Blue Light Yokohama

Blue Light Yokohama by Nicholas Obregon

The main comment about this book was the difficulty with the Japanese names. It was felt that a list of characters and possibly a map of the area would have been a welcome addition .
We did learn quite a lot about the Japanese way of life, particularly the pecking order in the police service but were surprised that the seemingly ultra-respectful language and behaviour masked an underlying cynicism and misogynism.
Most of us found the detective’s childhood interesting, but the fact that we did not link the child to the adult until it was clearly spelled out was confusing. The time frame went back and forth without warning and it was disjointed and made for difficult reading at times.
Most of our group were engaged immediately but less so as the book continued. Some found that the book lacked substance and therefore interest but others though that the plot was interesting for the most part.
The main character was complicated and quite difficult to understand and we felt that there were deliberate and unnecessary complications included in the story with characters and storylines that went nowhere.
The main theme, the cult of the black sun, was again confusing but the plot twists were unexpected and interesting for most.
We found the novel was atmospheric and we learned a little about life in Japan.
Our score out of ten was 6 out of 10