Tokyo Station

Cover Type: Hardcover
Book Condition: Fine
Jacket Condition: Fine
Publisher: Mcmillan
Publisher Place: London
Publisher Year: 2002
Edition: Reprint

Description: 339 pages. Book and Jacket appear to have hardly been read and are both in Fine condition throughout.

Publishers Description: Harry is American but has grown up in Japan, among the floating brothels and street gangs of The Floating World, a neighbourhood of geisha houses, dance halls and licensed women. Now Harry has a thriving business helping the Japanese to seize foreign assets. He plays unscrupulous poker, enjoys a certain way with women and mingles with friends in criminal circles. What Harry is hiding is that he is also a spy. Four years earlier, the Japanese army had invaded China and Harry had followed to survey possible Chinese oil fields. Two photos appeared in the Japanese newspaper at the time - one of Harry with Nazia, another of Major Kobodaishi who had beheaded a hundred Chinese. The paper did not mention that the rescue of other Chinese from the Major caused Kobodaishi such loss of face that only Harrys death could atone for it . . . Industry Reviews The year is 1922 and a gang of children run through the streets of Tokyo, re-enacting the tragic, revenge-filled legend of Lord Kira, Lord Asano and the ronin - the lordless, wandering samurai. Young Harry Niles stands out from his friends, for hes a gaijin - a foreigner - who, during these childhood games, first comes across the mysterious Ishigami, a soldier who will have a profound effect on the later life of the young American. 19 years later, and Japan and the United States of America are poised on the cusp of the Second World War. These days Harry makes his money by running a bar and plays down his talents as nothing more than being able to speak better Japanese than most Americans and better English than most Japanese. The son of railroad preachers, he cringes with embarrassment when he recalls his parents proselytising on Japanese street corners, his fathers inability to speak the language only marginally less mortifying than his mothers propensity to speak mens Japanese. As Harry ducks and dives through the dark city streets, he seems utterly at home amongst the Tokyo nightlife, until he hears news of the return of Ishigami, who appears to be looking for our rogueish hero - and that worries Harry more than any talk of war. With Tokyo Station Martin Cruz Smith succeeds once again in scoring a bullseye, his fluent narrative taking both the characters and the reader back and forth through the decades with style and ease. (Kirkus UK)

ISBN: 9781405001168