Readers who have finished Battle Royale, The Hunger Games & Catching Fire will be delighted to have this J-horror novel to tide them over... I know I was. Yusuke Kishi according to the author profile moves books over in his Native country and after reading this novel I'm not surprised. The book was a quick engrossing read that I had to stay up to finish. The translation seems fairly good overall (very minor complaints not worth mentioning).
The one thing that should be noted is that the book should be read for what it is- this is a fun way to blow a couple of hours not a classic to treasure based on it's vivid characters, intricate plotting or lyrical phrases. Frankly Battle Royale & Suzanne Collins' books are better but I still reccomend this as a great guilty pleasure especially for video gamers & RPG-ers. For me this book is a keeper because I know I'll enjoy re-reading it again at some point however it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea because it is total escapist, turn the brain off and read stuff. I'm sad to note that this is the only book of the author's to be translated to English as I would enjoy reading more of his cannon...perhaps I shall have to do the Rosetta Stone so I can read more of this author (and all the other J-Horror writers who haven't been translated)... hmm... ( )

Very strange. Keeps a very suspenseful pace. Has twist that you won't see coming. Ending kind of falls short, but I still give high rating because of the unique story line. When american horror starts to seem bland or repetitive it's good to get a new sense of creepy from the Japanese. ( )

An interesting novel not unlike the Running Man or Battle Royale. Not so much a horror story as an adventure about survival when humans are put on an island and are told to find their way out or die. There are some pretty good tense moments in the read and clever bits so it doesn't feel like a bunch of people just running around all the time dying. ( )