Started reading this via NetGalley and knew I had to get a proper copy before the end of the second chapter. Mr Obregón obviously knows the setting of the novel well and Iwata, the newest member of Tokyo's murder squad, proves to have a complex character as we follow him through his investigation, tracking down a serial killer. The story is interspersed with flashbacks to his orphanage childhood and his collapsed marriage, which adds some depth to the character, yet leaves plenty of room for further revelations.

The story is gripping without being unnecessarily complex or convoluted. The plot draws you in and keeps you to the end. Basing the final action scenes around a real earthquake was, in my opinion, inspired!

A great read, thoroughly enjoyed it. Highly recommended

A wonderfully evocative novel with excellent detail of the urban Japanese atmosphere. An unusual style of whodunit and unlike the run of the mill detective procedural novels. I hope the principal character is going to appear again in a further book. It is the sort of book that one would like to consume in one sitting - very gripping and generally an excellent read.

Never read a novel set in Japan before, found this one to be very dark but a great story, love how the story developed.
Really could not put it down

Blue Light Yokohama is a great book. I loved every page. It’s one of the most original crime novels I’ve read in ages.

The first thing I loved is the setting. I rarely read books set in Japan so this was different than the books I usually read. The setting really comes to life and is vividly written. I really felt like I was there, watching the investigation.

The characters are really good as well. They are well rounded and come across as made of flesh and blood.
I love the events that take place in the book. As the investigation unfolds, it becomes clear just how seemingly unrelated events and are linked and just what forces are behind the murders. I loved the cult references. The novel is quite dark at times but the author makes it work. I found it quite compelling.

Iwata is the best character I’ve read in ages.

One of the things I enjoyed the most is that the novel is slow-burning; events unfold slowly, one drip at a timeCrime fiction tends to be very pace-faced, rattling through events until the bad guy is caught and justice is served. Obregón takes him time and I savoured every word.

Blue Light Yokohama is a must read if you’re tired of police procedurals being churned out that follow the same pattern.

DNF @ 40%.

I just couldn't connect with the character's nor could the story keep me engaged.

This started off well but became hard work. It flipped backwards and forwards in time with no real definition between the two. A new Inspector in Tokyo's Police department' a serial killer and a corrupt police department. The storyline became so complex it was difficult to keep up with and yet it lacked pace in the storyline.

I enjoyed the characterisation but it didn't make up for the slow and difficult to follow storyline. I don't think i would follow up on this series

After reading the synopsis, I knew it was going to be a novel that i would enjoy. It made a welcome change from the usual crime books that are usually set in the UK or USA. A great plot that had me turning the pages! As always, i seldom write what a story is about for fear of spoiling for others., but i do recommended.

With thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers, this is my honest review.

Sorry to say i didnt finish this book. I wanted to, but it just didnt seem to flow. I was finding myself skipping over bits and finally gave up on it .
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A great debut novel, and my first set in Japan. It won't be my last! I found it was slow to get going, and did struggle initially but after a few chapters I was captivated. The inspiration for the book was interesting and led me to research the case it was based upon. Iwata's character develops really well _ the considerable exploration of his personality and childhood make you feel you really know him. I hope this will be the first in a series with this character.
The book was very dark in places, but not unnecessarily so and did aid the development of the plot. The plot twists were largely unexpected and I loved the atmospheric writing about Japan. I look forward to a second book.

This is as far away from a "typical" crime/serial killer book as it's possible to be and still stay in the genre. It is set in Japan and introduces Inspector Iwata. He is sent to Tokyo to help solve a series of brutal murders but he is far from welcomed. The killer leaves no DNA or other trace evidence. The killings are very ritualistic and the only clue is a mural drawn at the scene. Iwata is awkward, drowning in his own demons and not a team player. He is highly intelligent and haunted by many ghosts.

Obregon writes beautifully and there are moments of pure delight in this novel where you pause to reread some passages. Everything moves the narrative forward but occasionally there is a stretch where the movement slows - I found these respite areas very welcome.

The setting is drawn really well and the Japanese names are easy to read and manage for a westerner.(Compared to say Russian names where I trip over them and forget who is who). There is pain here and the author spares none of the characters (or the reader) from their share of it. Recommended if you love crime fiction but want something far outside the formulaic. This is complex, intelligent and beautifully written.

I was given a free copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Blue Light Yokohama by Nicholás Obregón
Rating ****.3 4.3/5
A haunting thriller set in Japan that takes the reader on journey feeling bereft, lost but hopeful.
Book 1 in the Inspector Iwata series you can be sure that Obregón will be ensuring his readers of a gritty, fast paced experience.
There were a few eye openers as Iwata struggled to rid his demons whilst trying to solve the crime. His childhood experiences molded the man but didn't stop there.
Noriko Sakai, his reluctant partner is complex, certainly not what I would have expected from a Japanese woman.
As they encounter block after block in solving the crime, who or, indeed, what is at the bottom of the heinous murders.
An unique compelling page turner. Well done Obregón you will go far as an author.
Thank you and to NetGalley. My review is honest and unbiased.

It's very rare for me to be unable to finish a book, but I'm afraid this was one of those times. I should mention that I requested this book precisely because it's not the kind of book I would normally read, so the author was at a disadvantage before I even got started. For some reason, I just could not engage with any of the characters and I found the setting drab and uninteresting. I tried to keep going but I found I just didn't care about the victims or the detectives.

However, I think this book will find its niche with lovers of police thrillers and I can imagine it appealing to readers of Stieg Larsson books particularly.

Having just returned from Japan, with a visit to Tokyo and other places mentioned in the book, I felt right at home reading this novel. I have tried to read a crime novel set in Japan before and became confused by the names, but I think this time, as I had met people with the same names as some of those in the book, and having used some of the language, it was not a problem for me.

I was intrigued by a crime novel set in Japan and it did not disappoint me, although the much deeper story running through the book is one not about crime, but about loss and denial.

Iwata has been assigned to the Shibuya section of the Tokyo police and no one is really happy to see him. His partner Sakai isn't exactly thrilled to be working with him either, so not a good start for Iwata. Coupled with Iwata having his own personal problems and flashbacks to his troubled youth I began to wonder if he wouldn't solve the case.

Some great sections of real detective work and who dunnits while you try and second guess Iwata.
Some of the book was a little far fetched - like him going to Hong Kong although suspended from the case and also him calling in favours from people he hardly knew - but of course they were needed to aid his solving of the case.

A fairly long book, when I finally caught up with Iwata's thinking and realised what was really happening I expected the book to shut down. However, it carried on for a fair few pages and another side of what had been happening throughout the book was seen. I actually went and re read the beginning of the book, as really if I had been able to keep that in my mind, there were some pretty big clues.

I loved being back in Japan through the pages of this book, even if it was a much seedier side than the one I saw. I was surprised to learn the book was not translated from Japanese. Some phrases and speech patterns felt like translations and added to the realism of the book.This is something that maybe wouldn't be apparent if you haven't visited Japan.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for an advance copy for review.

Very muddled story, jumping from one time to another continually that I kept losing the thread. I found the frequent quotes distracting and not adding anything to the story. Overall the story was very depressing and slow moving.

I found the plot very good but it was unnecessarily muddled in places. I was tempted to give up about 35% of the way through but felt I had to continue as I'd been allowed to read the book in turn for an honest review. I'm pleased that I did push on through as it got a lot better and started making me want to know what happened. Not a page turner, can't put it down type of book but intriguing enough. I think the setting in Japan with unfamiliar (to me) place and people names made it harder to absorb

This is a police procedural set in Japan. Our protagonist is Inspector Kosuke Iwata, newly transferred to Tokyo's homicide department from some provincial backwater, before which he trained with the police in America. His new partner is Assistant Inspector Noriko Sakai, a no-nonsense, tough, female cop. They’re assigned to a case nobody much cares for, the previous investigator having committed suicide. The crime Iwata and Sakai are now tasked with solving is the wholesale slaughter of a Korean family in their home. This case is of little interest to the department for two reasons: one the ethnicity of the victims, Japanese society characterised by deep-seated racism and prejudice towards Korean migrants, and two, the fact that their deaths have coincided with that of a famous actress, her passing attracting huge media interest.

Iwata and Sakai start to investigate the slaying of the Korean family and they discover a black sun was daubed inside the house. More killings follow and they soon realise that they have a serial killer on their hands. The Black Sun Killer, as they quickly daub him, is immensely strong having torn the hearts from his victims’ bodies. But he’s also incredibly clever and leaves virtually no trace. Iwata becomes obsessed with the case and with dogged determination tries to make headway, despite hostility from colleagues and interference from above.

Blue Light Yokohama is a gripping read; it’s a long book, running to 448 pages, but they swept by. I’m not normally one for serial killer fiction but this had me hooked. Both Iwata and Sakai are compelling characters, flawed and single minded in equal measure. If that sounds like a cliché -the maverick cop with a past - and in some ways, it is, the author carries it off with panache and a certain originality. For example, Iwata’s tragic history with his American wife was powerfully done and I felt for the character.

That all said, I had some issues with this novel. Normally in this kind of book the author leaves clues throughout the narrative as to the conclusion. Obviously if this is too obvious, the reader sees it coming a mile off. The ideal is to have the reader guessing until the final reveal, but then have them saying, “oh right, yeah I see that now.” What you don’t want is the author keeping everything to himself and then just dumping it on you in the final couple of chapters. That’s what Blue Light Yokohama does. While there are a few clues as to the killer’s identity – I guessed a few chapters from the end, much of their motivation is told to the reader in the last few pages. More concerning, there’s a major plot twist involving one of the main characters that just comes out of nowhere, a complete bolt out of the blue.

These aren’t major issues and I really did get through this novel in just a matter of days. I understand that it’s part of a series and we’ll be seeing more of Inspector Kosuke Iwata. I hope so.

4 out of 5 stars

A really interesting police procedural/thriller set in Tokyo. The first of further Iwata books. For full review go to tumblr.

I feel rather conflicted about this book, as I liked aspects of it but struggled with others.

I was intrigued by the premise of a serial killer with a link to a religious cult, but I found the plot too slow, as I do like a fast paced crime novel. I found it hard to get to know the main character Inspector Iwata, as he felt too distant and his many mixed up memories really confused me at times.

I struggled to keep with all the different minor characters and where they fitted into the plot. Fortunately because I was reading this on my Kindle App I was able to search within the text to discover who different characters were and when they'd been mentioned before. I've never had to do this before so this came in very handy.
Having never visited Japan nor Tokyo and other places mentioned throughout, I found it hard to imagine where scenes were taking place.
I did think about giving up on it but I wanted to find out what happened.

Would I read something by the author again? Maybe, but I'd borrow it from the library instead.
Would I recommend it? Only if like you like a slow paced police procedural.

Thanks to NetGalley, Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for my free digital copy.