Tokyo Year Zero

David Peace has been something of revelation for me recently. Some how he escaped my notice until I saw the film version of his novel The Damned United. Then I read about the BBC produced screen versions of his Little Red Riding Hood series abut a serial murder in Yorkshire. Then there were rave reviews of his latest novel, Occupied City in Harper's and the NY Times. I then knew I would have to start with Tokyo Year Zero since it is the first volume of a proposed three book series set in Japan. It is a hard boiled story set in war a ravaged post war occupied Tokyo. Dectctive Minami is trying to track down a murder who is raping and killing young women. He has his own demons and a sleeping pill habit. It has been said that Peace's style is not unlike James Ellroy. He is essentially writing literary crime novels in the same vein as contemporaries like John Burdett and Jess Walter. I find occupied Japan to be a fascinating time period and Peace has clearly done his homework. There are 4 pages of sources of inspiration from history books, fiction, and films. I am really looking forward to the next installment.