This is not my first book by the author and it’ s not my favorite but this kept me turning the pages and delivered what it promises – a twisted game of kidnapping. I absolutely adored Malice and Newcomer and fell in love with the writing style. These two include murder but “The Name Of The Game is a Kidnapping” bases the thrill around a kidnapping. Again, quite an interesting premise when the story is from the perspective of the kidnapper.
SYNOPSIS
Sakuma is a high-profile ad agent who was about to land one of the biggest gigs of his career. But he was betrayed by the owner of the company that just hired him.
Down on his luck and now on his way out career-wise, he planned to go publically chew out the man who brough him down. Instead, upon uncovering a deep secret, he devises a plan to bring down his new rival in a twisted game called kidnapping
THOUGHTS
CRIMINAL MINDS
I absolutely love crime thrillers where we get an insights on the criminal mindset, the antagonist trying to be one step of the police. And, the kidnapper in this one is pretty smart at that.
PREDICTABLE
The only reason this isn’t my favorite book from him, is because I partly guessed how it’s going to end a few chapter in. Although, the end still surprised me and it was equally entertaining to read throughout.
THEMES
Apart from the obvious entertainment factor of a crime thriller, this provokes you to ponder on several issues that reflects today’s society like the rich believing they are above the law, the lack of empathy on growing crimes, the yearning for the cat and mouse chase.
RATING : 4.0/5.0
Overall, It’s quite an interesting read. I thought it’s going to be a lighter read as it did not start with murder but did get intense at times.You would enjoy this book if you are familiar with his work already. If you haven’t read Keigo Higashino before, would not recommend this as the first book you pick up. Saying that, Malice is still my favorite and go to book recommendations when it comes to Keigo Higashino.
DETAILS
Pages: 240
Published on : February 28th 2017
( First Published November 19th 2002)
Publisher: Vertical