Tokyo Zero: A Novel [Kindle Edition]

From the sizeable sample that I read, I can tell this is well-written, especially from a scene-setting point of view. I've never been to Japan, but reading this I felt like a Westerner there immersed in Japanese 'strangeness'. There were dashes of humour and generally the style reminded me slightly of Kafka or Camus. The plot moved along nicely too.

On the other hand, Tokyo Zero wasn't Kindle-ised particularly well. There is no cover, the chapter headings and paragraphs look almost like a text dump. There are a few sentences that don't quite make sense and a few typos such as Judge Dredd/Dread being spelled inconsistently. With a bit of proofreading and tidying up, I would give this 4.25/5 but until then, it's a 4*.

I really wanted to enjoy this read, but could not get into it. Cyberpunk is a great genre, this does fit into that sub culture but it just didnt click for me. it felt disjointed, which is harsh criticism for a cyberpunk novel. The humour is evident and funny in places, just not my thing i guess.

The first thing you'll notice about this book is the descriptions. They're magnificent. Nothing is really done in simple nouns and adjectives, it's done with a flourish. I'm not sure I can explain what I mean, but each thing that is described...Japan, the people, the buildings...is not just described, it's opinionised. Don't know if that's a word, but that's pretty much what I want to say. But this method really brings the story to life, and the country too...you'll see what I mean when you read it.

There's a good story to this...one of those Japanese cults, a Westerner with an ambiguous background as the protagonist [or antagonist depending on which way you think], and a lot of Japanese cultists who seem ordinary but are usually killers too. And potentially big killers. There are times when I felt it went too much into the history of each character...example, the main character walks into a room, meets three new people in the cult, and we're led through histories of all three of them, one by one...as well written as it is, it can get a little tiring sometimes...but that's a tiny complaint really.

And this thing is really well-written. There aren't many writers who can put sentences together like this, and move through time the way he does...there are no surplus actions with the characters, and pretty much every scene ends in the right way and at the right time...it's almost like a movie in that aspect...the only difference being the narrator, who reveals himself more through his opinions than his actions...although later in the book this flips sides and he becomes more active...if that makes sense. I think it does.

Basically, I liked this a lot.