”You can be brave and confident as you like, you can convince yourself that you’re invulnerable, that you know what you’re dealing with. You think that it won’t ever really get too serious--that there’ll be some kind of a warning before it goes that far, danger music, maybe, playing offstage, the way you get in films. But it seems to me that disasters aren’t like that. Disasters are life’s great ambushers: they have a way of jumping on you when your eyes are fixed on something else.” Rape of NankingObsessions are sometimes strangely conceived. We don’t know why something out of an onslaught of information sticks with us and won’t let go of us. For our protagonist Grey growing up in an overly protective home the one thing that slips through all the rigorous controls of her parents is a book, an orange covered book, on the atrocities that happened in Nanking, China in 1937. Maybe the reason she was so interested in what that book had to say was that it talked about an aspect of human behavior that was so far removed from anything else she had ever read about or even thought about. Nine years, seven months and eighteen days, is how long she has been researching, investigating every nugget of available information about an atrocity that most people would rather leave buried in the past. Nine years, seven months, and eighteen days is how long it has taken her to track down Shi Chongming. A man with a secret, a devastating secret.Shi Chongming stood in the doorway, very smart and correct, looking at me in silence, his hands at his sides as if he was waiting to be inspected. He was incredibly tiny, like a doll, and around the delicate triangle of his face hung shoulder, length hair, perfectly white, as if he had a snow shawl draped across his shoulders. He is a Chinese linguist hired by a Japanese university. He is a survivor of the 1937 slaughter of Nanking. He is the reason that Grey has come from London to Japan. She is chasing down a rumor that he has a short film that confirms and exposes the devastation perpetrated on the Chinese civilians by Japanese soldiers. Shi Chongming denies it, but not convincingly. He puts her off. She adds days to her quest. Nine years, seven months, and twenty days. She is broke. Tokyo even in the 1990s recession is one of the most expensive cities in the world.A good looking American named Jason finds her in the park and offers her a place to stay. Now Grey is naive, but since she left the confines of her parent’s bubble of protection she has received some knocks, some realizations with tragic consequences that have given her some understanding of how the world works. Men don’t offer to give you shelter without expecting some kind of payment. Jason has his own quirks and Grey soon becomes one of them. ”You’re hiding something.” He raised his arms and used the sleeves of his T-Shirt to wipe his forehead. “It’s easy. I just look at you and I can see it. I don’t know what it is exactly, but I’ve go the--the instinct it’s something I’m going to like. See I’m a...’ he raised two fingers and lightly tapped his forehead ‘...I’m a visionary when it come to women. I can feel it in the air. My God, my skin.’ He shivered and ran his hands down my arms. ‘My skin just about changes colour.’‘You’re wrong.’ I wrapped my hands round my stomach. ‘I’m not hiding anything.’‘Yes, you are.’‘I’m not.’He looked at me in amusement...’Of course you’re not.’Grey is most definitely hiding something. A lit poster of Mickey Rourke provided the only source of light in Grey’s room in the crumbling house she shares with Jason and a couple of Russian girls.Jason hooks her up with a Madame Strawberry who dresses like Marilyn Monroe, and has procured the help of a plastic surgeon to increase her resemblance to the Hollywood icon . She runs an upscale nightclub with a Some Like it Hot theme. Grey is not a natural fit for entertaining men, but caucasian hostesses are in short supply, so she is hired on a trial basis. It turns out she is pretty good at it. In what could have been a disaster she decides to talk about Nanking with a group of men who are the sons of the soldiers that invaded China. They know nothing about the barbarity that was perpetrated by their fathers as they crossed China. These men who when they returned to Japan hugged their wives, their mothers, and their daughters were the same men who brutally raped Chinese women on an epic scale. These men who played games with their sons, and honored their fathers in Japan were the same men who killed so many civilians in Nanking that they had to pile them up in a mound so large that at one point, from a distance, the stack of bodies is mistaken by a resident of the city for Tiger Mountain. Civilization, our grandest achievement, is so readily abandoned. The veneer of honor is replaced with a total disregard for human life. I wish I could say that what happened in Nanking was just an anomaly, but there are plenty of examples in history where civilized human beings became barbarians. Grey needs to see that film. It will confirm all she has been working for. When a man in a wheelchair, a seemingly insignificant event, arrives at the nightclub with an entourage and a nurse of uncertain sexual orientation it quickly becomes apparent to Grey that this is no ordinary man. He is a member of an organization called the Yakuza. ”Anywhere in Tokyo you could be aware of the presence of the yakuza: the underground gangs who claimed to be descendants of the samurai tradition. They were some of the most feared and violent men in Asia. Sometimes it was just the sounds of the bosozoku motorcycle gangs that reminded you of their existence, like a chrome wave rolling down Meiji Dori at dead of night, sweeping everything in front of them, the characters for kamikaze painted on their helmets.”Even Grey, as naive as she is, knows to be careful. (The quote above reminds me of that scene from the 1989 movie Black Rain when the Andy Garcia character is surrounded by yakuza gangsters with samurai swords whipping through the air on motorcycles in a parking garage. One of the most dramatic death scenes on film.) He was pushing a wheelchair, in which sat a diminutive insectile man, fragile as an ageing iguana. His head was small, his skin as dry and crenulated as a walnut, and his nose was just a tiny isosceles, nothing more than two shady dabs for nostrils – like a skull’s. The wizened hands that poked out from his suit cuffs were long and brown and dry as dead leaves. Fuyuki may need help getting around, but despite his infirmity his power is undiminished. As the plot thickens Grey discovers that Fuyuki has something that Shi Chongming desperately wants. The only way Grey is going to get to see that film is if she can steal the “potion” that Fuyuki needs to live. I wouldn’t say I’ve exactly given up on thrillers. I used to read them by the wheelbarrow full, but have found them in recent years to be bloated, too influenced by CGI, and frankly unsatisfactory. Arah-Lynda sent me this book as a recommendation with a compelling wish that I would read it and review it. How could I possibly say no? By the way Arah-Lynda wrote this spectacular review of this book that everyone should read. Arah-Lynda reviewMo Hayder wrote two stories one set in 1937 with Shi Chongming and the other in the 1990s with Grey. Usually when I read a book with two timelines I prefer one or the other and find myself impatiently reading the one that I don’t prefer so I can get back to the one that really has my attention. NOT the case at all here. Both storylines are so compelling that I eagerly gulped down each new revelation in either time period with equal relish. Nice neck Mo!Mo Hayder also kept me off balance and speculating endlessly between chapters as to what happened to Grey. How did she end up in a mental institution where a helpful roommate taught her about jigging (new word for me)? Does Grey have a labeled psychotic condition? As the action heats up I was worried about her fragile mental condition and whether each new setback would be the one that put her back in a state of mind that had her institutionalized. On the other timeline with Shi Chongming and his wife in Nanking, Hayder puts you right there with them starving to death, paralyzed with fear, unwilling to accept what is happening, and finding yourself lifting a rock over your head to do the unthinkable. The pacing is perfect. Hayder strings out the information with such patience. Each new disclosure packs a punch that will leave you dazed. I needed an 8 count more than once to let the latest illumination click into place. Highly recommended. Much more than just a thriller, it is more like a white knuckled LA freeway experience, coupled with an important exposé into the very real tragedy that occurred in Nanking. Highly Recommended!War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing!Will Byrnes wrote an insightful review about the book The Rape of Nanking please don't miss it. Click for Will Byrnes Review
When English girl Grey was very young she found a book about the Japanese invasion of Nanking. Reading about the atrocities committed there, she found a description of something so terrible she had to ask somebody if it were really true. But nobody would believe her when she told them that she read it and she was labeled 'sick', 'twisted' and 'evil'. And the book vanished, leaving her with no evidence to back up her protests. Ever since then Grey has been obsessed with proving that that atrocity did occur, that she did read about it, and that she is not evil or insane. The story picks up in Tokyo, where Grey's obsession has lead her to an old Chinese university professor who was actually at Nanking, and who may have the only existing video footage of the event. But the professor won't show it to her unless she does something for him in return: get close to a dangerous old Yakuza boss and discover the source of the Chinese folk remedy that is keeping him alive.The Devil of Nanking is a meditation on evil. The (real) atrocities that occurred at Nanking in 1937 were both horrific and unnecessary. Why did they happen? Was it ignorance, or evil, or both? Is there a difference between ignorance and evil? Grey is obsessed with this question, because she has herself done bad things, but out of a childlike ignorance, not out of malice. Grey and the Chinese Professor, Shi Chongming, have both been brutalized by the events of Nanking, although in different ways. Its horror colors everyone it touches, even the society of modern Japan, blissfully ignorant (for the most part) of the horrors their people once perpetrated. Every character in this book has secrets - dark, dark secrets - our two protagonists included. And whether they are evil or just ignorant, the people they are investigating are definitely and unequivocally evil, the kind of evil capable of perpetrating unthinkable crimes: the ancient Yakuza mob boss and his sexually ambiguous Nurse.Probably nothing I have written about this book so far gives you any desire to read it. But this is one of the most well-written books I have read in a long time. To label it 'crime fiction' or 'mystery' or some other genre is to do it a grave disservice. At times it comes closest to horror, although author Mo Hayder seldom rubs our noses in the details. She seems to belong to the school of writers who prefer to let the reader's imagination fill in the details. Depending on how vivid your imagination is, this may be a good or bad thing. Certainly this is not a 'feel good' book. But I found it strangely irresistible. The prose is beautifully written and the story is meticulously paced and plotted. Again, this is one of the best-written books I have read in quite some time.I also think, and I believe that the author would agree, that the historical Rape of Nanking should not be forgotten. The atrocities committed there are on the same level, if not on the same scale, as those of the Holocaust. In a sense, though, they are worse, since no evil dictator or twisted mastermind ordered the Rape of Nanking. It was a disaster without purpose or meaning. But the whole event has been largely buried and forgotten both in Asia and in the Western world. Hayder's almost poetic prose unearths the story as only good fiction can. This book is not for the faint of heart. But it is definitely worth reading.
What do You think about The Devil Of Nanking (2006)?
This is not for the faint of heart. It's creepy and full of horrors (some imagined, some based in historical reality). Mo Hayder is definitely attracted to horrible events and twisted and/or strange--not to mention deviant--characters.That being said, this is a well written and fascinating crime thriller/historical novel. The author does everything right. She builds suspense and tension. She writes beautifully. The characters are weird and memorable. There are plenty of surprises and strange reveals. Mo Hayder describes the two settings (Nanking before and during the 1936 Nanking massacre, in which the Japanese brutalized the Chinese civilians of the city) and contemporary Tokyo beautifully. The characters, settings, and events come to vivid life. The whole thing is memorably creepy. There's also plenty of erotic tension as Grey discovers her repressed sexuality.Grey (it's her nickname, based on "Grey Alien", and the only name we know her by) comes to Tokyo seeking information about the Nanking Massacre, with which she is totally obsessed, for reasons we only understand towards the end of the book. She arrives in Japan penniless and jobless, and in the beginning sleeps in a public park.In the park she meets Jason, who rents her a room in his house, and helps her get a job as a hostess in an upscale Tokyo club called "Some Like It Hot" because its Japanese owner, Mama Strawberry, is obsessed with Marilyn Monroe, dying her hair blonde and making every attempt to look like Marilyn.A pair of Russian twins, Irina and Svetlana, also rent from Jason and work in the same club.Grey seeks out Professor Shu Chongming, because he has the only known film footage of the Nanking Massacre. At first he refuses to work with Grey. Then, he makes a deal with Grey. He will show her the film if she can find out the longevity secret of the ancient, wheelchair bound, apparently gentle (and reputedly very dangerous) yakuza gangster who sometimes comes to "Some Like it Hot" with his creepy entourage, including a strangely masculine nurse with a reputation as a terrifying monster. Shu Chongming is the second most important character, as he narrates the Nanking events.Things devolve, and Grey, Jason, Irina, and Svetlana get into deeper and deeper waters, until disaster strikes.The seemingly frail Grey, the main character, turns out to have more courage than we would have guessed. No one is what they seem to be in this terrifying and creepy thriller.The audiobook is well read by two of the best audio readers in the business. Simon Vance reads Shu Chongming's section (the Nanking events). Josephine Bailey reads Grey's sections. Both of them are pitch perfect.It's a great read, but if you are easily triggered by descriptions of horrible acts, stay away.
—Mona
"Tóquio” é um livro que me manteve em permanente angústia durante toda a leitura.É baseado num episódio da história da humanidade – o massacre e tortura de milhares de chineses, pelo exército imperial japonês, durante a invasão da cidade de Nanquim, em 1937. A acção desenrola-se, capítulo a capítulo, entre a cidade chinesa e Tóquio 50 depois, onde encontramos Grey, uma jovem inglesa, que procura um filme que relata um episódio do massacre.É um livro muito bem escrito e muito complexo, que expõe o lado mais negro do ser humano, até dos inocentes.O final é inesperado e avassalador. Não é fácil de ler. Até porque fala de amor: “...sempre foi para mim claro que o coração humano se vira do avesso para pertencer a alguém, que tenta aproximar-se do primeiro e mais próximo afecto...”
—Teresa
Tokyo (or The Devil of Nanking, depending on which edition you're reading) by Mo Hayder is a book that is hard to put in a box, and that's not a bad thing. Some classify it as thriller, others as horror or even historical fiction. It's a little bit of everything. Thankfully, the horror side of it is not prevalent, it's just that some parts, especially towards the end of the story, are not for the faint-hearted. Tokyo is the story of Grey, a disturbed young British woman on the search for a film, which is supposed to exist somewhere in Japan, and which she needs in order to prove the world she is not as crazy as it seems. Her search will take her from ladies clubs in Japan to Tokyo's underground and its frightening yakuzas. The story is interwoven with a depiction of the invasion of Nanking and the ensuing massacres by the Japanese army in 1937. I won't spoil the story by saying much more about the plot.Hayder's writing is okay. She doesn't really keep us guessing until the end about what really happened and what Grey's search will uncover, even if some aspects of me still took me by total surprise. There are enough hints at what is at stake throughout the book so that one is prepared for the grisly ending. It's a good story, however, in so far as you are kept wanting to read on to know more. The plot has its holes or bits that are hard to believe, but to be honest, it does not matter. It's a great read, which will keep you thinking for a while. Plus, it takes place in Japan and China. For someone like me who loves Japan and lives in China, it's just perfect! I'm not a fan of gore and I won't be necessarily rushing to read more Hayder, but I'm glad this one's been recommended to me. I read it in one go and I can guarantee you will too.
—Jerome Parisse
