Villain

June 14, 2010
Yoshida examines the lives of a victim and a killer in this subtle but powerful novel about collective guilt and individual atonement, his first book to appear in English translation. The police arrest Yuichi Shimizu, a 27-year-old construction worker from Nagasaki, for strangling Yoshino Ishibashi, an insurance saleswoman, with whom he'd gone on a couple of dates. Moving skillfully back and forth from the crime to its aftermath, Yoshida describes Ishibashi's boring job in Fukuoka, her fantasy dates and online boyfriends, as well as Shimizu's existence in Nagasaki, where he cares for his ailing grandfather and grandmother, and lavishes his attentions on his fancy white car. Multiple points of view reveal both slight and dramatic changes in a host of other people, including acquaintances and relatives, affected by the murder. Most impressively, Yoshida's complex portrait of Japanese society leaves no doubt as to his characters' actions, but tantalizing doubts about their meaning.

July 1, 2010
Though Yoshida is the author of nine books and the winner of multiple awards in Japan (including two for this one), Villain is his first novel to be translated into English. Unusually structured, as much a character study as it is a crime novel, it begins with the murder of a young woman, Yoshino Ishibashi, on a remote mountain pass and then gradually reveals the circumstances behind her death. Was the killer Yuichi Shimizu, a quiet, car-obsessed young construction worker who paid for Yoshinos favors? Or was it brash college student Keigo Masuo, to whom Yoshino lied about dating? But 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? This starts slowly, but after 50 pages its hypnotizing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)