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Centered around an extortion case involving a beer company, Lady Joker would ordinarily be categorized in the crime or mystery novel genre, yet the book deserves to be called an exemplary literary work that depicts contemporary society . . . A magnum opus . . . It requires extraordinary skill to fully depict the ambivalence of Japanese society, in all its detail. Reading Lady Joker together with James Ellroy’s American Tabloid and the drama behind the Kennedy assassination serves as an intriguing comparison. Viewing a society through the lens of a crime is like examining a disease or a corpse to get at the person: it exposes the foundations of human existence.” For the time being, each executive held fast to his own argument, and the dearth of ideas -- an utter failure to see the big picture and make a commanding decision -- was nothing out of the ordinary. that’s when you summon a force that attracts and then strikes. Yes, we are talking about the Lady Joker – a beauty that can kills as easily as it can seduce. But don’t get put off – she is here to help you with all her might and skills. Noguchi is a burakumin, from Japan's 'untouchable' community, born in: "a buraku village, one of the segregated areas where members of feudal outcast communities still lived".

An immense and extraordinary feat of writing and translation that has been long-awaited in English, Lady Joker is at once a thriller and a sweeping cultural history of Japan, a love story and a work of poignant social commentary.” The police are not naïve and are naturally suspicious about the unusual form this kidnapping took -- why would criminals free their victim without even making any demands ? Eventually' is the operative word here: if they come across as somewhat beaten down and frustrated -- some more than others -- they're not thinking anything of the criminal sort here yet. A)n excellent crime novel (.....) Readers open to delaying gratification will be hooked. Takamura shows why she's one of Japan's most prominent mystery novelists." - Publishers Weekly Shinran Prize]. Honganji Foundation (in Japanese). Archived from the original on November 18, 2018 . Retrieved December 15, 2018.

Challenging but rewarding, Lady Joker is a panoramic view of late 20th-century Japanese society, rife with social injustice and corporate corruption: a fascinating slow burn of a book, detailed, complex and immersive." - Laura Wilson, The Guardian Takamura’s eye for detail and storytelling prowess are astonishing . . . It’s possible to read Lady Joker in various ways—as a mystery novel, a police procedural, or a cautionary tale of corporate risk management. I read it as an exploration of the original sin of human existence . . . The depth of empathy readers will feel for this book’s characters directly corresponds with the author’s insight on the intersections of human existence.” There are the unusual circumstances that there were no police patrols in the vicinity at the time of the kidnapping -- leading Goda to suspect that the criminals had access to a police radio, meaning that someone from the police is involved.

Blindfolded the entire time, he never saw his kidnappers; readers know these must be some of 'The Men' from Part One of the novel, but they remain anonymous, unidentifiable figures here, and Takamura never shifts to their perspective. And, as it turns out, the kidnapping itself is a kind of feint and preamble -- just the beginning of the actual crime and plot the perpetrators have planned (which barely gets rolling in this first half of the novel in the slow and steady build-up of this story). He wants to squeeze some money -- a lot of money -- out of a company -- and Hinode is the obvious choice.