Arimasa Osawa

Inspector Samejima is once again patrolling the mean streets of Shinjuku in a second outing in the popular Japanese police series. This time around there's a notorious assassin who is reportedly after a Taiwanese Mafia boss that has fled to Japan to escape retribution after betraying the hit man and costing him the woman he loved. The killer, known as Du Yuan (The Poison Ape), will stop at nothing to reach his target even if he has to go through all of the Yakuza to get there. There also seems to be a renegade Chinese cop after the assassin too and it all adds up to big trouble for the Shark. Can he prevent a bloodbath occurring or will he just have to stick around to mop up the pieces when the dust settles?

This episode in the life of the Shinjuku Shark seems more of a pulp novel than noir/police procedural of the first instalment. It takes a few chapters for the main story arc to get going but when it does the body count rises freely. This is much more violent than its predecessor and involves the rape and torture of a club hostess (prostitute in all but name) who becomes attached to the hit man. There is very little in the way of continuity from the previous book with subsidiary characters only appearing briefly, which in the case of Sho (Samejima's girlfriend) is quite a shame. This is definitely a stand-alone novel with no development of the back-story for the Shark's career stall so anyone who feels inclined can read this without picking up the first.

While Samejima is a good character the story didn't quite grab me as much this time around. Maybe it was that there was more time spent away from the main character while the others were fleshed out. The reliance on a medical condition, which could have easily been resolved, for a plot device always seemed to jar unnecessarily when it reared its ugly inflamed appendix. If the third in the series ever gets translated then I will pick it up as the relationships of the main character are interesting and I find the setting appealing also.… (more)

Shunned by his colleagues for refusing to toe the line Inspector Samejima, known by the name of Shinjuku Shark for his relentless pursuit of justice regardless of the cost, is on the trail of gun manufacturer Kizu. Once regarded as a shining light within the force he is now treated as something of a loose cannon but one that cannot simply be dismissed. He holds information which could potentially have devastating consequences if it gets released. No-one in the department wants to work with him, partially because of his methods and also in fear that their own careers would be harmed, so the Shark works alone in one of the toughest precincts in Japan. But while he's closing in on his target it seems another hunter has entered his waters and is preying on his fellow officers. Will he give up his own enquiries to take on the the new target and become a team player or will his own investigation lead him there anyway as he suspects that it might?

This is quite a fast-paced, hard-boiled detective story with an interesting set of characters that has turned into a popular and multi-award winning series in Japan. It features some detailed police procedural work too, particularly in the ballistics field, which is worked well into the story. There is probably a little too much coincidence going on though which ties everything together including Samejima's personal life but despite that it's still an enjoyable tale and I'm glad that I've also picked up the 2nd in the series to continue with at some point.… (more)