For those who enjoy psychological, suspenseful thrillers “A Caring Man” by Akira Arai is well-written, cerebral, dark, intense and an entertaining read from beginning to end. Uncompromising and shocking, Akira Arai’s “A Caring Man” is recommended!
TITLE: A Caring Man
BY: Akira Arai, Translated by Marc Adler
PUBLISHER: Vertical Inc.
PAGE COUNT: 352
RELEASED: July 16, 2011
Tokyo, 2011. An unknown terrorist group has destroyed an iconic landmark in the Japanese capital, signaling the start of a series of attacks that the group’s enigmatic leader promises will culminate in a “Final Event” — a massacre of unprecedented proportions. With no leads to work with aside from the ingeniously devised detonators used in the first bombing, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police is forced to contemplate the grim possibility of international terrorists targeting Japan, but one detective has a hunch that the perpetrators are to be found much closer to home…
Part psychological thriller, part fantasy horror, A Caring Man is film producer and author Akira Arai’s richly imagined exploration of violence and social ennui — tale filled with compellingly drawn characters that offers a unique glimpse into the dark heart of modern Japanese society.
Akira Arai is known as a filmmaker and producer and the head of his studio, Kinetique.
But this time around, Arai made his debut with his first novel titled “A Caring Man”, a psychological thriller which has earned him a Golden Elephant Award.
In fact, even Kanjiro Sakura, producer of the film “Inception” was quite positive towards the book after the book received an award saying, “Everything about this book from its structure to its themes and execution is modern, making it a complete ‘entertainment story.’ It is the ideal thematic match for these times, deserving of a literary grand prize.â€
And now “A Caring Man” receives its release in the U.S. courtesy of translations by Marc Adler and released by Vertical Inc.
“A Caring Man” begins with an prologue of how a baby was dropped off at a baby hatch at Jiiku Christian Hospital, a place where many unwanted newborns are dropped off before being transferred to orphanages and foster families.
But on this one night, this baby would shock the nurse and doctor who received it. The baby was bloody and all over its body, its parent has carved the skin to make it look like a Gucci bag.
Bloody lacerations all over, the doctor and nurses went on to rescue the baby named Yoshio Iizuka.
Flashforward to Tokyo 2011.
The story begins with a freelance photographer named Mariko who is trying to make ends meet and is used to getting high-profile shots and getting paid nicely by major publications. But one day, life for Mariko but also everyone in Japan would change when an explosion takes place on Tokyo Tower.
Mariko, a photographer can on only do one thing…take pictures of the casualties and the destruction as people try to jump out of Tokyo Tower to escape the fire but at the same time, killing themselves. But more explosions take place on the tower legs and immediately people around the area know that these explosions are deliberate.
Tokyo Tower has been destroyed by a terrorist attack and many casualties from all around the vicinity. And as for Mariko, she barely manages to escape the Tower falling on top of her, but yet because of the impact, was knocked unconscious.
While Mariko survived the ordeal, she is the only one who was able to grab photos of the explosion, the destruction and everything that took place from the beginning to the Tokyo Tower collapse, that includes pictures of parents, children leaping to their deaths. People dying…
Immediately, Tokyo detectives and the police begin looking for the culprit who is responsible. For Detective Tsuyoshi Isogai from the Atogayama Police Station, he will do all he can to look for whoever is responsible.
The story then begins to focus on the person responsible for this heinous act…
The baby who was mutilated by his mother, Yoshio Iizuka was seen as a person to have grown up healthy and strong-willed. In fact, the charismatic man became quite adored by the Japanese public for fighting for the rights of abused children and eventually becomes a hero for human rights.
But behind-the-scenes, Iizuka is actually the ringleader of a group of people who have been abused or have had lived tough lives and their hearts are black. They live a facade of caring for people but in truth, they love hurting people, torturing them, killing them with no sense of remorse.
And as the “Caring Man” Yoshio Iizuka is thought to be a respectable man to the public, his goal is to kill off humanity and the Tokyo Tower explosions was just a test. Now he wants more bloodshed in Tokyo at a grander scale.
Will Dective Isogai find out who is responsible for the string of murders throughout Tokyo and who is responsible for the Tokyo Tower explosions? What happens to Mariko when she starts fall for the charismatic Yoshio?
“A Caring Man” is probably one of the most twisted, psychological thrillers I have read in a long time.
Methodically written with Arai’s attention to details, I was quite impressed but also a bit sickened as this is one intense novel that will no doubt shock readers.
I must admit that at first, I thought the novel was about police and a photographer trying to catch a terrorist but instead, it became a bit more deeper than that. The novel is actually a psychological profile of one twisted individual.
From the prologue which begins with Yoshio Iizuka being dropped of with bloody lacerations all over his body and carved to look like a Gucci Bag, just to imagine the visualization of that alone is shocking! But then as the novel continues, we start to learn how this man, considered as growing up healthy despite being abused as baby, has harbored evil thoughts towards society.
This is one man, who wishes he was not saved by doctors and now, he has nothing but sheer hatred towards them and everyone on the planet. And he manages to recruit people who have been abused and also feel the same.
And because he is so suave and charismatic, he uses it to his advantage to get Japan to love him (as he champions human rights) but in the background, he and his followers are nothing but murderers and black-hearted individuals who want to inflict pain in society.
And that pain is detailed in the book. For example, in one instance, a child abuser kills his young son. Iizuka and his followers are just standing outside the door and have no intention of saving the boy who is being killed but instead, are waiting for the opportunity to get the abuser and torture him.
Akira Arai really goes into detail about the torture, in this case, chopping the abuser up in pieces while he is alive. I was literally sickened to my stomach because there are quite a few situations throughout the novel where Iizuka’s followers just kill for the sake of what their leader tells them.
And there are several incidents in the book that were just hard to read as it shows how evil these people are.
And as you read and have nothing but hatred towards these evil individuals, your heart sinks even lower as other characters are caught by Iizuka’s charms and to see how he becomes a beloved hero because of the facade of being this humanitarian. Sickening!
But that is the point that Arai wants to make in this novel that not everyone can be saved. I’m not sure if Arai’s depiction of Iizuka is based on Japan’s leniency towards its criminals. Where here in the West, those commit unspeakable crimes are either executed or locked up for the rest of their lives, in Japan, they believe in rehabilitation.
I’ve followed Japanese culture and would read the newspapers and would be incensed of reading stories of people who would kill (multiple people) and then be released later because they were deemed rehabilitated.
“A Caring Man” tries to showcase these individuals who have had major trauma in their life but found themselves a hero in Yoshio. A hero that would lead them to create chaos in society. Instead of keeping things within themselves and not breaking the rules, Iizuka…who is looked at as a hero to Japan, instills his teachings to his followers that it’s OK to let it out but do it in a grand fashion.
It’s a twisted logic but that is the focus of the story.
Where in most stories, we get to see how police do all they can to catch the sadistic individual(s), in this case, the focus is more on the evil and how they are able to outwit the police and everyone around them.
Overall, “A Caring Man” was a very well-written psychological thriller. It’s one of the most dark, twisted but yet satisfying novels I have read. And it is important to note that there are graphic descriptions of torture in this book. And for those who can’t stomach it, this book may not be for you. I don’t mind it but even the details of the horrific torture really made me uncomfortable.
But for those who enjoy psychological, suspenseful thrillers “A Caring Man” by Akira Arai is well-written, cerebral, dark, intense and an entertaining read from beginning to end.
Uncompromising and shocking, Akira Arai’s “A Caring Man” is recommended!