Kazuo Mori
Created by Peter Tasker

KAZUO MORI is an old-fashioned private eye, prone to introspection and borderline poverty, willing to take on any job that pays, almost. He lives in a suitably shabby condo, his fourth-story office is in a seedy building, and his primary mode of transportation is a Honda motorcycle that has seen better days. Oh, yeah, and the mean streets he must go down aren't in Los Angeles, San Francisco or even New York. Nope, Kazuo calls Tokyo home.

That office building also houses a couple of yakuza extortionists, a shady import-export firm, and a sukiyaki dive where the waitresses turn tricks when they're not dishing out the daily specials. This series seems to have it all -- it's like a gonzo version of Chandler turned up to eleven. So far the series included the Yakuza, terrorists, geishas, drugs. karaoke, hookers, strippers, video games, manga, high finance, stock manipulation, political scanddals, international intrigue and death cults, plus the regulation P.l. dollops of sex, violence and crime. Something for everyone!

Mori even gets a partner of sorts -- in Samurai Boogie he takes on Uno, an idealistic young college student still wet behind the ears who plays nicely off Mori's been there, done that cynicism. Not that Mori's not fun in his own right -- his penchant for conning info out of suspects is a joy to read, as he comes off almost like an Asian version of Jim Rockford.

Even better, Tasker isn't afraid to get right down to it. Born in the UK, and now living in Tokyo, his background as a financial analyst and his intimate knowledge of the Far East and its hyperactive culture enable him to write authentic and intriguing thrillers that don't shy away from the dark corners of Japanese society.

UNDER OATH

• "In Buddha Kiss, Peter Tasker serves up a tale of deep intrigue and lowlife characters that earn Mori a place alongside Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, Lew Archer, and other shamuses who know how to take a sucker punch and bounce back for more."
  (Business Week)
  .
• "Cyberpunk guru William Gibson has always known that Japan is the coolest place to set a thriller, but no one else has real caught on. Peter Tasker should change all that, by transferring hard-boiled American private eye mystery to the rain-soaked neon streets of '90s Tokyo. Tasker has created a living, breathing setting with the other-worldliness of an SF novel. Stylish, original and pacier than a shinkansen bullet train. This is manga Elmore Leonard."
  (Daily Mirror)
  .
• "The Japanese have a saying, "If it stinks, put a lid on it." In Samurai Boogie, Peter Tasker takes a firm grip of that lid and wrenches if off with glee. With its abrupt cross-cutting and sudden tight focus on visual detail, Samurai Boogie draws heavily on the conventions of Japanese manga comic books; in effect, the novel is a manga in prose. The details of Japanese life are spot-on, from the steamy atmosphere of a noodle stall to the oppressiveness of the summer rainy season . . . For its vigorous pace, the stark authenticity of its setting and its exhilarating immediacy, Samurai Boogie is outstanding."
  (The Times Metro)

NOVELS

• Silent Thunder
• Buddha Kiss (1997)
• Samurai Boogie (1999)

| Read all about it | Buy this book from BookSurge | Buy this book from Amazon |