Now You're One Of Us, by Asa Nonami

(pb; 1993, 2007: translated by Michael Volek & Mitsuko Votek)

From the back cover:

"The Shitos: eight people, four generations, one household, with young newlywed Noriko joining the clan to make nine. Her husband Kazuhito adores her to distraction and her in-laws seem to be the most good-natured people imaginable. the family owns a thriving business and lives on a sprawling estate in the suburbs of Tokyo where they've created a floral paradise. Once a series of strange events and inconsistencies trigger Noriko's suspicions, however, reality becomes inseparable from her own dark imaginings."

Review:

Okay read from a potentially-great writer.

The pluses:

Now You're One Of Us flows better than Nonami's translation-stilted The Hunter. Nonami is in her element here, with strong characters and a pace (for the most part) that wastes no time establishing the initially low-key creepiness necessary for this kind of novel.

The minuses:

Now You're One Of Us is predictable.

Anyone who's read Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby, or seen the resulting film, will spot the lame end-"twist" early on. In this day and age, at least in the United States, that twist is Clichéd, with a capital "C".

While reading Now, I kept hoping that Nonami was playing the clichéd set-up to spring some mind-f*ck/paradigm-shift on the reader. Sadly, this is not the case.

Another deal-killer on this 239-page novel is that it's seventy-five to a hundred pages too long. The last quarter of Now would've been fine if the storyline wasn't so predictable: yes, folks, another case of style over increasingly-thin substance.

Also, in order to support the flagging storyline, Now's characters start acting dumb, really dumb. Not 'cinematic-teenagers-in-a-haunted-house' dumb, but close.

With a less common set-up, and a lot of end-section trimming, this novel-that-should've-been-a-novella is disappointing, at best.

As far as I know of, The Hunter and Now You're One Of Us are the only Nonami English-translated novels available stateside. I hope more come this way soon, because I'd like to read a nailed-it work by this potentially-wondrous author.

The Hunter, by Asa Nonami

(hb; 1996, 2006: translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter. First book in the Detective Takako Otomichi Mystery series)

From the inside flap:

"When Takako Otomichi chooses the career of detective, her family disapproves and her male colleagues refuse to take her seriously, especially hard-bitten old gumshoe Sergeant Tamotsu Takizawa, her reluctant partner on the hunt for a mysterious murderer whose grisly trademark is to rip out the throats of his victims.

"The pair must put their differences aside as their search for the killer takes them into Tokyo's seedy underworld of drugs, nightclubs, and teenage prostitution, and to the terrifying realization that the murderer is some kind of wild animal on the loose in the city streets. Before long, Takako is hot on the trail of her dangerous yet highly intelligent prey in a hair-raising journey that will bring her face-to-face with the killer and face-to-face with herself."

Review:

I don't know if it's a translation issue -- no disrespect toward Carpenter's translating abilities -- or an inherent element of Nonami's writing, but the first quarter of The Hunter is an awkward, stilted affair. Perhaps it's appropriate, given how awkward and hostile Otomichi and Takizawa are towards each other, as they slowly learn to work together as partners.

This series set-up novel gets better in the second quarter, as Otomichi and Takizawa's personal details, as well as the plot, begin to gel. Both of the lead characters, as well as a couple of the background characters, are interesting. The plot, occasionally flashy and twistless, is police procedural-standard at best, aside from the case's two wild-card elements.

Nonami has crafted an uneven but attention-getting work: a series kick-off that, with its interesting lead characters and strange hook-elements, makes me curious about her next Takako Otomichi Mystery (if it gets published stateside). A second entry could easily improve upon the first, if The Hunter is any indication; Nonami has it in her to be a stand-out writer.

Check it out, just don't expect too much.