overhead light in his car and angled the rearview mirror toward him. In the darkness the reflection of his face was indistinct. He moved his head from side to side, combing his fin­gers through his hair. His hair was soft and feline; the fine strands flowed through his rough fingers.   In the spring of last year, Yuichi had dyed his hair for the first time in his life. He dyed it a brown that almost appeared black, and when none of the guys on his construction site noticed, he dyed it a lighter brown, then even lighter the next time, until finally now, a year and a half later, his hair was nearly blond.   Since the change in hair color was so gradual, no one kidded him about it. Only once did another worker, Nosaka, laugh and say, “Hey, since when are you a blond?” His blond hair went well with his skin, tanned from outdoor work, so perhaps that explained the lack of teasing.   Yuichi was not a flashy guy, though when he went to Uniqlo and other inexpensive clothing stores to buy sweatshirts and sweatpants, he always wound up going for bright colors, reds and pinks. He would tell himself he’d get something subdued, black or beige, something that didn’t show dirt easily, but when he got to the store and stood in front of the racks of clothes, for some reason he’d reach for the brighter colors. It’s only going to get dirty anyway, he told himself.   His old chest of drawers at home was stuffed full of similar sweat­shirts and T-shirts, all of them with threadbare collars, frayed sleeves, the cloth all worn out. All of th