Sergio reviewed Three Assassins by Kōtarō Isaka
Review of 'Three Assassins' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
The thriller tag may have led me astray in terms of expectations for this book, but nonetheless I enjoyed it for what it was. It mainly follows three characters embroiled in a "crime industry" in Japan that reads like a cartoon's idea of what industrialized crime would entail. Every assassin has it's killing gimmick and a set of beliefs with more holes than swiss cheese. We follow two of them and a "main character" that's out for revenge. Despite the lack of tension (or thrills), the book is really well written/translated, has a quick pace and builds a lot of momentum. It was hard to relate to the characters, but I can appreciate reading about a bunch of weirdos with flawed belief systems be propelled towards bad decision making. The reliance on coincidence to intertwine them reminded me a bit of Tokyo Godfathers.
