People Who Eat Darkness

Greetings, all.

Pardon the creepy post title, but that is the name of the book I recently finished.
People who Eat Darkness: The True Story of a Young Woman Who Vanished from the Streets of Tokyo--and the Evil That Swallowed Her Up is the entire title (phew!) and it's by Richard Lloyd Parry, a reporter who covered this bizarre case from beginning to end.

I was recommended by this book by a good friend, and she was right when she said it was hard to put down. It's over 400 pages long and I finished it in a week! Very atypical for me, indeed. Especially post-child! That says something about the energy of the book, wouldn't you say?

Before I first went to Japan in 2004, I remember my mom trying to scare me with the tale of this "young blonde woman whose body was found chopped up under a tub on the beach". Gruesome, yes, but lo! It's that very same story! Who'd have thought it would show up in my life again? Only this time, it's not just hearsay -- this book is so thorough I really feel like an expert on the subject on this young lady, Lucie Blackman.
And it's nuts to think that I was in Japan during this case's hearings and never caught wind of it... Hmm.

What I found most intriguing about this book, was its explanations of the Japanese police and judicial systems. Fascinating. And this is coming from someone who never thought she would be interested in things like court cases, let alone those of another country. Well, this book has just turned that all around.

Coupled with my recent dive into Sherlock Holmes (as I mentioned a couple posts back), I am really finding myself intrigued by things like investigations, unsolved mysteries, and the power that seemingly small observations can have in cracking a case!

I highly recommend this book to those who want a good read.