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elizanderson1066 's review for:
Six Four
by Hideo Yokoyama
This is definitely in the "middle of the road" category for me. Neither loved it nor hated it. There were points were it was an absolute slog, and also points where it was quite exciting.
If what you want from a thriller is fast-paced action with a cliffhanger at the end of every chapter, then this book is not for you. It is veeeery slow burner of a story which despite being based on a kidnapping case does not deliver the excitement that this premise might hint at. It's more about the politics and corruption of the Japanese police force. It's complex, multifaceted and involved, and you have to pay attention.
Sometimes with books it's a case of wrong time, wrong place. I think this was the problem here. The book is not poor quality. It's a well-constructed story with tight prose and a satisfying conclusion. But I think I had a lot on my mind whilst reading it so I was forever catching myself having to reread the same lines because my brain was in drift mode, and it just wasn't quite gripping enough to hold my flighty attention.
My other notable problem was with the protagonist. I couldn't sympathise with Mikami AT ALL at any point in the novel, which made it difficult to connect to the story. He's a difficult character to sympathise with at the best of times, and then you find out about halfway through that he. After that I was just like whevs Mikami I couldn't give two shits about your plight now mate. Jog on.
I do usually keep my distance from thrillers because I find most of them to be tedious, formulaic and poorly characterised, and I tend to gravitate only to those that come critically acclaimed or highly recommended by reliable sources (e.g. original Millennium series, Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train). Six Four definitely fell into the first category and looking at other reviews people seem to really like it. I can definitely understand why, but it fell flat for me.
If what you want from a thriller is fast-paced action with a cliffhanger at the end of every chapter, then this book is not for you. It is veeeery slow burner of a story which despite being based on a kidnapping case does not deliver the excitement that this premise might hint at. It's more about the politics and corruption of the Japanese police force. It's complex, multifaceted and involved, and you have to pay attention.
Sometimes with books it's a case of wrong time, wrong place. I think this was the problem here. The book is not poor quality. It's a well-constructed story with tight prose and a satisfying conclusion. But I think I had a lot on my mind whilst reading it so I was forever catching myself having to reread the same lines because my brain was in drift mode, and it just wasn't quite gripping enough to hold my flighty attention.
My other notable problem was with the protagonist. I couldn't sympathise with Mikami AT ALL at any point in the novel, which made it difficult to connect to the story. He's a difficult character to sympathise with at the best of times, and then you find out about halfway through that he
Spoiler
responded to his mentally ill daughter having an emotional breakdown by PUNCHING HER IN THE FACE?!?!?!I do usually keep my distance from thrillers because I find most of them to be tedious, formulaic and poorly characterised, and I tend to gravitate only to those that come critically acclaimed or highly recommended by reliable sources (e.g. original Millennium series, Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train). Six Four definitely fell into the first category and looking at other reviews people seem to really like it. I can definitely understand why, but it fell flat for me.