Be warned, there is a good deal of violence, but I didn't find it off-putting, since it was essential to the plot. The middle of the story was the most boring, as Joe was stuck in Japan, but even this sub-plot's potential was wasted, as the author fast forwards four years ahead all of a sudden. The uncle and daughter, Kansei and Sachi Takahashi, provide a safe haven for McGrady for the duration of the war. McGrady is assigned a partner in Fred Ball, who's never detained a suspect he couldn't beat an answer out of, and following a lead to Guam, assures his lovely girlfriend Molly that he'll be home soon. This extraordinary novel is so much more than just a gripping crime story—it’s a story of survival against all odds, of love and loss and the human cost of war.

Still, experiences on the Japanese side of the war, where much of the plot takes place, will be decidedly foreign to most. Have you ever enjoyed a book so much that you started reading slower because you didn't want it to end?Where else are the stakes higher and the players so desperate, pushed to extremes in matters that are life or death? Five Decembers" feels like it could have been written during the golden age of noir… hugely satisfying. The two detectives soon realise that the killer they are hunting has already left the Island, headed for Hong Kong. I am grateful to Hard Case Crime and author James Kestrel for allowing me to read an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

He demands that McGrady follow the trail wherever it leads, reasoning that the former Army soldier can handle himself, having seen combat action in China supporting the Marines during the Fujian Rebellion. For three years he hides in their house, not even daring to venture out into the backyard for fear the neighbours might see him. Start with this badly-overdue refresh of the hard-boiled detective story and add in a sensitive reading of locales and a non-Neaderthal attitude towards women. I think, if you can get past the first scene, you’d find this one interesting to think about in so many ways.It's an amazing story, filled with suspense, heartfelt romance, gut wrenching tragedy and an unrelenting tension throughout.

The cover picture suggests it’s a hardboiled crime fiction novel – not a bad thing in itself – but that’s not really the case. Set just before until just after WWII, this is a book that wants to read like a book of the time and mostly succeeds. If Spillane's hero Mike Hammer were to encounter a foreigner, it's dollars to doughnuts he'd first punch him (or her) in the face and then mock them for their funny accent.But Joe’s tenacious investigating lands him in Beamer’s office and assigned a partner he doesn’t want and doesn’t like.