Villain

Shuichi Yoshida

This complex crime story starts slowly, but the suspense builds as do feelings of loneliness in both major and minor characters. Untangling the various voices is well worth the effort, though I guarantee you'll find it even more difficult to decide just who is the villain and who the victim.

Extract

'There are too many people in the world like you,' Yoshio said. 'Too many people who don't have anyone they care about. Who think that if they don't love anyone else then they're free to do whatever they want. They think they have nothing to lose, and that makes them stronger. If you have nothing to lose then there's nothing you really want either. You're full of confidence, and look down on people who lose things, who want things, who are happy or sad sometimes. But that's not the way things are. And it's just not right.'

Parallels