Six Four

December 5, 2016
Japanese author Yokoyama makes his U.S. debut with a massive and complex police procedural set in 2003 in one of Japan’s prefectures. Supt. Yoshinobu Mikami, who has been transferred from criminal investigations to media relations at Prefecture D Police Headquarters, must contend with unhappy members of the press who feel that the police are too selective in what they choose to share. The multilayered plot involves the unsolved kidnapping and murder of a seven-year-old girl 14 years before, physical confrontations between reporters and police, and the discordant relationships among various elements of the police force. Meanwhile, Mikami agonizes over his teenage daughter, Ayumi, who has been missing for weeks. American readers may have trouble following the bewildering conflicts and alliances, but they should gain a better understanding of a very different culture. This is a novel that requires and rewards close attention. The ending is oddly satisfying, though none of the underlying issues are truly resolved.

October 15, 2017

This work, the first available-in-English-translation novel from Japanese phenomenon Yokoyama, requires serious commitments of time and attention. The exquisitely plotted story pivots around detective-turned-press director Mikuma, who was previously involved in investigating the 1989 kidnapping and murder of a seven-year-old girl. Referred to as the titular "Six Four"--1989 is Showa 64/Heisei 1 in the Japanese calendar--the unsolved case's 14th anniversary is about to become a major press event, and Mikuma must convince the girl's mourning father to receive the head of the National Police Agency. Meanwhile, Mikuma is dealing with his own anguish--his runaway teenage daughter remains missing--and his heightened desperation drives his own unofficial investigation into Six Four until closure (for some) becomes possible. With his crisp British accent, narrator Richard Burnip reads with requisite detachment, never prematurely giving anything away, but his emotive adjustments are immediate whenever parental attachment trumps professional neutrality. VERDICT International thrill-seekers (with patience) will find Yokoyama's English debut essential listening. ["A complex procedural that takes time to get into high gear": Xpress Reviews 1/20/17 review of the Farrar hc.]--Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon, Washington, DC

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